Easter in Greece: red Easter-eggs
When you think about Greek Easter, one of the first pictures that pops in your mind is definitely a red egg…or maybe a basket full of these!
Every year, on Holy Thursday the Greek households color as many eggs as they can in red color. Why on this day?
Well, there are plenty of answers and versions. One version says that Holy Thursday was the day of the Last Supper when Jesus offered his students some wine and bread symbolizing his blood and body sacrifice to save the world. The Greek Christian tradition uses the eggs as a symbol of fertility and the beginning of a new life circle. Thus, red stands for the blood of the savior Jesus.
Since ancient times, Greeks and many other cultures deemed that eggs are a symbol of rebirth. So, you can see that its meaning and connection with life preexisted centuries before Easter.
Nevertheless, the crafty Greek housewives always liked decorations from the natural world and sometimes use dried leaves or flowers to decorate their eggs. Once they are ready, you keep them for Easter Sunday when the egg fights begin while people say ”Χριστός Ανέστη ”!
Read about more Greek traditions here .
