Dave Rolsky wrote:
>Monday!
>
>How exciting. I figured I might as well just pick something, and so I
>picked Monday. There were a lot of excellent candidates, and Friday's
>performance was excellent, but overall Monday best exemplified the
>qualities that I look for in a week-starter.
>
(rofl)
No objection, and no "buts". But :-) since the discussion is getting
real fun with all those Romans, Mayas, Chinese, and so on, I think I'll
go on.
I'm surprised Rich claimed that in the Christian world we largely
consider Sunday to be the first day. It is very true that the Christian
tradition indeed has Sunday as the first day. The proof is in the modern
Greek names for the days (if I'm not much mistaken, Christianity made
its way to the Western world through the Eastern Roman Empire, that is,
essentially Greece).
The Greek name for Sunday, Kyriake, means Lord's day
Monday Deutera Second
Tuesday Trite Third
Wednesday Tetarte Fourth
Thursday Pempte Fifth
Friday Paraskeue Preparation
Saturday Sabbaton Sabbath
The "preparation" for Friday is because it was the preparation for the
Sabbath; see also Mark 15:42: "It was Preparation Day (that is, the day
before the Sabbath)." Originally Paraskeue meant the day before the
Sabbath of the Jewish Passover. (It is interesting that the Bible says
elsewhere that the seventh day is dedicated to the Lord, but in the
Christian world this became the first day.)
But this is the tradition. This is a long time ago. When I went to
primary school, I remember my teacher teaching me the days starting from
Monday. I believe my English teacher (who was English) did the same, and
my French teacher (that one was Greek) did the same. If I am to say all
days' names like a poem, I'll start at Monday in all three languages.
Aren't you going to do the same? (I'm just asking.) Isn't "weekend" the
week end? Don't you feel that a cycle begins on the first working day of
the week?
The bottom line: Surely people all over the world do begin their diet on
Mondays?
