Symbolism: the evil eye

Have you ever wondered why Greek boats are depicted with eyes? And why can we also see these eyes on Late Roman helmets or buildings? In this blog, we discuss a well-known danger, the evil eye.

The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse caused by a malevolent glare or enchantment, usually prompted by envy. Many amulets have been found for protection against this, the oldest dating back to about 3,000 BC.

This belief is found in many cultures in the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and Africa. In these cultures, it is often believed that receiving the evil eye causes misfortune or injury, while others consider it a kind of supernatural power that casts a malevolent gaze back on those who wish harm on others. The idea also appears several times in Jewish rabbinical literature.

The belief in the evil eye may have originated in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). The earliest evidence has been excavated from various ancient cities.

Written documents such as a Sumerian cuneiform mention an "eye ad-gir" that afflicts people with harm.

Archaeological finds, such as alabaster idols with incised eyes, have been found in Tell Brak, one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia. Amulets, such as eye-shaped amulets, have been found in Mesopotamia.

The belief in the evil eye spread from Mesopotamia to other regions and peoples, including the Assyrians and Phoenicians and ancient Greece. It was a widely feared phenomenon in the Hellenistic world and Roman Empire.

In the classical world, the evil eye was called "mati" and described by writers such as Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. There are more than a hundred ancient Greek works in which the evil eye is mentioned. Ancient Greek authors often referred to the term ophthalmòs báskano.

Classical authors attempted to describe and explain the workings of the evil eye. Plutarch devoted a separate chapter to these beliefs in his work Symposion. In his scientific explanation, he suggested that the eyes were the primary, if not the only, source of the deadly rays that would rise like poisoned arrows from the deeper recesses of a person with the evil eye. Plutarch regarded the phenomenon of the evil eye as something seemingly inexplicable, a source of wonder and disbelief.

As extensively documented in archaeological finds and ancient literature, the Illyrians believed in the power of spells and the evil eye, as well as in the magical power of protective and beneficial amulets that could ward off the evil eye or the ill intentions of enemies. Such amulets included objects in the shape of a phallus, hand, leg, and animal teeth.

The evil eye was part of a wider belief in magic and witchcraft among the Romans. Tacitus makes it clear in his works that there was no doubt among the Romans about the existence of these subjects. Both were widely practiced by the Romans, even though they were illegal and on the fringes of society. Pliny the Elder described the ability of certain African sorcerers to possess a "power of enchantments (fascination) with the eyes," allowing them even to kill those upon whom they set their gaze.

The idea of the evil eye also appears in the poetry of Virgil, in a conversation between the shepherds Menalcas and Damoetas. In this passage, Menalcas laments the poor health of his livestock: "What eye has bewitched my tender lambs?" The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the evil eye could affect both people and livestock.

In Roman times, it was believed not only that individuals could possess the power of the evil eye, but also that entire peoples, particularly the nomadic peoples from Pontus and Scythia, were carriers of the evil eye.

The belief in the evil eye during antiquity varied by region and period. The evil eye was not feared with the same intensity throughout the Roman Empire. In some areas, people were more aware of its danger.

Even the Christian gospels mention that Jesus warned against the evil eye in a list of evil deeds (Mark 7:22).

Various cultures have developed methods to protect themselves against the evil eye. Some of the most well-known talismans against it are the nazar-amulet, which itself represents an eye, and the hamsa, a hand-shaped amulet. Older versions of the symbol were often made of ceramics or clay, but after the production of glass beads in the Mediterranean region around 1500 BC, beads against the evil eye became popular among Indians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

The Greeks referred to protective objects with various names, such as apotropaia, probaskania, periammata, periapta, and prophylaktika. Greeks placed talismans in their homes and wore amulets to protect themselves against the evil eye. Peisistratus, for instance, hung an image of a kind of grasshopper in front of the Acropolis of Athens as protection.

In the Aegean region and other areas where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with green, and especially blue, eyes are suspected of being able to cast the curse, either intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, amulets against the evil eye in Greece and Anatolia take the form of eyes that look back. These amulets are known as Greek eyes.

Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye have led to a variety of talismans in different cultures. These are collectively called apotropaic (from the Greek ἀποτρέπειν, apotrépein, "to avert" or "turn away"), meaning they are intended to ward off or reflect harm.

The ancient Greeks also had a custom of dressing boys as girls to ward off the evil eye.

The Illyrians used objects in the shape of a phallus, hand, leg, and animal teeth as protection against the evil eye.

The ancient Romans used images of a phallus, such as the fascinus, to protect themselves against the evil eye. The male genitalia had a generative power. Girls were given a lunulla (moon) amulet at birth, which protected them. They often wore this throughout their lives or it was removed when they married.

Boys were given a bulla amulet, which they laid down at the lararium during their coming-of-age ritual. Phallic reliefs were sometimes made inside the house and on the facade. Additionally, the household gods and perhaps even portraits of the ancestors had the secondary function of warding off the evil eye, as well as any other form of evil that could harm the family.

The verb 'fascinate' is derived from the Latin ascinare 'to enchant', the origin of the word is an example of an apotropaic object used against the evil eye.

These objects have been found throughout Europe and the Middle East and date from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. The phallic amulets were often worn as personal jewelry, such as pendants and rings, but they also appeared as stone carvings on buildings, mosaics, and wind chimes (tintinnabula).

Examples of stone phallic engravings, such as those in Leptis Magna, show a detached phallus attacking the evil eye by directing ejaculation at it. Ralph Merrifield described Roman phallic jewelry as a "sort of lightning rod for good luck" because of its ability to ward off the evil eye.

Another way the ancient Greeks and Romans protected themselves against enchantment was by spitting into the folds of their clothing.

The ancient Romans and their Mediterranean descendants often used sexual hand gestures to ward off the evil eye. This included:

• Touching or scratching the testicles (in men)
• The fig gesture, where the thumb is clenched between the index and middle finger, representing a phallic symbol.

Figurines of hands making these gestures or covered with magical symbols were worn by the Romans as protective talismans.

In present-day Southern Italy, various amulets and gestures are used for protection, including the cornicello, the cimaruta, and the "sign of the horns".

Roman bullae were mysterious objects made of lead, sometimes coated with a layer of gold if the family could afford it. A bulla was worn around the neck as a medallion for protection against evil spirits and malevolent forces.

Before reaching adulthood, Roman boys wore a bulla—a necklace with a round pouch containing protective amulets, often phallic symbols. The tradition of the bulla was adopted from the Etruscans. Bullae were only worn by Roman boys with citizenship. He wore the ornament until reaching the age of adulthood.

Before donning his toga virilis ("toga of manhood"), he placed his childhood bulla under the care of his family's household gods (Lares). Some modern sources interpret a reference by Macrobius to a amulet worn by a triumphant general as evidence that the bulla was also a standard part of triumphal attire.

Roman girls wore a different amulet, the lunula, which they wore until the night before their wedding. At that time, the lunula was removed, along with their childhood toys and other youthful possessions. They then stopped wearing children's clothing and began wearing traditional Roman women's attire.

A lunula was a crescent-shaped pendant worn by girls in ancient Rome. Girls wore the lunula as an evil-averting amulet. Lunulae were common throughout the Mediterranean region, while their male counterpart, the bulla, was particularly popular in Italy.

In the play Epidicus by Plautus, the character Epidicus asks the young girl Telestis:

"Do you not remember that I brought you a golden lunula on your birthday, and a small golden ring for your finger?"

In Plautus' play Rudens, however, the character Palaestra says that her father gave her a golden bulla on her birthday.

The evil eye is a form of enchantment thousands of years old that is still feared in some cultures and parts of the world. The belief in the evil eye led to many talismans that offered protection against it. These can be seen in art and frescoess, in amulets around the body, on Roman helmets, and on ship prows. It was part of a broader belief in witchcraft and magic.