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Wri Assignment 2
Wri Assignment 2
Stephan Jaksch
WRI 212
Professor Boyle
28 October 2015
When I tell my friends and acquaintances that I am Greek, their first comment
inevitably is "So your family is kind of like that family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding?"
to which I respond "Somewhat." Having watched that movie numerous times and grown
up in a Greek household and culture, I can definitely attest to the accuracy of some of it
and even some of the stereotypes it portrays. My Greek family is massive, always
boisterous, and there is constantly food involved whenever we are together, but I do not
have six brothers and cousins named Nick, my family does not roast whole lambs in the
front yard, nor is my house shaped like the Parthenon with a Greek flag painted on the
garage. My family does not use Windex as an all-purpose ailment for cuts, pains, and
diseases, but instead uses rubbing alcohol for any signs of sickness. This film, however,
displays the core of the Greek household, which revolves around traditions and customs
that are passed down from previous ancestors and elders. Many of these originate from
the Greek Orthodox religion while others are superstitions and general beliefs.
The baking of the vasilopita (sweet bread) on New Years Day is a tradition based
on legend with some superstition. With two large silver baking trays in hand, my aunt
walks inside our house on New Years Day with vasilopita that the entire family eagerly
waits for all year long. Vasilopita is one of those freshly baked foods that you receive
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Christmas. The bread is luscious, thick, and somewhat dense, and once you begin to
nibble away at a generous piece, there is no stopping you from finishing it off. Imagine a
large pan of deep bread, but with a slight sweet aftertaste. Since my family is over 20
people, we no longer need just one large tray of vasilopita, but two. Carefully concealed
inside the moist and cake-like bread is a single wrapped dollar coin. Before the sweet
bread is handed out, it is carefully sectioned into the number of family members present;
each person receives one monstrous slice. This tradition of crafting sweetbread on New
Years Day originated from a specific Saint and legend. For Greeks, New Years Day is
celebrated as "the feast of St. Basil" (Mikalis and Mikalis). According to legend, while
serving as Bishop, Saint Basil was asked to collect taxes by the government from the
local citizens (Rouvelas 244); however, he refused as he believed the money belonged to
the citizens, and requested the emperor to cancel the tax, which he eventually did
(DOWAMA St. Raphael Clergy Brotherhood). Once the riches of the people were
collected, it was impossible for everyone to rightfully claim what was theirs, so Saint
Basil along with some women baked the coins into a píta (a type of bread or cake)
(Rouvelas 244). Once he cut into the bread and passed out the pieces to the citizens, each
person astonishingly acquired their valuables (Rouvelas 244). Greek Orthodox Christians
then began baking loaves of vasilopita with a coin inside on the feast day of Saint Basil
to honor his legacy, which coincides with New Years Day. Whoever receives the coin in
his or her piece of bread is "the recipient of good fortune" (Mikalis and Mikalis) and of
good luck for the year to come. This tradition symbolizes the miracle of Saint Basil along
with his bravery to bring riches back to the poor in his area.
