Web. In ancient Greece, the unburied dead were thought to suffer greatly. tombs a practice emerged of taking servants and concubines to the grave with them, and whats more, the hundreds of skeletons uncovered have indicated that these sacrifices may have been interred alive. In the absence of extensive written records by the Celts themselves, we are left to surmise their religious beliefs from secondhand classical authors. Women played a major role in funeral rites. Archaeological excavations of some princely Celtic tombs have confirmed this may well have been the case. Graveside rituals included libations and a meal, since food and broken cups are also found at tombs. Indeed, the ghost of the great hero Achilles told Odysseus that he would rather be a poor serf on earth than lord of all the dead in the Underworld (Odyssey11: 48991). The status of the individual to whom the tomb was dedicated is reflected in the . Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece. In, Painted limestone funerary stele with a woman in childbirth, Painted limestone funerary stele with a seated man and two standing figures, Marble stele (grave marker) of a youth and a little girl, Marble funerary statues of a maiden and a little girl, Painted limestone funerary slab with a man controlling a rearing horse, Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier standing at ease, Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier taking a kantharos from his attendant, Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier and two girls, Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Marble akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon, The Julio-Claudian Dynasty (27 B.C.68 A.D.), Athenian Vase Painting: Black- and Red-Figure Techniques, Boscoreale: Frescoes from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, Scenes of Everyday Life in Ancient Greece, The Cesnola Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art of Classical Greece (ca. Alexiou,The Ritual Lament In Greek Tradition, pp. A tomb atMarathoncontained the remains of horses that may have been sacrificed at the site after drawing the funeral cart there.
