“Reading” Greek Death: To the End of the Classical Period
By Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood
Abstract: The author sheds new light on aspects of the beliefs, attitudes, and rituals surrounding death in ancient Greece from the Minoan and Mycenean period to the end of the classical age. She draws on different types of evidence – from literary texts to burial customs, inscriptions, and images in art – to explore the fragmentary and problematic evidence for the reconstruction of attitudes towards, and the beliefs and practices pertaining to death and the afterlife. The book is also a sophisticated critique of the methodologies appropriate for interpreting the evidence for ancient beliefs. Insights from anthropology and other disciplines help to inform the reconstruction of these beliefs and to minimize the intrusion of culturally determined assumptions which reflect modern thinking rather than ancient realities.
Published by Clarendon Press, 1996.