DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0077
IV
THE HOUSE AND THE TOMB
57
vate life became more wealthy and luxurious, it never became
the custom, as it had been in Mycenaean times, to furnish the
grave as the palaces of the kings were furnished. We do not
find in Greece as in Etruria, and in some degree in Sicily, great
receptacles filled with the finest products of the potteries of
Athens, and gold jewellery of most elaborate work. Certain
classes of vases, such as the painted lekythi and unguent-
vessels, are found in great numbers. Particularly rich in these
charming little vases are the tombs opened in Euboea. But,
generally speaking, the contents of the Greek tomb serve rather
to date them and to throw light on funeral customs than to
enrich our museums with marvels of delicate workmanship.
As a compensation, the sculpture of the tomb has come down
to us in great plenty. The greater part of the National Museum
at Athens is occupied with funereal sculpture, which interests
and attracts all visitors in a notable degree. The smaller
museums of Thebes, Sparta and other places owe their dis-
tinctive character to the same class of monuments.
Most primitive in idea, though not always in date, are the
reliefs on which the deceased ancestor is seated in state to re-
ceive the offerings of his descendants, who, in fact, are some-
times represented, on a smaller scale, as approaching him with
th eir gifts. Beside the ancestor, on some of the Spartan
monuments, sits his wife as equal partaker of the offerings, — a
pleasing indication of the honour in which women were held in
Sparta, not merely for their own sake, but as mothers of the
future race of citizens and warriors. The snake, the compan-
ion and friend of the dead, stands erect behind the pair. On
others of the Spartan reliefs appear figures of the horse and the
dog, who had served their master well during his life, and per-
haps accompanied him to the world of shades. These reliefs,
the work of a, race never noted for artistic talent, are interesting
from the point of view of technique; the marble is cut in several
distinct planes, like an onyx; and the fact is notable that every
THE HOUSE AND THE TOMB
57
vate life became more wealthy and luxurious, it never became
the custom, as it had been in Mycenaean times, to furnish the
grave as the palaces of the kings were furnished. We do not
find in Greece as in Etruria, and in some degree in Sicily, great
receptacles filled with the finest products of the potteries of
Athens, and gold jewellery of most elaborate work. Certain
classes of vases, such as the painted lekythi and unguent-
vessels, are found in great numbers. Particularly rich in these
charming little vases are the tombs opened in Euboea. But,
generally speaking, the contents of the Greek tomb serve rather
to date them and to throw light on funeral customs than to
enrich our museums with marvels of delicate workmanship.
As a compensation, the sculpture of the tomb has come down
to us in great plenty. The greater part of the National Museum
at Athens is occupied with funereal sculpture, which interests
and attracts all visitors in a notable degree. The smaller
museums of Thebes, Sparta and other places owe their dis-
tinctive character to the same class of monuments.
Most primitive in idea, though not always in date, are the
reliefs on which the deceased ancestor is seated in state to re-
ceive the offerings of his descendants, who, in fact, are some-
times represented, on a smaller scale, as approaching him with
th eir gifts. Beside the ancestor, on some of the Spartan
monuments, sits his wife as equal partaker of the offerings, — a
pleasing indication of the honour in which women were held in
Sparta, not merely for their own sake, but as mothers of the
future race of citizens and warriors. The snake, the compan-
ion and friend of the dead, stands erect behind the pair. On
others of the Spartan reliefs appear figures of the horse and the
dog, who had served their master well during his life, and per-
haps accompanied him to the world of shades. These reliefs,
the work of a, race never noted for artistic talent, are interesting
from the point of view of technique; the marble is cut in several
distinct planes, like an onyx; and the fact is notable that every