If you live in Spain or Greece you’re probably being extra careful today. Tuesday 13th – that unlucky day when things are bound to go wrong…
Tuesday? Not Friday? No. Although for UK, USA and most other countries in the western hemisphere Friday 13th is considered the unluckiest day in the world, people in Greece and Spanish-speaking countries people fear Tuesdays.
The reason is not known for sure, but it has been suggested that it has something to do with the fact that Tuesday is named after the god of war (martes in Spanish after Mars and ἡμέρα Ἄρεως (hemera Areos) in Ancient Greek after Aries) and so trouble was expected on this day.
Another suggestion put forward is that the day is considered unlucky because Constantinople fell on a Tuesday (Tuesday May 29th 1453), causing many Greeks to flee their homes.
At least we all agree that it’s the number 13 that’s unlucky though, don’t we? Err…..no! In Italy it’s the number 17 that is considered unlucky. The reason is a bit convoluted, but bear with me…
- In Roman numerals 17 is written as XVII
- If you rearrange these four characters you get VIXI
- VIXI means “I have lived” in Latin, and it is found on many graves in Italy
During the middle ages, uneducated people found it difficult to distinguish between XVII and VIXI and so the number 17 came to be associated with death.
Here endeth the culture lesson for today!
For language teaching or tuition, visit my website www.sjbteaching.com.
Related post: How do they celebrate Christmas in Greece?