I met a woman in high school or college who had survived the Nazi concentration camps and she had her prisoner number tattooed on her arm. I never asked her about it. It was rather unnerving seeing that.
Posted on 07/22/2025 3:11:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tattoos were considered a sign of “otherness” in ancient Greece, as it was either foreigners or slaves, criminals, and captives who had tattoos in ancient Greek society.
Body modification, such as tattoos and piercings, has been common throughout human societies across the world since Neolithic times. Humans have felt the urge to modify their bodies with tattoos for various cultural, religious, and aesthetic reasons for centuries.
While tattooing developed independently across numerous cultures, Greeks were among the first people to begin inking their skin, as historical records date ancient Greek tattooing to as early as the 5th century BC.
Tattooing has only become part of the mainstream in much of the world in recent decades, as it was previously linked to criminality in many places. A 2019 poll showed that three in ten Americans had at least one tattoo, and this number may be increasing.
Tattoos linked to criminals, slaves in ancient Greece In ancient Greece, people had much more negative views regarding tattooing than many do today.
Grecian Delight supports Greece Tattooing, as a tradition, developed in ancient Greece to punish and identify criminals and outcasts on the fringes of society.
Slaves were often tattooed with the Greek letter delta (Δ), which is the first letter in the ancient Greek word for slave, “Δούλος.”
People who committed crimes could be tattooed on visible parts of the body, such as their foreheads, with symbols or letters that indicated the nature of their crime.
According to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the ancient Greeks developed this method of punishing criminals from the Persians, who used tattoos on criminals and prisoners of war frequently.
The historian mentions that some Thebans who were left behind by their commander Leontiades during the Persian Wars joined enemy forces. Persians tattooed the Greek defectors, and those marks prevented the men from returning to Thebes after the Persians’ defeat.
Famously, the Athenians tattooed the owl, the symbol of their city, on the foreheads of Samian prisoners after they defeated them in battle.
When the Samian forces went on to win against the Athenians in a different battle, they tattooed Samian warships on the foreheads of the Athenians.
Greeks widely considered tattooing to be a foreign practice, and the people with tattoos that they most commonly encountered were not Greek.
Body modification linked with non-Greeks Tattoos were a symbol of high status among the Thracians, an ancient group of people who lived across Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly in the Balkans. Ancient Greeks viewed the Thracians as warlike, tribal, and even barbaric.
In Thracian society, those without tattoos were actually considered to be lower class than those with such markings.
High-status Thracian women, who were known to be very strong and even vicious fighters in antiquity, were heavily tattooed. Ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch posits that the Maenads, followers of Dionysus who were linked to Thracian women, were tattooed as punishment for killing Orpheus in Greek myth.
Clearchus of Soli, an ancient Greek philosopher from the fourth century BC, provides an alternative backstory for the Thracian women’s tattoos.
According to Clearchus, after a war between the Thracians and the Scythians, who were known to practice intricate and artful tattooing, as shown by Scythian mummies with their tattoos still intact, the Scythians took many Thracians captive.
After killing all the men, the Scythian women tattooed their Thracian counterparts.
The Greek philosopher believes that the Thracian women then decided to tattoo the rest of their bodies so as to remove their association with their captors, an act which soon became tradition among Thracian women.
Famed Greek historian Xenophon also describes his encounters with tattooed foreigners in his work Anabasis.
During his journeys near the Black Sea, Xenophon came across the “Mossynoikoi,” who were tattooed across their bodies with floral shapes and designs.
Tattooing as a punitive measure continued in ancient Greece until Christianity became the dominant religion in the country.
Emperor Constantine I actually banned face tattoos in 330 AD, effectively putting an end to the practice of tattooing criminals as punishment in Greece.
He argued that since man was created in the image of God, defiling one’s face was an affront to God Himself.
In the eighth century, tattooing as a whole was banned due to its links to paganism by the Second Council of Nicaea.
Brides with visible tattoos in wedding dresses just ruins it. It’s impossible to look beautiful in a wedding dress when your ink is showing. IMO
Have a young female relative who has starting to shack up with her boyfriend who works at his dad’s tattoo parlor. She just had a small one at 18. Now I am told she has several on her arms. I am sure she thinks it is her “right”. If she marries someone else, the guy is going to know the tattoos were from a prior boyfriend and he will have to look at them everyday they are married. Most likely restricts her choices going forward. I want to ask her if she has been branded “Circle K” on her hind end.
Saw a late 30’s female at a water park with “Eddie” tattooed around her belly button.
I was told early on that only “Yakuza” (Japanese mafia) and criminals had tattoos. They were thought to be unclean.
This we discovered when my boss, who had his blood type tattooed on his arm pit, was not allowed into a public bath house.
Our four kids, 2 of each, all adults have matching tattoos as a sign of sibling unity.
The girls have them on their ankles so they’re unobtrusive. While I don’t want to join in, I think they’re ok because of what they represent.
Beware of Greeks wearing tatoos
I that that’s great symbolism.
I believe that somewhere in the first five books of the Bible there is the prohibition against tatooing.
Thank you. You have answered my question.
In the video below, two Catholic exorcists speak against getting tattoos.
One cites the scripture you cite. And goes further.
The second exorcist raises the possibility - which is eye-opening - that the tattoo artist may be evil and has cursed the ink.
I met a woman in high school or college who had survived the Nazi concentration camps and she had her prisoner number tattooed on her arm. I never asked her about it. It was rather unnerving seeing that.
They were for trashy people in my day, I still look on tattooed women as near prostitutes.
Tattooed women shrink their dating pool by over 50%.
Women seem to think that a tattoo made up of flowers will be an attractive tattoo for them to wear.
I think they're the new miniskirt (a device that average-looking women can use to turn a man's head).
Same story here. Very attractive lady on the daughter in laws side. Hubby is a tattoo artist and quite talented. He’s all inked up but she bought in too. Up her neck and sleeves. Now they are divorced. I wonder if she regrets it. Looks like hell on a damn good looking woman.
“ As I see it, tattoos are a form of graffiti. It disgusts me that so many young and otherwise beautiful women ruin their appearances with tattoos.”
Yeah no kidding! That hummingbird tat she got in her early twenties is going to look like a turkey vulture when she hits her 50’s.
“ device that average-looking women can use to turn a man’s head).”
Yeah, I think that’s the mentality behind it. However, just because my head is turning doesn’t mean I’m impressed. Sometimes our heads turn because we’re disgusted. But nonetheless it’s sad when the beautiful young woman who doesn’t need any help getting attention tats herself up
You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
—Leviticus 19:28Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.
—1 Corinthians 6:19So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
—1 Corinthians 10:31Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
—1 Peter 3:4“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
—1 Corinthians 10:23-24Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
—Romans 14:23Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
—James 4:7
Are you sure all those women were Italian? I say this because many from northern Europe head south to Spain, Italy and Greece for their "holidays."
I admit, it's hard to tell who is an Italian woman when they are in swimming mode. On the street, it's usually easier to pick out the tourists from their elaborate sneakers or the slovenly way they dress (Americans) or their geeky attire (Germans).
The tattoo of the ID number on the arms of victims of the Holocaust were imposed for that reason.
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