Burial, GreeceMARKUS SEHLMEYER

The study of burial practices is important for

understanding the cultural development, reli-

gious ideas, and political culture of the Greek

world. Since ceremonies connected with burial

are well known only from the late Archaic

period, the investigation of early Greek burials

has to concentrate on cemeteries and objects

found in graves; the survey otherwise is chrono-

logical with excurses on general topics such as

funeral art or specific rituals. As there is a mul-

titude of literary and archaeological sources for

Athens, that city here serves an exemplary

purpose. Other poleis and kingdoms can only

be treated selectively – when they show different

types of burial.

LATE BRONZE AGE; MYCENAE

The situation in Late Helladic Mycenae is

characterized by several different means of dis-

posing of the dead. In Grave Circle A,

a cemetery in early use, the chambers contained

the corpse and numerous burial objects. Some

had a stele or gravestone (see STELAE, GREEK).

In the late Helladic period the Mycenaean

elite reorganized the cemetery as a place of

commemoration with a central entrance.

Another type of burial place was the tholos,

a single chamber in a burial mound or cut into a

hillside. The Treasury of Atreus is one of nine

tholoi in Mycenae. This burial chamber, 15 m in

height, has a vault built from megaliths, but the

contents were stolen in antiquity. Both inter-

ment and cremation of the corpse were possible.

The sites of cremation and interment were as a

rule different: it is unusual to find the building of

a tumulus (burialmound) directly over the pyre.

In Athens chamber burials and cist graves

were predominant. Rural Attica exhibited

tholoi and burials as well. Research on the

connection between demes, cemeteries, and

politics are in progress (see below).

DARK AGES; FURTHER GRAVE TYPES

Cremation seems to have been used more often

than burial in the so-called Dark Age of Greece,

especially in Argos and on Crete. Lefkandi

(2009) has a famous example of a tumulus

over a megaron, which served as the grave of a

man and a woman. The man was cremated and

his ashes were stored in an urn. The womanwas

buried. Both have numerous burial objects,

among other things four horses and luxury

goods from the Near East, which demonstrates

the restoration of economic relations in the

Aegean area.

A large number of burials in Attica, both in

Athens and in some of the rural demes, allow us

to track the development of burial practice,

which is also illustrated in the ceramic

evidence. In the Protogeometric period, about

1100–900 BCE, cremation prevails; in the Geo-

metric period, about 900–750, burial became

more important, with cemeteries near the

gates of the city. The graves could be marked

by a tumulus, a tombstone, or a vase. Some of

these vases, or kraters, have pictures of the first

part of every burial, the prothesis (the laying

out). The second part, the ekphora (funeral

procession), was rarely depicted, and the actual

interment never. Grave goods include models

of animals, pomegranates, and commercial

Figure 1 Slab of a cist grave depicting a scene of

prothesis, National Archaeological Museum, Paes-

tum. © Photo Scala, Florence. Courtesy of the

Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 1212–1216.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah22043

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pottery. The burials in the Kerameikos near the

Dipylon gate increased, but the grave goods

decreased with the beginning of the Archaic

period (see KERAMEIKOS, ATHENS).

ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL GREECE

Morris (1987) spent much effort on the anal-

ysis of the number of burials in Athens in the

archaic age. He concluded that “formal burial”

was limited to the aristocratic elite in about

1050–750 and 700–600. The dependent peas-

ants had an “informal disposal,” that is, they

were not buried in cemeteries like the

Kerameikos. But there are other explanations

for the decline in the number of graves on a

single plot (Bergemann 1999, Patterson 2006).

Furthermore, Morris explains the higher

number of burials in 750–700 with the devel-

opment of the polis. The right of a “formal

burial” should create a community of citizens,

Morris insists. Other scholars reject the idea of

“citizen cemeteries.”

Another way of analyzing Greek burial in the

Archaic Age is to look at Homeric epic, which

describes the rituals of a society ruled by war-

riors, basileis. Homer does not describe the

burial of ordinary people, but splendid burials

including quite exceptional elements, for

example, the ritual slaughter at the graveside

of Patroklos (Hom. Il. 23.175ff). Funeral games

for the dead are restricted to the highest mem-

bers of the aristocracy; in addition to Homer’s

example of Patroklos, AMPHIDAMAS of Chalkis

could be mentioned, whose son organized a

poetical contest which was won by Hesiod

(Hes. op. 654–62).

Rituals of prothesis have been well docu-

mented since the Archaic Age. After death the

eyes of the deceased were closed. An obol

was placed in the mouth, the fee for Charon,

the ferry-man of the underworld (see HADES).

The corpse was washed and received the

appropriate clothing (e.g., a wedding dress

for an unmarried girl or a recently married

female). Additionally, the laid-out corpse was

decorated with garments, branches, or a

crown. The location of the ekphora could be

in the house or in the courtyard. Female

mourners raised their hands to their head

and tore their hair, male ones directed one

hand to the head. Apart from gestures, the

mourners sang laments, rituals that satisfied

the soul of the dead. The deposition took

place in one of the ways mentioned above.

