Note 209 — Chapter II · TABOOED DAYS AFTER A DEATH AND ON RELATED OCCASIONS

Compare Hesychius, s.v. μιαροὶ ἡμέραι (ed. Schmidt, col. 1045): “the polluted days of the month of Anthesterion, on which days they think that the souls of the departed are sent up from the nether world.” Photius, s.v. μιαρὰ ἡμέρα (ed. S. A. Naber, Leiden, 1864-1865, i, 423), says that on the second day the people used to chew buckthorn and anoint their doors with pitch. See Frazer’s note (The Scapegoat, p. 153 n.¹) on the widespread use of buckthorn and pitch as prophylactics against ghosts and evil influences.