DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9184#0374
Chap. XL] Spartan Tombs and the Culttis of the Dead. 3 cj i
which they commonly deposited their offerings, or in
Hades, the realm of the shades. This is a question
which it is easier to ask than to answer; indeed, it can-
not be satisfactorily answered, for it is a matter in which
the Greeks had never fully made up their minds. The
gods dwelt in Olympus, yet they were also present on
their temples. In the same way the dead were imagined
to dwell in the world of shades, and yet they knew what
took place at their tombs, and could enjoy the offerings
there set out for them. The spot where a man's body
is laid can never be entirely divorced from his person-
ality. Do not we ourselves regard as sacred the spot
where the body of a friend sleeps in death, although
among us the idea of the distinctness of soul and body
is far more clear and general than among the Greeks ?
These are confusions of thought so deeply worked into
the web of human nature that it may be doubted if they
will ever be worked out of it.
We moderns could easily understand that deities
should be depicted as reclining on a couch to receive
the homage of mankind. And we could understand
that the banqueting-reliefs of tombs should be mere
transcripts from ordinary daily life. But we find it very
hard to understand how the Greeks, possessing the no-
tions of the future life with which we meet in Homer
and Pindar, and in the mockeries of Lucian, could erect
such frequent monuments at all periods as memorials of
the worship of the dead. We find it difficult simply be-
cause the frame of mind implied is one of which we
have no experience. But the view hardest to receive is
that which is true.
Let us next turn to another class of reliefs, those in
which the deceased is represented, not as seated in state,
but as riding on a horse, or leading one by the bridle.
These designs are not found at Sparta, though they have
which they commonly deposited their offerings, or in
Hades, the realm of the shades. This is a question
which it is easier to ask than to answer; indeed, it can-
not be satisfactorily answered, for it is a matter in which
the Greeks had never fully made up their minds. The
gods dwelt in Olympus, yet they were also present on
their temples. In the same way the dead were imagined
to dwell in the world of shades, and yet they knew what
took place at their tombs, and could enjoy the offerings
there set out for them. The spot where a man's body
is laid can never be entirely divorced from his person-
ality. Do not we ourselves regard as sacred the spot
where the body of a friend sleeps in death, although
among us the idea of the distinctness of soul and body
is far more clear and general than among the Greeks ?
These are confusions of thought so deeply worked into
the web of human nature that it may be doubted if they
will ever be worked out of it.
We moderns could easily understand that deities
should be depicted as reclining on a couch to receive
the homage of mankind. And we could understand
that the banqueting-reliefs of tombs should be mere
transcripts from ordinary daily life. But we find it very
hard to understand how the Greeks, possessing the no-
tions of the future life with which we meet in Homer
and Pindar, and in the mockeries of Lucian, could erect
such frequent monuments at all periods as memorials of
the worship of the dead. We find it difficult simply be-
cause the frame of mind implied is one of which we
have no experience. But the view hardest to receive is
that which is true.
Let us next turn to another class of reliefs, those in
which the deceased is represented, not as seated in state,
but as riding on a horse, or leading one by the bridle.
These designs are not found at Sparta, though they have