Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands: Curses in Ancient Athens

Figure 1: A cursed vessel inscribed with the names of 50 individuals. A nail was driven through the vessel and a chicken left within it.

 

If you have ever felt a loss of control, then you are familiar with the need to regain control.  Individuals in these circumstances may engage in a variety of rituals to ensure they have some semblance of control in uncontrollable situations, such as wearing a lucky item, performing a sequence of specific tasks, reciting specific words, phrases, or prayers, or any number of other actions.  These may seem absurd or silly to you, the reader, but there are individuals, perhaps even yourself (even if you do not want to admit it), who hold steadfastly to these ideas.  This was definitely the case for craftspeople in ancient Athens, who engaged in ritualized curses of their competitors to ensure economic prosperity for themselves (the cursors) and economic loss for others (the cursed).  This blog post will address the evidence of these curses and what archaeologists and classical studies scholars have learned about Athenian society through the study of cursed objects.

 

Currently there are around 60 publications related to cursed items discovered in Athens.  From these there are at least 1600 curses recorded dating between the fifth and third centuries B.C.  These curses have been inscribed on a variety of objects, such as pottery (Figure 1), lead tablets, and paper.  These objects would include names, sometimes occupations, of individuals mean to be cursed, as well as consistently a nail driven through the object.  There may be additional items with the cursed object, such as the chicken bones for the vessel in Figure 1, but these do not seem to be consistently present with all cursed objects.  They all appear to share one common theme: they were lodged against individuals over economic disputes.  Individual business owners, their employees, business associates, as well as any individuals who could affect the outcome of the dispute (e.g., witnesses, customers, members of the judiciary) are named in the curses. These individuals are named as they are integral to the financial success of the cursed individual(s).  Not only are these individuals identified, but the individual business and the means of production (e.g., the individual’s body or body parts) are often noted, too.  Meaning if the cursed individual is a potter they may have their hands identified as needing to be cursed or bound by the god(s) the cursor implores to mete out the curse.

 

A lot about Athenian daily life can be gleaned given the scale of evidence of curses and cursed objects discovered to date.  It was previously known that ancient Athenians had no qualms with curses or engaging in magic.  It was commonplace, and anyone within society, regardless of gender, age, socioeconomic status, or occupation, could engage in magic and initiate a curse against another.  From additional evidence found within the greater Athenian area it is clear that the city was a multi-ethnic urban environment that was also a center of trade and commerce.  This means that there was more than likely a great deal of competition among the working class, who not only competed against other Athenians but foreigners who either visited or eventually settled within the city.  The precarious nature of their work and its ability to succeed would not have been guaranteed, leading to a great deal of risk and stress.  It appears to mitigate the feelings related to this stress Athenian craftspeople and tradespeople turned to magic, specifically curses.  While it is uncertain and impossible to know if these curses actually worked it does seem that they were an effective coping mechanism over the two centuries they were used.  Furthermore, they provide scholars the opportunity to better understand the daily life of the common people in the city, which is a rare and worthwhile opportunity that means these curses are a blessing to scholars today.

 

References

Lamont, J. L. (2015). A NEW COMMERCIAL CURSE TABLET FROM CLASSICAL ATHENS. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 159–174.

Lobell, J. A. (2022, May/June). Artifact. Archaeology Magazine, p. 1.

Venticinque, P. (2022). Bound for Success: Cursing and Commerce in Classical Athens. . Greece & Rome, 52-71.

 

Death Becomes Them: The Origins and History of Idioms Related to Death

Photograph of Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois (Source: Boston, C)

 

It is said that when there are various ways of talking about a subject it must have value.  Consider the number of ways of talking about love or money.  Unfortunately, the value attached to a specific does not have to be positive, such as in the case of talking about death.  European languages have numerous idioms/phrases related to death.  This demonstrates the importance of death within these cultural groups, particularly the apparent fear and discomfort the topic brings with it.  Death comes to everyone at some point, making it an inevitability.  The creation of various phrases surrounding death provides us insights into cultural values over time, which is the topic of today’s blog post.  You will learn about those values and the changes to them over time as we discuss three phrases related to death: kick the bucket, dead as a doornail, and pushing up daisies.

