Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

FUN US.

187

FUNUS.

celebrated at the funeral of a great man, as
in the case of Patroclus ; but this practice

Sepulchral lieroon. (Painting on Vase.)

does not seem to have been usual in the his-
torical times.—All persons who had been en-
gaged in funerals were considered polluted,
and could not enter the temples of the gods
till they had been purified. After the fune-
ral was over, the relatives partook of a
feast, which was called Trepi&tnrvov or vexpd-
Seiirvof. This feast was always given at the
house of the nearest relative of the deceased.
Thus the relatives of those who had fallen
at the battle of Chaeroneia partook of the
irepC&enrvov at the house of Demosthenes, as
if he were the nearest relative to them all.
On the second day after the funeral a sa-
crifice to the dead was offered, called
TptVa ; but the principal sacrifice to the dead
was on the ninth day, called evvara or
evara. The mourning for the dead appears
to have lasted till the thirtieth day after the
funeral, on which day sacrifices were again
offered. At Sparta the time of mourning was
limited to eleven days. During the time of
mourning it was considered indecorous for
the relatives of the deceased to appear in
public ; they were accustomed to wear a
black dress, and in ancient times they cut off
their hair as a sign of grief.-—The tombs were
preserved by the family to which they be-
longed with the greatest care, and were
regarded as among the strongest ties which

attached a man to his native land. In the
Docimasia of the Athenian archons it was
always a subject of inquiry whether they had
kept in proper repair the tombs of their
ancestors. On certain days the tombs were
crowned with flowers, and offerings were
made to the dead, consisting of garlands of
flowers and various other things. The act
of offering these presents was called evvcytgeur,
and the offerings themselves erayiVjuaTa, or
more commonly xoal- Theyevina mentioned
by Herodotus appear to have consisted in
offerings of the same kind, which were pre-
sented on the anniversary of the birth-day of
the deceased. The vexvena were probably
offerings on the anniversary of the day of
the death ; though, according to some writers,
the vexva-ia were the same as the yevdo-ia.
Certain criminals, who were put to death by
the state, were also deprived of the rights of
burial, which was considered as an additional
punishment. There were certain places, both
at Athens and Sparta, where the dead bodies
of such criminals were cast. A person who had
committed suicide was not deprived of burial,
but the hand with which he had killed himself
was cut off and buried by itself.— (2) Roman.
When a Roman was at the point of death, his
nearest relation present endeavoured to catch
the last breath with his mouth. The ring was
taken off the finger of the dying person ; and
as soon as he was dead his eyes and mouth
were closed by the nearest relation, who called
upon the deceased by name, exclaiming have
or vale. The corpse was then washed, and
anointed with oil and perfumes, by slaves,
called pollinctores, who belonged to the libi-
tinarii, or undertakers. The libitinarii
appear to have been so called because they
dwelt near the temple of Venus Libitina,
where all things requisite for funerals were
sold. Hence we find the expressions vitare
Libitinam and evadcre Libitinam used in the
sense of escaping death. At this temple an
account [ratio, ephemeris) was kept of those
who died, and a small sum was paid for the
registration of their names. A small coin
was then placed in the mouth of the corpse,
in order to pay the ferryman in Hades, and
the body was laid out on a couch in the
vestibule of the house, with its feet towards
the door, and dressed in the best robe which
the deceased had worn when alive. Ordinary
citizens were dressed in a white toga, and
magistrates in their official robes. If the
deceased had received a crown while alive as
a reward for his bravery, it w-as now placed
on his head ; and the couch on which he was
laid was sometimes covered with 'leaves and
flowers. A branch of cypress was also usually
placed at the door of the house, if he was a