olbigjim

I just read the most delightful story! I knew instantly I had to share it with y’all.

It’s from Greece and it involves curses. Archaeologists discovered some lead tablets in a public well dating back around 2,300 years. The tablets had curses written on them. The one I’m about to tell you about is a curse on a promiscuous woman named Glykera and her vulva!

The way I heard the story, the Greeks believed groundwater led to the streams of the underworld. Water nymphs protected it and directed the curses to the gods of the underworld.

They found a great many tablets in the well. The one I’m telling you about was translated and reads:

We curse Glykera the wife of Dion, to the gods of the underworld so she will be punished and her wedding unfulfilled. I bind down Glykera, the wife of Dion, to Hermes Eriounios of the underworld, her vulva, her debauchery, her vice, and everything of the sinful Glykera.

They used to put the curse tablets in the tomb of a freshly dead person. The corpse could then take the curse to the underworld. Then, around 317 BCE Demetrios of Phaleron became the ruler of the city. He passed a new law forbidding people from putting their curses into tombs. Those clever Greeks found a way around that.

Water nymphs, as I mentioned earlier, protected well water. But… adding some offerings to them along with the curses would appease the nymphs and they would make sure the curse got to the underworld gods.

I’m not sure why this tale delighted me so, but it did. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!

Thanks for coming by today. Don’t be a stranger!