Death and Dying, Rituals and Afterlife, Beliefs of the Ancient Greeks - Dissertation Example

Diana Abatecola Nursing 312 Topic: Death and Dying, Rituals and Afterlife, Beliefs of the Ancient Greeks April 9, In every culture there exists some special attention allocated to death and beliefs associated with death. One of the earliest activities of man deals with death, the taboos linked to death and the last respects given to those who have died. The superstitions surrounding the Greek beliefs of the dead is quite an interesting issue to discuss for they were strongly religious and they designed certain concepts about human soul, afterlife and the taboos associated with death (Robben 34-46). The ancient Greek had several beliefs related to the dead and dying, they had strong beliefs and rites which reflected the role of human soul, location and actions believed to have occurred after death and as a result they formulated strict rituals which were to be performed after a person died and their beliefs: which were interconnected with death played a fundamental role during the death rituals (Taylor 39-51). Discussion Funeral Rites The funerals of the ancient Greek consisted of three acts which were observed to the minute detail. These acts comprised of the procedures of laying down the deceased’s body, the procession to the grave yard, and the actual burial of the cremated remains of the dead. Similar to most funerals in today’s civilized world; the ancient Greek displayed family wealth and kinship ties. It was both a ceremony and much like a social event to bid farewell to the dead as well as an act of consolation to the family of the deceased. However, this was a function that displayed the family’s wealth and kinship, it was further a rite of passage from the living soul to the afterlife and the main purpose was to support the soul along its journey to afterlife (Taylor 83-109). The ancient Greek strongly believed that if the soul was not buried; then its entrance into the Hades would be compromised and thus the fundamental purpose of these rituals was extremely important to the future of the soul after death. Most of the ancient Greeks believe that; if the soul was not allowed to enter into the Hades then it was not be able to gain peace for it was to be disembodied. This created great fear among the Greeks and the denial of proper burial rites was often used as a punishment for those who had committed serious crimes during their lifetime. The most feared type of death was at sea since the body could not be retrieved to be accorded proper burial (Robben 61-75). Death Deities in Greek Legend and Myth Like in most religions, there were deities in Ancient Greek which were accorded roles and responsibilities during the personification of the deceased. There are various deities, who are either related to or are offered to the personification of the deceased and some of the most common deities that existed are as discussed below: Hades Hades was known as the underworld Greek god, it was the destination of the soul after the death of an individual. This god presided over the punishment of the deceased after he/she died. The name of the god was also the synonym of the underworld and it is similar to the Christian belief of the existence of Hell (Robben 93-117). Thanatos Thanatos was the brother of Hypnos and the son of Nyx; the god of sleep and also the goddess of night. Further, he was also the Greek death personification. When an individual passed away, it would be his responsibility to direct the soul to the underworld (Obayashi 24-33). The Fates Under Greek mythology, the Fates were three sisters which were responsible for the destiny of the soul. They were also associated with death as they determined for how long an individual was supposed to live before he died. The three sisters were: Clotho who spinned and individuals thread of life, Lachesis who determined the lifespan of a person, and Atropos who after the others had made their decisions, she would eventually cut the thread of life of an individual hence ending his life (Taylor 113-148). Greek Concept of the Soul and Afterlife The Living Soul In Ancient Greece, the belief of the living soul was categorized into two concepts: free soul and body soul. The former was an alibi of the personification of the soul while the latter was the concept that offered consciousness and life to the body. The free soul acted as a person’s individuality without any psychological concerns. Homer argued that an individual could not survive without the free soul and it played a fundamental role during times of crisis, he added that when an individual fainted, it was a result of the free soul temporarily leaving the body and death was the permanent departure of the free soul to the underworld of the Hades (Robben 133-151). The body soul was further subdivided into two parts: the ego soul and the life soul. The former gave the body a sense of consciousness and it often assumed the form of thymos who converted will into action and the hope of acting and it was believed to be the major source of emotions