While many Western countries believe that Friday the 13th is an ominous day, it is Tuesday the 13th that Greeks fear the most. Misfortune and calamity struck with the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade on Tuesday, April 13, 1204 paving the way for the Fall of the city to the Ottomans many Tuesdays later on Tuesday, May 29, 1453. Add the numbers, however 1 + 4 + 5 + 3 and you get the full sum of 13. Coincidence? Greeks don’t think so!
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The Greek word for Tuesday (Triti) means Third, adding weight to the superstition that bad luck comes in threes. Tuesdays are also viewed as being dominated by the influence of Mars, the god of war.
As for 13, Greeks believe that it spoils the perfection of 12 e.g. the 12 Greek gods, 12 months, 12 hours of the day and 12 hours of the night, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 signs of the zodiac etc. In fact, Philip II of Macedon died shortly after he erected his own statue next to those of the 12 Olympian gods.
In Christianity, the 13th chapter of the Revelation is the one that brings up the coming of the Antichrist.
So today, beware, there’s evil lurking everywhere!
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