Funeral rites made in ancient Greece
Introduction
The Greeks believed that, when a person died, his body and spirit separated and that he was heading to Hades, the kingdom of the dead or underworld. The path that the souls had to travel was secret and only the god Hermes was knowledgeable of them, so it was he who accompanied the souls on his journey. This category of gods that led to souls are known as psychopomps. The road crossed the Leto River, the river of oblivion, and the Laguna de Estigia, where Caronte expected, the boatman who led to the souls to the other shore.
Developing
The rivers and lagoons form a fundamental part in the Hades, since they were the natural limit between the world of the living and that of the dead. After arriving at the shore, the doors to Hades were defended by Hades’ dog, Cerbero (according to Hesiod, son of Typheus and Equidna and the devouring raw meat), with fifty heads, strong and implacable. Upon entering, the dead man was judged by the trilogy of judges formed by Minos, Radamantis and Éaco, who decide the punishments for the convicted. The god of the underworld was Hades (son of Cronos and brother of Zeus and Poseidon).
Also known as Pluto and was always accompanied by his wife, Persephone (daughter of Demeter and Zeus), which was kidnapped by Hades himself while picking up flowers in a meadow accompanied by Nymphs, Athena and Artemis. Both received sitting in their thrones to the deceased. Sample of this, we have the Orpheus amphora (Image 1), in which the hero is represented before Hades and Persephone after going down to the underworld in search of his beloved Eurídice. Finally and after listening to the music of Orpheus, Persephone convinces her husband to let them return to the earthly world.
On the other hand, the body of the deceased remained in the earthly world and was the one that received the funeral rite or Kedeia. Three steps are distinguished: the prothesis or exposure of the body, the Ekphora or lifting of the deceased, the funeral procession, and finally the burial. Then, a banquet was organized. Prothesis passed the day of death. First their eyes and mouth were closed in the event that they had them open for the time of the wake;Then the body was cleaned with seawater and perfumed;and wrapped with a shroud. All these tasks were made by women from the deceased family.
The wake took place in the same house of the deceased, once the body in oil was anointed. Around it, there were water bowls to purify themselves, lécitos (narrow ceramic glasses generally white) and women crying the loss of the deceased (they could be or plañideras explicitly hired for that work). In addition, coins or eyes or under the tongue were placed to pay the Caronte boat and that the soul of the deceased to leave for hell. To know if a death had occurred, one had to check if a ciprés branch or a strand of hair was found at the door.
Thanks to the Greek ceramics, we can verify that there were two ways of sorry expression before the death: women, placed closer to the body, had their hands up and took them to their heads;And the men, away from the body, just raised a hand as if saying goodbye to the dead. In addition, of the regrets of family and friends, professional musicians or there are also hired to sing them. The day after the death the Ekphora or funeral courtship took place.
The deceased’s body moved from home to the cemetery through a carriage (if the relatives belonged to the noble class) or taken by the Nekrophyroi, who were hired men for that work. Unlike prothesis, the number of men was greater in this courtship. The road to the grave could be accompanied by flutists, again hired to sing the regrets. Once in the holy countryside, libations were made in honor of the deceased and the gods of the dead.
In the grave, indicated with a funeral trail, garlands, ribbons, again lécitos, perfume bottles (which had a meaning of immortality) and offerings were placed. Regarding burial and funerary trousseau, if it was a man, handles of handles in the neck and weapons were buried next to him, and if he was a woman, neck amphorae were deposited in the belly, jewelry and wheels next to her. In addition, during the burial rite, animal sacrifices could take place in honor of the deceased. Finally and after the celebration of the funeral, the relatives took a bath to purify themselves and the house.
That it had been the place where the deceased was veiled, it had to be swept (even the remains of such cleaning could be deposited next to the grave). In this way, relatives were away from death. In the stories of mythology it was collected that the gods remained away from mortals, so by this fact, some of the priests, who were united in one way or another with the God, were prohibited from entering the house of the deceasedand visit his grave.
conclusion
It should be noted that the body did not have to be buried only;Other funeral methods such as incineration or cremation of the body could also be carried out. After three days after burial, the relatives of the deceased were responsible for organizing a banquet in honor of their recently deceased relative. It took place at the family’s house and could be repeated on prominent days, such as the new day or the day thirty.
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