Pentole, tesori e carboni: qualche riflessione su un proverbio dell’antichità alla luce del folklore

That of the ‘treasure that has turned into coals’ is a common saying among Greek and Latin authors. Its folkloric derivation has long been postulated. It has often been thought that this saying alludes to a narrative like the fairytale of the Gifts of the Little People collected by the Brothers Grimm. In fact, the motif of the transformation of gold into coals and ash seems entirely marginal within this fairy tale. A comparison with the Mediterranean folklore traditions (with particular attention to those of Greece, Piedmont, Sardinia, and Tuscany) rather suggests that upstream of this saying there was the need to explain the random finds of buried pots which, if at times contained treasures, more often turned out to be cinerary vessels, much to the disappointment of their discoverers.