After the burial proper a banquet

(perideipnon) was held.We do not have detailed

knowledge of the burial of common people, but

in every case religious rites had to be fulfilled in

a defined order; otherwise it was a sacrilege.

On the third, ninth, and thirtieth days after

death, three ritual forms of commemoration

were usual: the feeding of the dead, a drink-

offering (libation) for the gods, and the decora-

tion of the stele. The second rite involved the

production of lekythoi, white vases for the oil to

be sacrificed. A large number of such lekythoi,

showing scenes of funerary cults, are preserved.

At the annual festival of Genesia, families hon-

ored their deceased members (Herodotus 4.26).

Whenever someone was about to take up

office in Athens, the fulfillment of burial rites

for the parents was scrutinized (see DOKIMASTES,

DOKIMASIA).

Burial is an important theme in Greek

mythology and literature. Oedipus, Ajax, and

Alcestis are subjects of Greek tragedy. The per-

formance of tragic suicide (made a theme

of tragedy by Aeschylus, Euripides, and Soph-

ocles) completes our idea of Greek burial.

Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle also

wrote extensively about death (for literary

sources see Boardman and Kurtz 1971: 360).

Epidemics like the plague at the start of the

Peloponnesian war, on the other hand, fostered

careless burials, just as the war in general

caused a kind of anomie (Thuc. 2.53.1).

A mass grave was found in Kerameikos. DNA

analysis of the bones, and especially of the

teeth, suggests that the deceased died from

typhus (Papagrigorakis et al. 2006).

In the fourth century BCE stelae, or relief

gravestones, were allowed again; many grave

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plots with relief gravestones adorn the roads of

the Kerameikos. Funeral orations by Isocrates,

Lycurgus, Lysias, Demosthenes, and Hyperides

enrich our knowledge of Athenian burial.

FUNERAL LEGISLATION:

SUMPTUARY LAWS

It is not clear whether Solon passed laws

regulating burial in Athens. The historicity

of some Solonian laws remains doubtful. In

the present instance, the law is referred to by

Pseudo-Demosthenes (Or. 42.62) and Plutarch

(Sol. 21): the prothesis is limited to one day

and the corpse has to be interred on the fol-

lowing day before sunrise. Only close relatives

were allowed to take part in the ekphora; wives

could only attend if they were more than sixty

years old. Ornaments and grave goods were

limited as well. These regulations are authentic,

but one has to consider whether they actually

reflect a law of the early sixth or fifth century

BCE. Bernhardt (2003: 72–8) assumes a connec-

tionwith the laws of succession practiced in the

fourth century. In late archaic Athens funerary

art and luxurious burials represented aristo-

cratic competition. Whether the Solonian law

is a sign of a more democratic approach

remains doubtful.

In the fourth century the enforcement of

sumptuary legislation in Athens was relaxed;

gravestones decorated with reliefs were created

in large numbers. Dexileos, who died in the

Corinthian war (inscription: O&R 7), is shown

as a cavalryman. Single graves are an exception,

and family burial is typical on the Kerameikos.

Many reliefs show scenes from family life

(Bergemann 1997).

Demetrios of Phaleron, Macedonian gover-

nor in Athens and eponymous archon in

309/308, regulated burials in the Solonian

tradition. He forbade extended ekphorai and

limited the costs of stelae. The activities of

women were controlled by a GYNAIKONOMOS.

Needless to say, Demetrios justified his deeds

in various texts (Cic. Leg. 2.66).

PUBLIC FUNERALS

The public funeral in Athens is quite well

documented. It might have begun after the

Athenian losses in the battle of Drabeskos

(465 BCE, Jacoby 1944). Thucydides explains

the situation after the first defeat in the

Peloponnesian war in 430:

Having erected a tent, they lay out the bones of

the dead three days before, and each one brings to

his own relative whatever [funeral offering] he

pleases. When the funeral procession takes place,

cars convey coffins of cypress wood, one for

each tribe; in which are laid the bones of every

man, according to the tribe to which he belonged;

and one empty bier is carried, spread in honor of

the missing, whose bodies could not be found to

be taken up. Whoever wishes both of citizens and

strangers, joins in the procession; and their female

relatives attend at the burial to make the wailings.

They lay them then in the public sepulcher, which

is in the fairest suburb of the city, and in which

they always bury those who have fallen in the wars

(except, at least, those who fell at Marathon; but

to them, as they considered their valor distin-

guished above that of all others, they gave a burial

on the very spot). (Thucydides 2.34, transl. Henry

Dale 1855)

For public funerals the Solonian regulationswere

suspended. A longer prothesis and a splendid

funeral procession, described by Thucydides,

were organized by the Athenian state. The war

dead were buried with the deceased from the

same tribe. They were returned as they had

gone away, in the tribal order, in their phyle.

The Athenians invented the Tomb of the

Unknown Soldier, which spread over the whole

world in the twentieth century. In contrast to

private funerals, all inhabitants of Attica could

join the ekphora, not only the relatives.

Following the text above, Thucydides relates

a funeral oration by Perikles (2.35–46), the

historicity of which is not undisputed. Has he

modeled the speech after the historic oration?