but this did not mean that it was restricted to emotions alone (Obayashi 52-77). The Soul of the Dead After the soul permanently departed from the body during death, it went to the underworld and started an afterlife. At this point the soul was considered to be a spirit. The Greek believed that the spirit possessed the characteristics of an individual while he was alive since the physical nature of the soul was more significant to the Greek than the psychological aspect. They also maintained the fact that the soul behaved similarly to what it did while living, meaning it could move and speak (Robben 173-201). The Power of the Dead As discussed earlier, the Greek believed that after death, the free soul was lost. The dead were feared and respected and it was a criminal offence to speak evil about the dead further it was a more serious offence if someone spoke lies about the dead. They believed that the dead maintained their legal rights even after they had died. Also, it was a crime if a relative failed to perform ritual rites at the deceased’s tomb for this was considered as an act of denying the dead his burial rites (Taylor 154-173). Death and Human Sacrifices Human Sacrifice Practices Human sacrifice was much treated equally as that of animal sacrifice; however it was obscure as to the source of the information but some customs referenced slaves being killed so as to serve their masters in the underworld of afterlife. Cases of wives being killed at the burial of their husbands were also rampant, there were many reasons why these activities were taking place but not most of them were associated with human sacrifice (Obayashi, 85-102). Funerary Ritual Killing Ritual killing has been an act of history; and, the ancient Greeks have not been exempted. Historical references confirm that the ancient Greeks used to execute individuals who had committed murder on the tombs of the deceased. Plato argued that “… who has killed or plotted the death of a free man be taken by the public executioner to within the sight of the dead man’s tomb to be put to death…” Plato was emphasizing the severity of the issue which meant that justice had to be done to those who did injustice to life (Taylor, 163-179). The “Special Dead” There were cases where the deceased could be considered as the “special dead”. People who died at old age or had untimely death had abnormal display of wealth at their burial tombs. For instance, the tombs of young children received more attention and contained expensive items than those of adults and their funeral rites were simple as they were considered to have recently departed from the underworld realm of spirits and it was easy for them to go back. Heroes and heroines were also among the special dead since more often than, not they were accorded supernatural status and hero worship was a common practice among the Greek. More often, temples were usually erected for departed heroes who later acquired some followers, further the heroes were incorporated into cities where they were given special burials in sanctuaries or even buried in graves engraved on the walls of the city (Taylor 185-201). Beliefs Associated with Return from the Dead During the archaic period, ghosts and vampires were not much revered, but this may be as a result of obsolete records. However, Plato argued that there existed ghosts around graveyards. There also festivals which were associated with ghostly appearances like the Athenian festival. During this festival, buckthorn leaves were chewed, alcohol was drunk in silence and banquets were prepared and consumed in silence (Robben 221-253). Death Representation in Art Tomb excavations’ have revealed that there existed funerary artistic drawings and sculptures like pottery and vases. On some of the objects, art related to mourning and death was usually portrayed and it basically focused on two types of mourners. Women usually had their hands over their heads tearing their hair while men had their hands held to their foreheads as though they were beating it. Later art showed that women were more closer to funerary activities than were men. Artwork was a valuable source of information concerning ancient Greek death rituals and beliefs (Obayashi 136-167). Conclusion The ideas and beliefs surrounding the ancient Greek associated with death and afterlife were more often than not complicated. Several years can be spent researching on the Greek death rituals and beliefs alone and it is my ultimate expectation that this paper has provided sufficient information related to the death practices and beliefs among the Greek in ancient Greece which occurred hundreds of years ago. Otherwise there is still more to be done as the basic ideologies about the ancient Greek still lies in unexcavated cites. Works Cited Obayashi, Hiroshi. Death and Afterlife: Perspectives of World Religions. Praeger Paperback, 1991. Print Robben, Antonius. Death, Mourning, and Burial: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. Print Taylor, Richard. Death and the Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2000. Print Read More