3 Comments
⭠ Return to thread

Another brilliant and captivating essay. It makes sense to me that they would use the right hand for several reasons, including many you already laid out. I’m reminded that, when the Romans said goodbye to one another, they’d often say, “Eo dextro pede,” which means “go forth on your right foot [first].” And when Roman soldiers took their first step when marching in formation, it was always on their right foot for good luck. A person’s power (virtue) was also believed to be contained in the right hand. So I wonder if they were thinking that in using the skin from the right hand they were sort of giving their quivers a “kevlar” sort of coating.

Expand full comment

I’m so embarrassed. The Latin should be “Eas dextro pede.” Inexcusable. 😂

Expand full comment
author

Hey, it sounded good to me :-) That's really interesting about the Romans' preference for beginning with the right foot, and I have to agree there is some connection. I like the analogy of the skin being like kevlar :-) There had to have been some sense that there was immense power in it.

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to call the "pledge" of the right hand and how it relates to oath-taking and deal-making since ancient times, including in mythology. Dumezil tackles some of this in his book Mitra-Varuna when he talks about figures like the Norse god Tyr, who pledged his hand in a (false) oath and ended up sacrificing it to the wolf Fenrir, or of Scaevola who similarly sacrifices his hand in a fire on behalf of the Romans. The Scythians supposedly settled certain disputes with duels, and the loser lost his right hand. It got me thinking about how we still raise our right hands when we swear an oath in court and clasp each other's hands when sealing a deal... is it the remnant of some kind similar of "pledge"? Anyway, this is what happens when I have too much time to think, haha ;-)

Thanks as always for your interesting and insightful comments and for introducing me to a new Latin phrase!

Expand full comment
Error