Why do they break plates in Greek restaurants?

Question

I went for dinner at a Greek restaurant last night, and all of a sudden, the waiters started smashing plates on the floor, 50 at a time. Meanwhile, everyone was clapping and saying 'Bravo.' I found it so bizarre, and a bit uncivilised as well. No disrespect to Greeks.

Answer 1

It is a custom, still in some places in Greece, for a bride, to break a glass or a plate, the minute she is leaving her parents' home to go to the church for her wedding.
This comes from an ancient custom, where the breaking of a pot or a glass, making noise, was symbolizing a "threat" for the gods of the underworld and it was taking place usually in the feasts.
By the time the symbolism was almost forgotten, but the felling remains the same. So, we still break things in order to make noise in our feasts.

Answer 2

Breaking plates is a custom that they dont do alot the following anymore. My husband says to me that its type of a legal duty, perhaps you will get an excellent or something from the police as a results of negative aspects to the human beings round. yet human beings nonetheless do it regardless of the reality that. even as i'm at a nightclub and the sorrowful and emotional track comes on and someone is going into the centre of the floor to do their personal deepest dance human beings throw flora and many destroy their glasses. sometimes someone will purchase some champagne (in a lot of circumstances the low cost stuff) and provide a pitcher to the dancer which the dancer will drink and then destroy the glass. Plates can be damaged at weddings and such issues as that. Its an illustration of happiness, of emotion, to demonstrate that funds doesnt recommend something, that funds isnt extra major that your love and happiness and your household. i have considered human beings do an same type of gesture by employing burning a 50 euro word on the bar. yet to allow you to recognize the reality I havent considered each person destroy intense priced plates or glasses. I dont recognize if the human beings breaking them care or not, in spite of the undeniable fact that the bar and club proprietors actually do! A bar proprietor once informed me that he buys crates of inexpensive glasses each and every three hundred and sixty 5 days because by employing the top of the summer season a minimum of one/2 of them are damaged, even if in drunken injuries or for this very reason. :o)

Answer 3

actually thats how they show enjoyment of the entertainment or the dinner, but they also get charged for those plates, it is a greek tradition. its not uncivilized, they didnt throw them at you did they?

Answer 4

ok i am greek and i understand what you mean and its jsut a diff. culture you need to understand that everone here had diff, cultures and the greeks are just partiers, its just custom for them to do that, no dissrespect jsut open your eyes

Answer 5

its way cheaper than paying someone to wash them if you get them at garage sales and so fun to break stuff and everyone say bravo. I dunno but my old greek uncle never washed a dish and just got new ones at garage sales. Said he did not like paper.

Answer 6

Dish washer was broke.

Answer 7

aristoteles onassis started this but actually it´s nothing usual in Greece anymore.Nowadays they throw flowers! :-)