The Importance Of Superstition In Roman Literature

Very Superstitious

From as far back as 700 BC to present day, superstition lives on through ancient myths and legends. Dating back to the Roman and Greek Empires, the common culture and way of life was greatly based off of superstitious reasons.Superstition in Ancient Rome and Greece still exists today, but thrived between the Archaic Era to the end of the Antiquity and through the land of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. Often, superstition and religion collide- especially in the Roman religion- which was originally based off of magic and myths. To extend, “Superstition sprang from the same origin as religion, in a belief in supernatural forces that control the lives of people. Although the entire Roman empire was based on superstition,

As an illustration, the common superstition “break a mirror and you get seven years of bad luck” originated from Ancient Greece. In first century AD, it was very common for people to see “Mirror Seers” (Wolchover 1), who were fortune tellers that analyzed the reflection of the client. At this time, it was believed that the health of a person changed in a cycle of seven years. If your reflection were to be distorted, by perhaps a crack or break of the mirror, you were believed to gain seven years of ill-health and bad luck. Much like this superstition yet less well known, it is believed by many that spilling salt is bad luck, and if one does, they should throw a pinch of it over their shoulders. The reasoning for this is that “historically, salt has been highly valued and considered to be a purifying substance, capable of driving away evil. The Romans paid their soldiers in salt – hence the word "salary". It has long been useful as a preservative, in medicine, and is also used in magic, ritual, and superstition to purify, bless things, and drive away evil. Taking a pinch of the spilled salt and throwing it over your left shoulder was thought to drive away the evil spirits that lurked there, waiting to cause harm and misfortune.” (Sanguinarius 4). These two are just a few common examples of the

There are multitudinous beliefs distinctly for women- in particular, women who are married to sailors. There are many taboos and rituals that restrict women of the sailing community. For instance, “never wave a trawlerman off or a ‘wave’ will sweep him overboard; never utter the word ‘Goodbye’, it is too final and he may not return home;women are not allowed to see men off from the dockside,” (Gill 1). The article continues about a woman named Jill that accidentally waved her husband goodbye before he set on a journey at sea, and months later after not returning, it is discovered that “on Christmas Day fire broke out in the crew’s quarters” (Gill 2), and Jill’s husband was one of the twelve men killed. Instances like these give superstitious sailors a right to practice their belief to keep them safe. If something were to happen and a ritual be broken, one can only believe the consequence happened for that very reason. Although the ill fortunes often place guilt on one’s self- it is not the sole reason these beliefs are practiced. Guilt often can “be an accidental byproduct of living in such a taboo-ridden society if, for example, a sailing-day ritual is broken. But guilt is not the underlying reason why these ancient folklore practices are perpetuated. The main function of such a superstitious subculture is to condition and breed into the fishing