General Information about Item:

• Customary Folklore: Greek Superstition (Bad luck)
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: Greece
• Informant: Evangelia Constantine
• Date Collected: November 2, 2018

Informant Data:

• Evangelia “Lia” Constantine is a sophomore studying Neuroscience at Dartmouth College. She is on the Dartmouth Field Hockey team and engaged in medical research with one of her professors. Lia was born in Fredericksburg Virginia, but her family is of strong Greek origin. Her father lived in Greece before coming to the United States, and her mother’s parents were both born and raised in Greece. As a child, her grandparents were extremely influential in instilling aspects of Greek folklore in her life. Her favorite Greek custom is the roasting of a goat on Easter Sunday. Her family practices many greek traditions on a daily and annual basis.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: The informant was interviewed in person regarding the crow superstition. She said that she first learned the superstition from mother after a dead crow was found on their front porch. It is commonly passed from older to younger generations. Seeing a crow or interacting with a dead crow in any situation is said to bring misfortune and death.
• Cultural Context: Crows are birds that are generally thought of in a negative context within Greek culture and mythology. The ancient Greeks claimed that the crow symbolized Apollo, God of Prophecy. In a Greek legend, Coronis betrayed Apollo, and a crow delivered the news to him. Although crows are black, it is believed that Apollo punished the birds by tainting their original, pure color, white. Ancient Greeks then began interpreting the crow’s color and direction of flight to predict foreboding omens.

Item:

• Seeing a crow fly is an omen of bad luck, misfortune, death, and disease. When a crow caws, it is generally thought that someone will die in the near future.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “My mom claims that if a dead, black crow shows up anywhere near our house, that mean someone she knows is about to die. One time, a black crow ended up on our doorstep, and she thought that my great grandma was going to die that week.”

Informant’s Comments:

• “I always think back on when my mother found the dead crow and laugh. She really reacted emotionally to the experience. I think she was being a bit overdramatic, but her parents taught her to believe very strongly in this superstition.”

Collector’s Comments:

• Despite the evil undertones surrounding the Greek superstitions of crows, Lia seemed to recount stories about crows with excitement. She clearly values her family’s traditions and beliefs.

Collector’s Name: Kira Koehler

Tags/Keywords:

• Greek. Superstition. Crows. Customary Folklore. Sign Superstitions.