 

Kick the Bucket

 

This phrase is a relatively new one in the English language, and it is also one of the more poorly understood ones.  To kick the bucket is to reference that someone is dead, which in and of itself does not provide much in the way of contexts or values attached to the phrase.  It was first recorded in the late 1700s, although which source published the phrase first is debated.  There are some that say it was first recorded in a British serial, whereas others claim it was in a vulgar phrase book.  Neither provides much in the way of substance information concerning the origins and original meaning, however. 

 

Many attribute the phrase to reference suicides.  The notion of kicking the bucket comes from the idea that individuals who commit suicide would stand on a bucket and “kick” it from underneath their feet to initiate suffocation from being hanged.  There is no recorded evidence that supports this assertion, however. 

 

Other explanations attribute the phrase to the butchery of animals.  The name of the rack that animals are hung from was originally called a bucket, and it was supposed that as animals were killed they would kick that rack.  This, however, is also doubtful as most butchers do not hang live animals.  They wait for the animal to already be dead before hanging it for dressing/butchery purposes.  Furthermore, there is no written or oral evidence of butchers exclusively using the phrase in reference to their occupational responsibilities.

 

There remains one additional explanation for the origins of this phrase: Catholic mortuary rituals.  Some claim that Catholics would bring in a bucket of holy water to sit at the feet of a dying individual, and the holy water would be sprinkled upon the body at death.  This, too, is doubted, though.

 

Ultimately, the origins of kick the bucket remain unknown, although it is considered a humorous way of discussing death.

 

Dead as a Doornail

 

Dead as a doornail is a phrase that does not just reference death but the finality of death.  To say someone or something is dead as a doornail is to mean that they are really dead.  As in there is no chance of return.  They are definitely dead. 

 

This phrase was first used in 1350 by William Langland in his poem, Guillaume de Palerne, which he wrote in French.  He used the phrase in another poem 20 years later.  Just over 200 years later Shakespeare appropriated the phrase in one of his plays, followed by Charles Dickens when he wrote The Christmas Carol.  To be dead as… is a popular euphemism, but the origins of why a doornail was chosen are actually known.  Before the Industrial Revolution and the advent of machine forged tools and technology items were handmade, nails included.  They were painstakingly crafted and considered a hot commodity, so much so that if a building was torn or burned down people would take great care in recovering the nails.  If the nail was rendered unusable due to it being hammered incorrectly it was considered dead.  This is why dead as a doornail means to be dead dead because much like that incorrectly hammered nail there is no coming back and being useful after death.

 

Pushing Up Daisies

 

Pushing up daisies is a relatively newer phrase added to the English lexicon, but it may have actually had French origins.  This phrase makes reference to death and flowers, conjuring up imagery of the flowers either laid to rest at a grave or that take over after the ground is disturbed by digging and covering a grave. 

 

This phrase comes from British slang that was used by soldiers who fought during the first World War, and it was made famous/public in 1918 in a poem by Wilfred Owen.  Her poem made reference to the graves of the fallen soldiers who lost their lives during the war.   It is believed that the British soldiers may have borrowed this phrase from their French compatriots as there is actually a French phrase that is quite similar: eating the dandelion at the root.  This phrase was first published by Victor Hugo in his book Les Miserables, and much like pushing up daisies it references graves, death, and flowers.

 

Works Cited

Crotty, David. "Dead as a Doornail ." 19 November 2021. The Scholarly Kitchen. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

Dictionary.com. "Pushing Up Daisies." 2022. Dictionary.com. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

Liberman, Anatoly. "More on idioms: “kick the bucket”." 16 February 2016. Oxford University Press. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

Martin, Gary. The Phrase Finder. n.d. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

No Author. "The Meanings Behind Famous Floral Sayings." 16 October 2018. Fresh Trimmings. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

Quinion, Michael. "Kick the Bucket." 5 March 2016. World Wide Words. Electronic. 7 July 2023.

