March 17: St. Patrick's Day

The Athenian leader Perikles came up with the idea to let his soldiers pick a bean from a closed bag. If it was a white one, they got the day off. So a “white day”, would mean “a day of luck”. But in normal daily life, it wouldn’t be Perikles, but the goddess Tyche, lady Fortuna for the Romans, who decided about good fortune. She was one of these divinities who carried a cornucopia, holding wealth and health and marital bliss, all of which she divided without regard for merit or need. She was the archetype of “la donna mobile” and even the gods had to deal with her wims, symbolised by her infamous wheel of fortune, that she spun at random. If it took a turn for the worse, there was nothing you could do. Every polis had its own Tyche-version with her crown of bricks representing city walls. Tyche would be accompanied by Kairos, the youngest son of Zeus and god of opportunity. He had only one lock of hair, at his forehead, that you could grab if you acted fast. But since the back of his head was bald, if he passed you by, the chance of a lifetime was gone.

Caeros, relief, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Tyche, Museeo di Palazzo Grimani, Venezia, Italy