The Burial Customs of the Ancient Greeks by Frank Pierrepont Graves

(7 User reviews)   4014
By Ronald Gonzalez Posted on Jan 11, 2026
In Category - Productivity
Graves, Frank Pierrepont, 1869-1956 Graves, Frank Pierrepont, 1869-1956
English
Ever wonder what the Greeks really thought happened after death? It wasn't all just Charon's ferry and Hades. This book pulls back the curtain on a world of rituals we've mostly forgotten. Graves walks us through everything from how they washed and dressed the body to the food left at gravesites, showing how these customs were a direct line to their beliefs about the soul, family duty, and keeping the dead happy. It turns dusty archaeology into a surprisingly human story about fear, respect, and the universal need to say a proper goodbye. If you like Greek myths, this is the real-world manual that makes those stories feel even more alive.
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=CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM GRAECARUM=, Edidit Augustus Boeckhius, Berolini. =COULANGE=, La Cité Antique. =DODWELL=, Edward, Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece, London, 1819. =FEYDEAU=, Histoire générale des usages funébres et des sepultures des peuples anciens, Paris, 1858. =FORBIGER=, Populäre Darstellung des öffentlichen und häuslichen Lebens der Griechen und Römer. I Band, Leipzig, 1876. =GARDNER=, Percy, Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. v. =HERMANN=, Lehrbuch der Griechischen Privatalterthümer von K. F. Hermann. Dritte Auflage von Dr. Hugo Blümner, Freiburg, 1882. =MAHAFFY, J. P.=, Rambles and Studies in Greece, second edition 1878. =MERRIAM, A. C.=, American Journal of Arch. v. Icaria. =MILLIN, A. L.=, Peintures de vases antiques vulgairement appelés Etrusques tírées des differentes collections. =MITCHELL, LUCY M.=, History of Ancient Sculpture. =MILLINGEN, J. V.=, Painted Greek Vases, London, 1822. =PERROT et CHIPIEZ=, Histoire de L’art dans L’antiquité, Tome premier, L’Egypte. =POTTIER, EDMOND.= Étude sur les Lecythes Blancs Attiques á Représentations Funéraires. [Bibliothéque des écoles françaises d’Athénes et de Rome, Tome 30.] =ROBERTS, E. S.= Introduction to Greek Epigraphy, Cambridge, 1887. =SCHREIBER=, Bilderatlas and Commentary. =STACKELBERG=, Baron. Die Graeber der Hellenen, Berlin, 1837. =ST. JOHN=, History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greeks, Vol. III, London, 1842. =TEGG=, The Last Act. London, 1877. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. DUTY OF BURIAL: Burial of an enemy--Duty toward parents. CHAPTER II. BURIALS EXTRAORDINARY: Burial of criminals--Of suicides--Of traitors--Of those struck by lightning--Special ceremonies for violent deaths--For persons drowned. CHAPTER III. PREPARATION FOR BURIAL: Former features--Reforms--The passage money--The bath--The unguents--The wreaths--The honey-cake--The garments. CHAPTER IV. THE LYING IN STATE (_Prothesis_): When this took place--Regulations of Ceos--The women who took part--The scarf, the fan, and the bird--The place--The position of the corpse--The _kline_--The _lecyths_--The _ardanion_--Two purposes of the prothesis. CHAPTER V. OUTWARD GRIEF: By whom rendered--Only a form--Excesses--Laws against excess--Their result. CHAPTER VI. THE PROCESSION, (_ekphora_): Third day the set time--Exceptions to set time--Hour of the day--The _kline_--Who carried the bier--The dirge singers--Who might attend the procession--Military funeral processions. CHAPTER VII. BURNING OR INHUMATION? The extreme views--The two methods contemporary--Cremation at every period--Burial also existed--Custom at Sparta and Sicyon--Comparison with modern methods--Details of cremation--Place of cremation. CHAPTER VIII. THE COFFINS: Early coffins--Those of stone--Of cypress--Shape and decorations. CHAPTER IX. THE TOMBS: The varieties--Heaps of earth--The stêlæ--Decorations--The _kion_--The _trapezae_--The herôum--Early entombments--Later cost and regulations against it--Inscriptions on the tombs--Epitaphs to children--Trinkets placed in the tomb--The public cemetery--Tombs of the richer class--Burials outside of the city--The motive--Laws at Sparta and other States. CHAPTER X. THE FUNERAL FEAST (_Perideipnon_): Its purpose--The host--The place--Praise of deceased’s virtues--Consecration of fragments. CHAPTER XI. SACRIFICES AT THE GRAVE: Performed by relatives--The two varieties--Increase in expense--The _trita_--The _ennata_--The sacrifices of the Argives--Of the Spartans--When mourning ceased--The basket--Other utensils--What was employed for sacrifices--Women performed sacrifices--Grief less noticeable than at prothesis--Customs at the tomb--General attention to the graves. CHAPTER XII. FURTHER CEREMONIES: The _genesia_--The _nekysia_--Funeral games--Duty of visiting the grave--General conduct of a mourner--Black garments and polling of the head--Custom at Sparta--Conclusion. THE BURIAL CUSTOMS AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS. I. DUTY OF BURIAL. The task of investigation in this field of Grecian antiquities is akin to that of a blind man, patching together the fragments of a shattered vase with no guidance but the rough outline of innumerable pieces. Every nook and corner of Greek literature must be explored, every exhumed inscription, monument, statue and vase must be carefully scanned, to find a hint here and there to illustrate and illuminate the subject. Using the word _monument_ in a broad sense, it is from monuments, rather than literature, that we get the most trustworthy information on Greek burial customs. Ancient literature reveals the thought of the superior minds. The common...

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Don't let the academic title fool you. This isn't a dry list of facts. Frank Pierrepont Graves acts more like a guide, taking you step-by-step through the entire process of a Greek funeral. He starts with the moment of death—the specific coins placed on the eyes, the careful washing of the body—and follows the procession to the burial site. He explains why certain pots were buried with people, what the funeral feasts meant, and how families would visit graves for years with offerings. It's a complete picture of how ancient people handled life's only certainty.

Why You Should Read It

This book changed how I see ancient history. We often focus on their wars, philosophy, and art, but this shows their private, vulnerable side. The care they took reveals so much: their fear of restless ghosts, their deep sense of family obligation, and their very concrete ideas about the afterlife. It makes the Greeks feel less like marble statues and more like real people who grieved and hoped. Reading it, you start to connect dots between these rituals and stories you know, like the importance of burial in The Iliad.

Final Verdict

Perfect for history buffs who want to go beyond kings and battles, or anyone who loves Greek mythology and wants to understand the everyday beliefs that fueled those epic tales. It's also a fascinating read for the simply curious about how different cultures face death. The writing is clear and straightforward, making a niche subject genuinely accessible. Just be ready to look at your next museum vase with completely new eyes.



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Jessica Perez
8 months ago

Wow.

Edward Hill
7 months ago

Loved it.

Deborah Perez
1 year ago

Honestly, the content flows smoothly from one chapter to the next. I learned so much from this.

David Rodriguez
1 year ago

Clear and concise.

Liam Young
1 month ago

Good quality content.

5
5 out of 5 (7 User reviews )

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