By Kate Shilling — 18th November 2022
Australians with Greek ancestry make up a critical portion of our country’s delicious multicultural melting pot, with more than 420,000 people claiming Greek, Greek-Cypriot, or Greek-Vlach ancestry in 2022. Perhaps you’re one of them?
As you dig deeply into your Spartan roots, you’ll not only add names and dates to your family tree, but you’ll also unearth fascinating customs and cultural practices that would’ve been a way of life for your ancestors.
Right from birth, rich traditions defined Greek communities, helping to uphold societal boundaries and family structures. In ancient Greece, home births were the norm, with a midwife on hand to deliver the baby. The women of the family, including the mother-in-law and mother would burn incense to honour St Stylianos, protector of children, in the hope that He would facilitate a safe birth.
The newborn babe would not be washed, but merely wiped with a cotton cloth and then doused in powder. For its first bath, the midwife would add salt to the water, a traditional practice thought to protect the baby from the ‘evil eye’ and to bestow abundance and blessings to the newborn. Plato described salt as “a dear substance of the gods” and it was considered a sacred substance.
New mothers were not left alone in the house for at least three days after childbirth – not because they needed to be taken care of – but because it was believed that the impurity of childbirth left mothers susceptible to the influence of demons.
On the newborn’s third day after birth, the Fates would determine the baby’s luck. These Fates - Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos — were divinities in Greek mythology who presided over human life, representing the destiny of human life. A plate of bread, honey, nuts, sweets and even holy water would often be placed by the mother’s bedside as an offering to the Fates.
When the baby was forty days old, it would be taken by the midwife to the church for a blessing, usually accompanied by a small child, as it was believed that small children deter evil entities. Male babies would be taken all the way to the alter area. Relatives would bring Greek pastries called diples for baby boys and kouriambiethes (almond butter biscuits) and ravani (semolina cake) for the girls. It was preferable for mothers to give birth to boys in order to continue the family line. Girls required a proika (dowry), such as property, money and even livestock, and usually had a highly restricted upbringing to avoid soiling the family name.
A Family History Holiday to Greece provides a wonderful opportunity to visit the villages and regions of your ancestors. Marriage and births are well documented in Greece as far back as the 1800s and we can assist with your research by connecting you with local genealogists and historians.
Whether you embody Spartan, Dorian or Aeolian blood, a Family History Holiday is a meaningful way to reconnect with your roots, discover long-lost relatives and add to the wonderful tapestry of your own family tree.
Image: Spartan woman 1929 - by Francesco Perilla
