DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0199
150 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
and thirtieth days after death, and annually thenceforward.
That these rites were kept up at the Royal Sepulchre of
Mycenae is proven by the circular altar, which is nothing
but a raised pit. As no such structure has yet been
found in connection with any vaulted or chamber tomb,
we must assume that the libations there were poured into
pits dug for the purpose, — perhaps in the earth that
blocked the dromos before the doorway, — as was doubtless
the case on the Mycenaean acropolis after the Fourth Grave
with its altar had been covered by the tumulus.
In Homer the funeral feast — either before or after the
burial — is indispensable. Thus, beside the still unburied
The funeral body of Patroelus, the people sit down to a ban-
quet which Achilles provides by slaughtering so
many oxen, goats, sheep, and swine that " the blood
streams all around the corpse in cupfuls," 1 a phrase sug-
gesting the dead man's pleasure in the red libation. That
these feasts were customary in the Mycenaean age is evi-
dent (as we have observed) from the litter of bones about
the acropolis graves. In case of the vaulted and chamber
tombs, the bones of animals are found especially in the
dromos before the doorway. Hence we had inferred that
here the banquet was spread, pending which (it may be) the
rotunda door would be open so that the dead man lying in
the chamber might share the feast after a fashion, as did
Patroelus. But later observations (1895) go to prove
that the funeral feast was held, not in the dromos, but
on top of the tomb, before the entrance was closed and the
dromos filled up, so that the leavings would naturally fall
or be flung down into it.
Following up Homeric parallels, we observe that Achilles,
when he burns his comrade's body,—not content with
1 Iliad, jndii. 28-34.
and thirtieth days after death, and annually thenceforward.
That these rites were kept up at the Royal Sepulchre of
Mycenae is proven by the circular altar, which is nothing
but a raised pit. As no such structure has yet been
found in connection with any vaulted or chamber tomb,
we must assume that the libations there were poured into
pits dug for the purpose, — perhaps in the earth that
blocked the dromos before the doorway, — as was doubtless
the case on the Mycenaean acropolis after the Fourth Grave
with its altar had been covered by the tumulus.
In Homer the funeral feast — either before or after the
burial — is indispensable. Thus, beside the still unburied
The funeral body of Patroelus, the people sit down to a ban-
quet which Achilles provides by slaughtering so
many oxen, goats, sheep, and swine that " the blood
streams all around the corpse in cupfuls," 1 a phrase sug-
gesting the dead man's pleasure in the red libation. That
these feasts were customary in the Mycenaean age is evi-
dent (as we have observed) from the litter of bones about
the acropolis graves. In case of the vaulted and chamber
tombs, the bones of animals are found especially in the
dromos before the doorway. Hence we had inferred that
here the banquet was spread, pending which (it may be) the
rotunda door would be open so that the dead man lying in
the chamber might share the feast after a fashion, as did
Patroelus. But later observations (1895) go to prove
that the funeral feast was held, not in the dromos, but
on top of the tomb, before the entrance was closed and the
dromos filled up, so that the leavings would naturally fall
or be flung down into it.
Following up Homeric parallels, we observe that Achilles,
when he burns his comrade's body,—not content with
1 Iliad, jndii. 28-34.