The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, 2nd Edition

316 Pages·2002·31.84 MB·English

by  Margaret Alexiou

The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition
Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Series Editor: Gregory Nagy, Harvard University
Assistant Editor: Timothy Power, Harvard University
On the front cover: A calendar frieze representing the Athenian months, reused
in the Byzantine Church of the Little Metropolis in Athens. The cross is
superimposed, obliterating Taurus of the Zodiac. The choice of this frieze for
books in Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches reflects this series'
emphasis on the blending of the diverse heritages-Near Eastern, Classical, and
Christian-in the Greek tradition. Drawing by Laurie Kain Hart, based on a
photograph. Recent titles in the series are:
Nothing Is As It Seems: The Tragedy oft he Implicit in Euripides' Hippolytus
by HannaM. Roisman
Lyric Quotation in Plato
by Marian Demos
Exile and the Poetics ofL oss in Greek Tradition
by Nancy Sultan
The Classical Moment: Views from Seven Literatures
Edited by Gail Holst-Warhaft and David R. McCann
Nine Essays on Homer
Edited by Miriam Carlisle and Olga Levaniouk
Allegory and the Tragic Chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus
by Roger Travis
Dionysism and Comedy
by Xavier Riu
Contextualizing Classics: Ideology, Performance, Dialogue
Edited by Thomas M. Falkner, Nancy Felson, and David Konstan
The Pity ofA chilles: Oral Style and the Unity oft he Iliad
by JinyoKim
Between Magic and Religion: Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient
Mediterranean Religion and Society
Edited by Sulochana Asirvatham, Corinne Ondine Pache, and John
Waltrous
Iambic Ideas: Essays on a Poetic Tradition From Archaic Greece to the Late
Roman Empire
Edited by Antonio Aloni, Alessandro Barchiesi, Alberto Cavarzere
The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, Second Edition
by Margaret Alexiou
revised by Dimitrios Yatromanolakis and Panagiotis Roilos
The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition
Second Edition
MARGARET ALEXIOU
REVISED BY
DIMITRIOS Y ATROMANOLAKIS
AND
PANAGIOTIS ROILOS
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Oxford
ROWMAN & LIITLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A Member of the Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishing Group
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www .rowrnanlittlefield.com
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Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ, England
Copyright © 2002 by Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Originally published in 1974 by Cambridge University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
ISBN 0-7425-0756-4 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN: 978-0-7425-0757-9
Printed in the United States of America
9 ...
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
To the memory of
JESSIE GRAHAM STEWART
and
L\HMHTPH
AAE:~IOY

Contents
List of plates X
Series Editor's Foreword xi
Foreword xii
Introduction to the Second Edition xiii
Preface XV
Part I: Lament and ritual
Problems and method 3
1. Tradition and change in antiquity 4
Wake, funeral procession and burial 4
Offerings at the tomb 7
Kinswomen and strangers 10
The legislation on funeral rites and lamentation 14
2. From paganism to Christianity 24
The struggle of the soul 25
The wake 27
The funeral procession 29
Burial and after 31
3. Modem survivals 36
The fight with Death 37
Washing, dressing and lamentation 39
From house to tomb 42
Burial and after 44
vii
viii Contents
Part II: Gods, cities and men
4. The ritual lament for gods and heroes 55
Adonis, Linos and Hyakinthos 55
Lityerses, Bormos and Mariandynos 58
Lamentation in the hero cults and mysteries 61
The Virgin's lament 62
Leidinos and Zafeiris 78
5. The historical lament for the fall or
destruction of cities 83
The ancient lament for cities 83
Byzantine tradition and the laments for the fall of
Constantinople 85
Modern historical laments 90
6. The classification of ancient and modern
laments and songs to the dead 102
The ritual lament of the women: threnos, g6os, komm6s 102
The men's part: praise of the dead 104
The growth of a new terminology 108
The Song to Fate-origin of the modern moirol6gi? 110
Moirol6gia for departure from home, change of religion,
and marriage 118
Moirol6gia for the dead 122
Part III: The common tradition
7. Antiphonal structure and antithetical thought 131
Form and structure 131
Antithetical style and antithetical thought 150
8. Conventions, themes and formulae 161
Initial hesitation and questions 161
The contrast: past and present 165
The contrast: mourner and dead 171
Wish and curse 178
Praise and reproach 182
Contents ix
9. The allusive method 185
Form 185
Light 187
Journey 189
Support 193
Spring and harvest 195
The tree 198
Water and thirst 202
Notes 206
Bibliography 243
Abbreviations 257
Bibliographical Supplement 261
Glossary 273
Indexes 275