Mycenaean and Homeric Burial Practices

Dying Centaur
(photo by me!)

I've been doing a LOT of reading regarding funerary and burial practices of Mycenaean Greeks, and particularly those living in Bronze Age Thessaly, and I have learned a great many things -- the most important being, while Homer makes much of the funeral pyre and cremation of the dead, there is little to no evidence of cremation taking place in Mainland Greece during the period (LH IIIB ish) of the Trojan War.

There's evidence for it elsewhere, sure. Other cultures absolutely honored their dead with cremation via the funeral pyre. But in Mycenaean Greece? Cremation doesn't seem to show up until the Early Iron Age, and even then, it's not at all widespread. But as someone writing historical fiction built off the mythic traditions and heroes of Homer -- this presents a bit of a quandary to me, as the author.

Historically speaking, the inhumation of the dead into tombs (of varying size and style) or simple graves is more correct. But is the reader more familiar with the funeral pyre? Will they be expecting it? And if I don't make use of it, how do I reconcile or explain the difference between the practices of these heroes before they set out to war, and their sudden alteration while afield?

Ultimately, while the difference between cremation and inhumation APPEARS to be large, it seems that the burial and funerary practices of Mycenaean Greeks are not entirely different from what occurs within the pages of the Iliad. In fact, according to Mylonas (who, I will grant you, was doing his research in the 40s -- which was a very long time ago in terms of Archaeological practices, technology, and the vast amount of new information available to us today), it seems that apart from the actual disposal of the body itself, the practices and rites surrounding that ultimate disposal are VERY much the same, and the Homeric accounts of things like gifts of jars of oil and honey set around the bier for the dead, and even the funeral games and the feasting, seem to be holdovers from the earlier tradition of inhumation, when the shade might have lingered during the much longer process of decomposition of the flesh, and could appreciate the supplies and honors bestowed upon his corpse.

But ultimately, the novel I'm revising is a book in which no one passes peacefully into death. The Centauromachy is a violent slaughter, and the bodies certainly would have piled up. And in my reading and research I have yet to find a reference to any kind of mass burial due to war -- no large numbers of people all entombed together. And I wonder if that might have made a difference in how the bodies of the dead were honored or addressed.

I haven't decided yet how I'll work through this particular challenge -- if Homer or the Archaeological record will rule in this particular novel. But it's a fascinating problem, all the same! And I have to admit, I kind of love the learning along the way.

Author Copies have Arrived!!

It's getting so real!

And in the meantime, I'm in the writer cave, working on new words for a new book, which may or may not involve Odysseus, Polypoetes, and Patroclus, among others. 50,000 words and counting!

If you're wondering, though -- HELEN OF SPARTA looks even more beautiful in person!

The Bromance of Theseus and Pirithous

One of my favorite myths is the the story of how Theseus and Pirithous meet for the first time. Somehow, the idea of the young King Theseus, making a name for himself as a hero and an upstanding individual -- a king of great wisdom and honor -- being tested by Pirithous the most piratey of rapscallions, just tickles me.

The story goes that Pirithous, having heard of Theseus' prowess in battle, wanted proof of his courage and strength, and so, as all good heroes do, he went out to rustle some of Theseus' cattle in order to test him. A time honored tradition among demigods, and second only to stealing women-folk! Plutarch tells the rest of the story in his essay on Theseus:

[...]when the news was brought that Theseus pursued him in arms, he did not fly, but turned back and went to meet him. But as soon as they had viewed one another, each so admired the gracefulness and beauty, and was seized with such respect for the courage of the other, that they forgot all thoughts of fighting; and Pirithous, first stretching out his hand to Theseus, bade him be judge in this case himself, and promised to submit willingly to any penalty he should impose.

And that, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. From that day forth, Theseus and Pirithous were like brothers, allies in everything and according to Ovid's Heroides, inseparable to the point of neglecting their other relationships, including their own sons (but then too, Phaedre isn't the most reliable of narrators, either, and bespelled by the gods in her lust for Theseus' son, besides).

© Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons
Which is Pirithous and which is Theseus
I couldn't tell you, honestly.

Of Pirithous alone, we have very little information. Most of what is preserved is only in relation to his adventures with Theseus, in which, to my prejudiced readings, he comes off as the instigator of some foolish adventures, inevitably resulting in trouble for both of them, the primary example being, as we have discussed on multiple occasions, the abduction of Helen, and the subsequent trip to Hades so that Pirithous might steal Persephone, because that is just the kind of overconfident, arrogant piece of work that Pirithous was. And we've also touched on the Centauromachy, and his wedding to Hippodamia, which was so rudely interrupted by lustful centaurs trying to molest, if not steal outright, his bride.

Personally, I think the bromance of Pirithous and Theseus belongs up there with Achilles and Patroclus, and it's a real shame they don't get more press in pop culture. That um, might account for their continued and repeated presence on my blog. If you were wondering.