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χαίρετε. σήμερον λόγους ποιήσομαι περὶ τοῦ πάσχα· αὕτη γάρ ἡ ἑορτὴ μεγάλη ἐστὶν παρ’ ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ Γερμανίᾳ καὶ ἴσως παρ’ ὑμῖν ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις πολιτείαις τῆς οἰκουμένης. σκεψώμεθα δὲ πῶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἑορτάζουσι ταύτην τὴν ἑορτὴν καὶ τίνα τὰ ἔθη περὶ τὸ πάσχα· ἀρξώμεθα δέ.
Hi! Today I am going to talk about Easter, because this holiday is huge here in Germany and maybe for you in other countries around the world, too. So let’s take a look at how people celebrate this festival and what are the Easter traditions. But let’s start!
περὶ τὸ πάσχα ὑπάρχει πολλὰ ἔθη, οἷον·
There are many Easter traditions, for example:
χρωματίζομεν τὰ ᾠὰ καὶ κοσμοῦμεν θάμνους αὐτοῖς, ἐν τῷ κήπῳ ἢ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ.
We color eggs and we decorate bushes with them, in the house or garden.
ἄλλα δὲ ᾠά κρύπτομεν, ἵνα οἱ παῖδες ζητῶσιν αὐτά.
And we hide other eggs so that the children search for them.
τὰ δὲ ηὑρημένα ᾠὰ κατακυλίνδομεν ἵνα ῥήξαντες φάγωμεν αὐτά.
The found eggs we roll down so as to break and eat them.
ἀλλὰ οὐ μόνον τὸ ὠόν ἐστι σημεῖον τοῦ πάσχα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ὄρνις (ἢ ἡ ἀλεκτορίς) ἣ τίκτει τὰ ᾠά.
But the egg is not the only symbol for Easter, but also the hen, which lays the eggs.
ἄλλο συμβολικὸν ζῷόν ἐστιν ὁ λαγώς.
Another symbolic animal is the hare.
ὡς δὲ ὄνομα ὁ λαγὼς ἄτοπον ἔχει σχῆμα· λέγομεν γάρ·
As a noun “the hare” has an unusual paradigm. For we say:
ἔνιοι οὖν ἐσθίουσιν λαγὼν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ πάσχα, ἄλλοι δὲ ἐσθίουσιν ἰχθύν· ὁ γὰρ ἰχθὺς παλαιότατον σημεῖόν ἐστι τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ·
So some (people) eat hare on Easter while others eat fish because the fish is a very ancient symbol for Christianity.
Ἰησοῦς (Jesus)
Χριστός (Christ)
Θεοῦ (of God)
Ὑιός (Son)
Σωτήρ (Savior)
–> ἰχθύς
οἱ δὲ ὀρθόδοξοι Χχριστιανοὶ ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἀσπάζονται ἀλλήλους ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς ἀναστάσεως λέγοντες· Χριστὸς ἀνέστη. καὶ ὁ ἄλλος ἀποκρίνεται· ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη.
The Orthodox Christians in Greece even today greet each other during the days of the resurrection by saying: Christ has risen. And the other (person) answers: Truly, he has risen.
τὸ δὲ ὄνομα πάσχα, ὡς εἰκός, οὐκ ἔστιν ἑλληνικόν, ἀλλὰ ἑβραϊκὸν καὶ ἀραμαϊκόν. παράγεται γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων · ταύτῃ γὰρ τῇ ἑορτῇ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι οἳ ἐν ταύταις ταῖς ἡμέραις μνημονεύουσι τῆς ἐξόδου τῶν προγόνων αὐτῶν. oἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐσθίουσιν ἄζυμον ἄρτον ὅτι καὶ οἱ πρόγονοι αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἐξόδῳ οὐκ ἔσχον ζύμην ἵνα ποιοῖεν ἄρτον.
The noun “pascha”, of course, is not Greek but Hebrew and Aramaic. For it is derived from the Jews, who during these days remember the exodus of their forefathers. The Jews eat unleavened bread because during the exodos their forefathers, too, didn’t have leaven so as to make bread.
οὕτως οὖν τὸ πάσχα παρὰ πολλοῖς ἀνθρώποις γίγνεται μεγάλη ἑορτή· τί δὲ παρ’ ὑμῖν; πῶς ὑμεῖς ἑορτάζετε ταύτην τὴν ἑορτήν; γράψατε, εἰ βούλεσθε, ἐν τοῖς κάτω ὑπομνήμασιν.
Thus, for many people, pascha is a big festival. But what about you? How do you celebrate this festival? Write, if you like, in the comments below.
ἔρρωσθε οὖν καὶ… καλὸν πάσχα.
So, good bye and… happy Easter!
ποῦ ἐστι τὰ ᾠά, ὦ Ἄργε; ζήτησον.
Where are the eggs, Argos? Search!