Written by Natasha Marinopoulos
Purple dyed Greek Easter eggs, picture by way of scrumptious.com.au
Maybe essentially the most immediately recognizable factor of Greek Easter, pink eggs (kokkina avga) are wealthy in symbolism and have been a Greek cultural custom for hundreds of years. Many Greeks will keep in mind dyeing pink eggs with their moms and grandmothers, shining the eggs with olive oil and breaking them on Easter Sunday with the household. These brilliant eggs are additionally within the heart of the candy Greek Easter bread, tsoureki.
The symbolism of eggs
Within the first century BCE, the Greek thinker Plutarch first requested the well-known query, “Which got here first, the hen or the egg?” In Christian traditions, eggs symbolize the tomb of Jesus Christ, closed but hiding the life inside. The crack of the egg is a illustration of the opening of the tomb that held Jesus Christ. This is the reason we’re consuming chocolate Easter eggs in the present day! Nevertheless, eggs have been an emblem of life, rebirth and the arrival of spring everywhere in the world, lengthy earlier than Christianity.
Eggs function in historic creation myths from Egypt, India, Persia, Finland, Oceania, China and Greece. Within the historic Greek Orphic custom, the god Phanes was fashioned amongst chaos and darkness in a silver egg, hatched after which created the world.
Mycenaean ostrich egg (rhyton) embellished with gold and copper. Dendra, approx. 1400 BCE Nationwide Archaeological Museum of Athens (by way of Wikipedia Commons)
The observe of adorning eggs will be dated way back to 55,000 years in the past in South Africa, the place fragments of ostrich eggs painted in black, pink and orange have been discovered. Adorned ostrich eggs (rhyme) relationship from the Bronze Age, have been present in elite Minoan and Mycenaean tombs throughout Greece. These hollowed out eggs had been extremely regarded and used as ritual consuming vessels. Though we have no idea the symbolism of those eggs in Bronze Age Greece, in New Kingdom Egypt ostriches had been instantly related to the useless in addition to the rising of the solar.
Though there isn’t a documented first report of an ‘Easter egg’, it’s believed that early Mesopotamian Orthodox Christians first began dyeing eggs for Easter as they’d for the Zoroastrian New Yr, Nowruz, the place they’d been used as symbols of fertility for a whole lot of years. Using coloured eggs then unfold all through the Mediterranean and Europe via the Orthodox Church, the place the custom continues in the present day.
The Easter Eggs, portray by Geralis Apostolis, 1938
Why are the eggs dyed pink?
There are a number of traditions behind the selection of the colour pink. For a lot of, the pink dye represents the blood of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. One other clarification comes from a narrative about Mary Magdalene, the place the emperor Tiberius advised her that he would consider within the resurrection if the basket of eggs she was holding turned pink – which they promptly did. One other story explains that the Virgin Mary turned a basket of eggs pink along with her tears when she noticed Jesus on the cross. Different causes embody utilizing the colour pink as an expression of pleasure for the resurrection, or as a treatment for evil.
Historically dyed by ladies within the family on the Thursday earlier than Easter, the eggs had been boiled or painted with dye comprised of vinegar and onion skins. authorization plant, turmeric, beetroot and even espresso. At the moment, the most typical solution to dye eggs is with industrial pink dye. After dyeing, the eggs are sometimes rubbed with olive oil to make them shine.
Perthikes Egg, Agnis Kandili Vatianis
Though usually left plain, pink eggs will be embellished in quite a lot of methods. The most typical approach is to wrap flowers, herbs or leaves towards the eggs with clear material earlier than boiling the eggs in dye, leaving an imprint on the egg. In northern Greece, ladies use a instrument referred to as a BUT and beeswax to color intricate flowers, leaves, birds or phrases on every egg. Historically, ladies started coloring and adorning the eggs simply after midnight on Thursday, working all through the day to make sure the eggs had been completed earlier than Good Friday. That BUT the instrument is heated over a candle in order that the beeswax can slowly drip via like ink. The beeswax is first wiped off after coloring the eggs, leaving the design behind. Eggs embellished on this approach are referred to as perthikes and appears like Ukrainian pysanky egg. Along with these conventional adorning strategies, many individuals are additionally now utilizing stickers to embellish their eggs.
Tsougrisma
On Easter day, the eggs are used for a sport referred to as tsougrisma (‘cling collectively’). That is performed both within the church simply after midnight or later within the day throughout the Easter competition.
Gamers will examine the eggs to attempt to discover the strongest egg for the sport. Everybody has their very own theories about how to decide on the perfect egg – whether or not it’s within the depth of its colour, whether or not it’s pointed or spherical, giant, small, heavy or mild! Two individuals will then ‘click on’ the ends of their eggs towards one another to see which egg is unbroken after which transfer on to the subsequent particular person. The particular person tapping the egg will say ‘Christos Anesti’ (‘Christ is risen’) whereas the particular person being tapped will say ‘Alithos Anesti’ (‘Actually he has risen).
Gamers are out of the sport when each ends of their egg are damaged. The particular person with the final egg standing is claimed to have good luck for the yr! The eggs are then eaten, and in some households an egg is saved all year long.
The mayor of Megara. Dance of the Evzones, Peasants and Ladies at Megara, by Theophilus Hadjimichael, 1933 (by way of Theophilus Museum, Lesbos)