Throughout history, religious
humans of various faiths have long believed that certain emotions, feelings or
sensations could be inflicted on people by supernatural forces. For instance,
in the ancient Greco-Roman society, many thought that a deity called Eros or
Cupid inspired the feeling of love. Similarly, according to some teachings of
the Abrahamic religions, sinful temptations are caused by the machinations of
demons. In that same strain of thought, the ancient Greeks also believed that
sneezes could be divinely inspired. In fact, a sneeze was believed to be a good
omen if it occurred after a serious statement or a decision.
This belief made an
appearance in writing as early as the age of the 8th-century BCE epic poet,
Homer. Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, professed her belief that a sneeze was a sign
of the gods’ support in book XVII of The
Odyssey. In that scene of the poem, Penelope had just finished longingly
prophesying about how Odysseus would purge the shameless suitors in her home
once he returned to Ithaca. As soon as Penelope ended her hopeful speech, her
son, Telemachus, let out a great sneeze. After hearing her son’s powerful
sneeze, Penelope cheerfully exclaimed, “Didn’t you notice that my son sneezed a
blessing on all I had said?” (Book 17, approx. line 540, Penguin, 2009).
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (cropped
and sneeze-modified tondo from an Attic red cup, possibly Briseis and Phoenix
(Louvre caption) or Hecamede and Nestor, ca. 490 BC. From Vulci. [Public
Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Odyssey by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.
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