Which New Year's Eve tradition in Greece involves smashing a pomegranate for good luck?

The Greek New Year's Eve tradition involving a smashed pomegranate is called pomegranate breaking.

In Greece, a pomegranate may be smashed against the entrance of a home at New Year. The many seeds scattered from the fruit symbolize abundance, fertility, and prosperity. Some families perform the custom immediately after midnight, while others do it when they return home from a New Year's church service.

The pomegranate has deep roots in Greek mythology and ancient Mediterranean culture. In the myth of Persephone, eating pomegranate seeds links her to the Underworld, giving the fruit a powerful symbolic history long before its modern New Year's associations.

Regional and family practices vary. In some households, the person regarded as lucky or good-hearted is chosen to break the fruit. The custom should not be confused with Greece's vasilopita, a New Year's cake that traditionally contains a hidden coin.