 

Healing Disregarded Wounds: Forensic Recovery and Identification of Victims of the Spanish Civil War

From July 1936 to April 1939 Spain was engulfed in a civil war.  The coup was led by General Francisco Franco, who received support from the economic elites, other military officials, and the Catholic Church of Spain.  Collectively, they were displeased with the several decades of liberal and democratically elected leadership that led to equalities for all, including freedom of the press and religion, more rights for women, economic opportunities for all, and more.  Franco and his compatriots sanctioned the rape and murder of all who opposed him, and he received monetary and military support from Nazi Germany and its Axis allies in Italy and Russia.  Even though the civil war ended in 1939 Franco’s demands to destroy his enemies did not.  From 1939 to 1948 Franco legally sanctioned the kidnapping of anyone suspected of dissenting against his dictatorship.  Men and women, including pregnant women, of all ages were taken.  Many were tortured and raped, followed by murdered or imprisoned for life with no judicial review or oversight.  Those who were imprisoned were often enslaved in state sanctioned labor programs.  Franco celebrated his cruelty with state sanctioned holidays and celebrations, as well as memorializing his greatest supporters with monuments and roads named after them.

 

Franco’s death in 1975 ended his dictatorship and ushered in a new democracy for Spain.  Relatives of missing and murdered victims began searching for their lost loved ones, often opening mass graves to recover their bodies to provide them proper burials and provide the living closure.  Unfortunately, these efforts were short lived as the new democracy did not come easy.  A failed military coup occurred shortly thereafter, and Spain opted to forget what happened for the sake of healing the nation.  This has led to a repression of history and a miscarriage of justice for those who were murdered and their families who continue to live with these traumatic events.

 

In 2000 efforts began to restore justice and reunite the living with their missing and murdered family members.  Teams made up of sociocultural anthropologists, forensic anthropologists, forensic archaeologists, forensic pathologists, geneticists, and historians came together to work collectively and collaboratively in the search and recovery efforts.  Sociocultural anthropologists spoke and continue to speak with victims’ families and survivors, historians conducted and continue to conduct historical research, and forensic archaeologists and anthropologists work on recovery and identification of the victims.  Forensic pathologists and geneticists are integral in the reunification of the victims with their living family members by conducting genetic tests. 

 

Forensic anthropologists and pathologists have also, upon request of the living, been working to identify the causes of death of the victims.  The purpose of this is to chronicle what happened during the Franco Dictatorship, particularly since the realities were purposefully concealed.  They want the truth to come out, and many of them feel that having this knowledge is needed as part of their healing processes. 

 

Currently, it is estimated that as many as 300,000 to 600,000 people lost their lives during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent Franco sanction repression.  About half of these individuals were combatants, but the other half were civilians.  At least 2000 mass graves have been identified, but a little under half have been investigated fully.  The delay is in part due to inconsistent funding and a lack of trained individuals to complete the excavations and identifications.  These challenges have been and are continuing to be addressed.  In 2000 the Spanish government legally mandated funding to each province to aid in these investigations, and more forensic anthropologists and archaeologists are being trained.  Living relatives are feeling safer and more comfortable in coming forward to share their stories and claim their dead family members, which is also expediting the process.  Additionally, geophysical techniques for noninvasive identification of potential mass graves are also enabling the quicker identification of mass graves, thereby leading to speedy justice.  Over time hopefully the Spanish people will acknowledge their history and begin the collective healing process, learning and never forgetting so this does not happen again-be it in Spain or elsewhere.

 

References

Etxeberria, F., González-Ruibal, A., Herrasti, L., Márquez-Grant, N., Muñoz-Encinar, L., & Ramos, J. (2021). Twenty years of forensic archaeology and anthropology of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and Francoist Regime. Forensic science international. Synergy, 3, 100159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100159

   

Fernandez-Alvarez, J-P, Rubio-Melendi, D, Martinez-Velasco, A, Pringle, JK and Aguilera, D (2016) Discovery of a mass grave from the Spanish Civil War using GPR and forensic archaeology. Forensic Science International, 267. pp. 10-17. 

González-Ruibal, A. (2007). Making things public: Archaeologies of the Spanish Civil War. Public Archaeology, 203-226.

Herrasti, L., Márquez-Grant, N., & Etxeberria, F. (2021). Spanish Civil War: the recovery and identification of combatants. Forensic Science International, 1-17.

Milligan, M. (2021, May 24). Forensic archaeologists begin to recover Spanish Civil War missing bodies. Heritage Daily.