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Although New Years Day is significant in Greek culture, no other day holds more
religious value to the Greeks than Easter. Easter is like the Super Bowl of holidays in the
Greek culture. Even though my memories of Easter always begin with food, the
celebration of Easter (or Pascua in Greek) is undoubtedly the largest and most holy day
of the entire year for the Greek Orthodox religion. Once you hear the yelps of enthusiasm
from half of the family on Easter day and cries of irritation from the other half, you know
that the cracking of the dark red Easter eggs has commenced. Most families who
celebrate Easter use the dyed eggs simply as decoration, but not the Greeks. Even though
the tradition of cracking Easter eggs is entertaining, it has a deep religious purpose and
symbolism. The color of these eggs is intense and cannot merely be put into a couple of
words as it does not do them justice. These eggs are not the Paas eggs that you would dye
as a toddler. Greek Easter eggs are sophisticated and elegant, yet simple. The eggs are
dyed red to "represent the blood shed by Christ for mankind" (Rouvelas 285); the egg
itself embodies "the new life of the Resurrection" (Rouvelas 285), while the whole shell
represents the tomb of Christ after he was crucified, and the egg when cracked
symbolizes Christ's emergence (Rouvelas 285). Two people each choose a red egg and
before they crack each other's eggs, one says Christós anésti (Christ has risen) and the
other responds with Alithós anésti (Truly He has risen). Right after, one person taps his or
her egg onto the other, resulting in one cracked egg and one unbroken egg. This process
keeps ensuing until there is one person with an unbroken egg. This game is
called tsougrisma (clinking together) and the winner of it is said to have good luck for the
Unlike with the luck that comes with winning tsougrisma, receiving the evil eye
can be very unfortunate for the person it is intended for. Browsing through the grand
Greek festival that my church hosts every year, you will spot hundreds of different kinds
of matí symbols—bracelets, necklaces, key chains, rings and many more. The matí,
which means eye in Greek, is usually a glass or plastic bead with a blue stone and black
eye in the center (Rouvelas 203) and can be worn on a cross or fashioned into any piece
of jewelry. It is usually pinned to babies and young children in order to ward off the evil
eye, but is also worn by adults. As a child, I can recall the small bright blue orb that was
attached to my cross. Its black center seemed unnerving and would certainly intimidate
any evil that crossed my path, at least that is what I believed as a child. The evil eye
(vaskanía in Greek) in simple terms is "evil generated by the devil" (Rouvelas 202);
however, this evil specifically comes from an "envious person [who] may knowingly or
unknowingly bring bad luck, illness, or even death to the envied person" (Rouvelas 120).
Thus, the matí protects against the evil eye and the harm that it can do to a person,
especially young children who are vulnerable to the dangerous world around them. The
effects of receiving the evil eye can vary and can include fatigue, illness, disease or
These traditions and superstitions are for more than just enjoyment or even
religious purposes. During the tough periods in our lives, these traditions ground Greek
people to their roots and bring families together in times of turmoil and crises. The
coming together and celebration of religious events and of the everyday routines create a
sturdier and more unified family unit. These customs allowed my grandparents to sail all
the way from Greece to America and keep their family intact. My grandfather
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English language, and a middle school education; he left his wife and newly born child.
He let go of his family and familiar life in Albania due to the oppressive communist
regime that took control and power of the nation. At this time, the government dictated
the people, impressing on them a new way of life. Several years later, my grandmother
(yia-yia in Greek) immigrated to America with the same skill set that my pappoús and
both ultimately were able to have five children who were all successful despite the
adversity and troubles they faced. It was these family traditions, even the minor ones,
which grounded them to their original roots and heritage so that they would never forget
where their journey commenced. For my grandparents, they did not have the ability to act
on their desires without the possibility of being persecuted for their faith or their
traditions.
Even though the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding depicts the Greek family unit as
a little crazy and ridiculous, every family member is united with others through the
traditions they embrace as a family. Even those wacky traditions like the use of Windex
as a treatment, even though trivial, helps the family to embrace its uniqueness and bond
together. This principle applies to my family as well as other Greek family units and is
essentially the ‘ingredient’ that makes the Greek culture so inviting for deep
relationships. When I look back on the past 19 years of my life, I do not remember the
extravagant gifts given on Christmas morning or the large birthday parties that took
weeks to plan and put together. I reminisce about the simple memories in which
celebration and tradition bring the entire family together in laughter and affection.
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Works Cited
<http://www.antiochian.org/node/18684>.
Mikalis, Elena, and Odysseus Mikalis. “Celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Day in
Popken, Alexandra. “It’s All Greek to Me: What It Means to Celebrate Orthodox Easter.”
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-popken/its-all-greek-to-me-what-it-
means-to-celebrate-orthodox-easter_b_7022256.html>.
Rouvelas, Marilyn. A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America. 2nd edition.