Plate smashing


Plate smashing is a Greek custom involving the smashing of plates or glasses during celebratory occasions. In popular culture, the practice is most typical of foreigners' stereotypical image of Greece, and while it occurs more rarely today, it continues to be seen on certain occasions, such as weddings, although plaster plates are more likely to be used.

History in Greece

Ancient and medieval

The custom probably derives from an ancient practice of ritually "killing" plates on mourning occasions, as a means of dealing with loss. Breaking plates may also be related to the ancient practice of conspicuous consumption, a display of one's wealth, as plates or glasses are thrown into a fireplace following a banquet instead of being washed and reused.

Modern times

In 1969, the military dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos, that had suspended democracy and ruled Greece autocratically from 1967 to 1974, banned plate smashing. Nowadays specially-produced plaster plates are used. Another modern variation on the custom is for diners at small Greek restaurants or tavernas to buy trays of flowers that they can throw at singers and each other.

In popular culture