For Greeks and Hispanic peoples, Tuesday the 13th is considered an unlucky and dangerous day. The reason.
Tuesday is considered Greek for the Greeks and Spanish-speaking peoples. When it coincides Tuesday and 13, the prudent consider it a very unlucky and dangerous day. For the rest of the peoples, the Greek day is Friday 13th.
In Spanish, the day is called “Martes” and etymologically comes from Mars, who in the Roman tradition was the god of war. War means death, which is never a good omen. This is how the saying “Don’t get married, don’t set sail and don’t leave home on a Tuesday” prevailed (En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques). Something similar is also true in Greece, with the prudent avoiding starting any work, attempting a trip or entering into an engagement.
According to Greek tradition, Tuesday is considered Greek, as on this day Constantinople fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks (Tuesday, May 29, 1453). It may be that the calendar showed 29 and not 13, but the sum of the digits of 1453 gives 13. According to the folklorist Nikolaos Politis (1852-1921), this interpretation is a later one, since contemporaries in Alosis also attributed that national calamity to baneful effect of the day. Evidence for this prevention already exists from 1164.
The explanation of superstition must be sought, according to Nikolaos Politis, in astrological predictions. Based on these, on Tuesday the planet Mars is dominant, while at some time of the day (the “bad time”) it prevails together with the planet Saturn. That is why this time becomes particularly dangerous. However, since no one can determine it, the whole of Tuesday is treated as a bad day.
Greek cinema has also honored the Greek day with the 1963 comedy film, “Tuesday the 13th”, starring the “precautionary” Nikos Stavridis and his “charm”, Yiannis Gionakis.
The number 13
13 is considered an extremely unlucky number, which breaks the harmony of 12 (12 Gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples of Christ, 12 Imams etc). By adding the number 1, the beginning of a new cycle is formed. The unknown, represented by the number 13, causes people to worry, so they began to associate it with unfortunate events.
The number 13 is considered unlucky in the Western world, to the point that hotels often omit it from room doors and some airlines do the same with their seat numbering.
Friday 13th
As for her Friday, which has prevailed as a day of gruusouza in the rest of the western world and there is no certain explanation. One interpretation is that it dates back to Friday, October 13, 1307, when the King of France, Philip III, in collaboration with Pope Clement V, unleashed an unprecedented mass massacre against the Order of Knights Templar, based in Jerusalem. Others argue that it was established by New Testamentas Jesus died on Good Friday.