1.7/1.8 Death & Burial/Underworld - Revision

• Ancient History
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

1.7 Death and Burial & 

1.8 Underworld - Revision

What MUST you remember to do when answering 8-markers?

What MUST you remember to do when answering the short section C questions?

What MUST you remember to do when writing 15-markers in Myth & Religion?

Describe what happened to a Greek from death to burial.

• Eyes and mouth closed; body washed, perfumed and wrapped in long white shroud; coin placed in mouth as payment for Charon
• Two-day prothesis (laying out) allowing family and friends to pay respects, with bowl of water outside for people to watch as they left
• Women would lament - cut hair, dress in shabby black clothing and wail, beating chests and flailing arms
• Ekphora (funeral procession): men, women and children of family; from house of deceased to burial ground, either carried on wagon or by pallbearers.
• Buried outside city (Kerameikos for Athens) to remove chance of religious pollution; either burned cremated on top of pyre, with ash collected and given to family, to be placed in shrine or grave, with burial gifts.
• A stele would be set up as it was vital for the deceased to be remembered
• A sacrifice would take place once the body is buried

Describe what happened at the Anthesteria.

• In late Jan, lasting three days, celebrating maturing of wine in honour of Dionysus
• Day 1: dead rise from underworld and roam earth, with previous year's wine opened and libations poured to Dionysus
• Day 2: drinking contests and libations poured on graves of ancestors
• Day 3: dedicated to dead. Offerings to Hermes as only god (alongside Dionysus who is chthonic. Unlike normal, living could not eat food.
• Remember also Genesia, where graves would be decorated with ribbons, and food and blood sacrifice will be offered.

Describe what happened to a Roman from death to burial.

Similar to Greeks, but:

• If possible, just before death a relative would capture last breath with a kiss
• If at home those present would call out deceased's name (or done ceremonially afterwards)
• Body placed in atrium for eight days instead of two
• Procession involved wider variety of people (musicians, family, slaves/freedmen) and family would wear wax funerary masks of ancestors to symbolise acceptance into afterlife
• Sometimes professional mourners hired
• Burial very similar, with tombs along road into town
• Marble bust placed in house

Describe what happened at the Lemuria.

• Three non-consecutive days in May
• No marriage, temples closed and no official business
• Held to ward off evil spirits: throwing beans while looking away nine times, while the shade gathers beans and follows behind - spirit asked to leave house
• Note also Parentalia: blood sacrifice by Vestal Virgin on first day, then domestic festival - offerings taken to tomb for eight days then meal in home on ninth day.

Why was it important that the dead were properly buried AND outside the town or city?

Would reduce pollution and risk of disease - for Rome, being alongside road into city would allow people to pay their respects. Could also show off!

How could a funeral show off the wealth and social standing of Greek and Roman families?

• For both, procession would show off wealth - especially in Rome, where they could pay for professional mourners or actors to mimic the deceased.
• The stele would have patterns/images carved by an employed sculptor, to show wealth and status
• Wealthier people had better tombs in Rome, with super rich having elaborately carved sarcophagi containing reliefs of mythological battles and heroes.
• In Rome, wealthy families would invest heavily while less wealthy had to use funeral clubs, where they paid for each other's funerals.

Why were festivals to the dead important to Greeks and Romans?

It was vital for memory of deceased to be maintained/not damaged, and allowed families to show off wealth/status.

Describe Demeter's character in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Use specific examples.

• Powerless - Zeus allowed Hades to take Persephone without even consulting her mother (in-keeping with arranged marriage in Greek society)
• Determined - spent nine days searching for Persephone
• Grieving -  she left Olympus and disguised herself as a mortal woman, mourning for her lost daughter. She would morun her daughter for one-third of every year.
• Angry/stubborn - she refused to let anything grow and caused great famine, refusing even when Zeus sent Iris or all the gods with gifts.
• Clever - she suspected Hades had come up with a trap and asked whether Hades had got her to eat food.

Describe Orpheus' character in Ovid's story. Use specific examples.

• Talented - his songs could move inanimate objects and was more compelling than the Sirens (before this story), he stopped the punishments (like Tantalus, Ixion or Sisyphus) and was able to win over the Furies, Pluto and Proserpina
• Grieving - travels all the way to the underworld to recover his wife, bitten by a snake
• Foolish - he turned his eyes back before leaving the underworld, despite being warned not to, leaving Eurydice trapped forever.

How is the Underworld described by Homer & Ovid? Use specific examples.

• When Orpheus arrives, he travels through the throng of ghosts who have been buried
• Ovid: "joyless kingdom"
• Full of men subjected to eternal damnation: Ixion, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Tityus, etc.

Explain why the myth of Persephone's abduction was important to the Greeks and Romans.

• The Greek explanation for the seasons - no seed or harvest for four months when Persephone was in underworld.
• Despite their best efforts the gods canstill punish humans, showing power
• Demeter’s loss mirrors that of the family when they lose a loved one
• Persephone represents a bride who gets taken away from the family through no choice of her own

Explain why Orpheus' story was important to the Greeks and Romans.

• Demonstrated power of art/music/poetry
• Reflected ancient views on loss
• Demonstrates human flaws