It seems more probable that Thucydides

created the speech to demonstrate Athenian

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cultural authority, for it differs markedly from

other speeches of this genre.

A list of the war dead was presented in the

Agora, a place full of memorials like the epony-

mous heroes or the painted Stoa. The heroon,

or shrine, of Theseus is especially interesting in

the context of burials. The bones of the hero

were brought (ca. 475) to the Agora, where

there was a cult to him in the Theseion (see

HERO CULT).

Two public war memorials remained in

Attica near MARATHON and PLATAIA. Every year

the festival of Epitaphia remembered the war

dead. Also outside of Attica public funerals

were celebrated, for example, after the battle

of Chaeronea (338 BCE; see CHAERONEA, BATTLE

OF). The ethnic affiliation of the 254 dead is

disputed to this day; Pausanias (9.40.10)

assumed it was the burial of the Thebans, but

others think it was Macedonian war dead

(Boardman and Kurtz 1971: 248; Ma 2008).

HELLENISM

In Hellenistic times monarchic rule pre-

dominated, but details of the royal funerals

are seldom mentioned. The disposal of the

body of a king necessitated a dynastic tomb.

Macedonian kings, from Philip II, were buried

in grave-chambers in Vergina (see AIGAI). It is

quite possible that the one-eyed skull found in

the tomb is that of Philip. The remains of

Alexander were mummified in preparation

for transport from Babylon to Vergina. Follow-

ing the quarrel between Perdikkas and

Ptolemay the spectacular procession (Diod.

Sic. 18.26–8) was redirected to Alexandria in

Egypt. The funeral car fuses Greek andOriental

elements. The place of interment, however,

remains an open question. The mummifica-

tion of Alexander, moreover, is an exception

which has to dowith Egyptian tradition and, of

course, his death abroad.

Demetrios of Phaleron regulated Athenian

burials through limiting the costs of stelae. We

have numerous funerary inscriptions from

Hellenistic Athens, but rarely with reliefs.

Far from central Greece we find some inno-

vations in funerary art. Mausolos of Caria

(satrap 377–353) planned for himself and his

wife Artemisia a spectacular public tomb in

Halikarnassos, the Mausoleion, ranking among

the seven WONDERS OF THE WORLD. Hellenistic

grave monuments of various kinds are pre-

served around Pergamon. Graves in rows,

sarcophagi, and tumuli show the variance

between burials of the poor and the rich.

The Roman ambassador Scipio Nasica died

in Pergamon and was buried there in 133/132

(inscription: IstMitt 29: 1979: 309ff). Greek

influence on Roman funerals is especially to

be noticed in funerary art, for example, the

mausoleum of Augustus, which was similar to

monumental graves in Asia Minor like the

Mausoleion in Halikarnassos.

Burial according to the ancient rituals was

extremely important for the Greeks. To be bur-

ied with religious rites was necessary for the

salvation of the soul. The Greeks rank with the

Etruscans and Egyptians in burial customs,

although aristocratic societies often have to

confront sumptuary laws, as did democratic

Athens, which reserved public funerals for

fallen soldiers.

SEE ALSO: Death, ancient Near East; Funerary

cult, Greek; Funerary inscriptions, Christian.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Bergemann, J. (1997) Demos und Thanatos.

Untersuchungen zum Wertesystem der Polis im

Spiegel der attischen Grabreliefs des 5. und 4. Jhs. v.

Chr. und zur Funktion der gleichzeitigen

Grabbauten. Munich.

Bergemann, J. (1999) “Graber, Grabbauten,

Grabbezirke: Nekropolen und Geschichte 10

Jahre nach ‘Burial and Ancient Society.’”

Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen

Instituts. Athenische Abteilung

114: 39–48.

Bernhardt, R. (2003) Luxuskritik und

Aufwandsbeschrankungen in der griechischen

Welt. Stuttgart.

Boardman, J. and Kurtz, D. (1971) Greek burial

customs. London.

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Garland, R. (2001) The Greek way of death, 2nd ed.

Ithaca.

Jacoby, F. (1944) “Patrios nomos: state burial in

Athens and the public cemetery in the

Kerameikos.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 64:

37–66.

Jung, M. (2006) Marathon und Plataiai. Gottingen.

Lefkandi (2009) “The protogeometric building

and the cemetery of Toumba.” [online]

[Accessed March 3, 2011.] Available from http://

lefkandi.classics.ox.ac.uk/Toumba.html.

Liddel, P. (2007) Civic obligation and individual

liberty in ancient Athens. Oxford.

Ma, J. (2008) “Chaironeia 338: topographies of

commemoration.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 128:

72–91.

Morris, I. (1987) Burial and ancient society.

The rise of the Greek city-state. Cambridge.

Papagrigorakis, M. J. et al. (2006) “DNA

examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates

typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of

Athens.” International Journal of Infectious

Diseases 10,3: 206–14.

Patterson, C. (2006) “‘Citizen cemeteries’

in Classical Athens?” Classical Quarterly 56:

48–56.

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