Such were the practices of the Greeks while the bereavement was recent, but it was always the duty of the survivors, as long as their lives might last, to tend their ancestors’ graves. Socrates, to rebuke his son, who has been angered with his mother, and to impress upon him how necessary it is properly to respect one’s parents in their lifetime, reminds him that it is the custom for the state, in its examination of candidates for the archonship, to inquire if they have kept in good condition the graves of their ancestors[300].
Leocrates, who, in violation of the law, had left Athens during the critical period following the battle of Chaeronea, is arraigned by Lycurgus for having abandoned his native land, having neglected the religion of his country, and having deserted the tombs of his forefathers[301]. To the Athenian mind, Isocrates made a most touching appeal, when he represented the Plataeans as being in such a decimated condition that not enough of them were left to tend the graves of those who had defended Greece against the Persians. After this master-stroke, nothing was left for the Athenians to do but to make war on the impious Thebans, who had so mercilessly reduced their allies[302]. Finally, listen to the exhortation which Aeschylus, in “The Persians,” attributes to the herald before the battle of Salamis:
“Advance! O, sons of Greece! preserve the freedom of your native land; keep from foeman’s grasp your children, your wives, the temples of your ancestral gods, and the sepulchres of your progenitors. Now the struggle is for all[303].”
XII.
FURTHER CEREMONIES.
In addition to the appointed sacrifices, there were apparently other celebrations held at stated times beside the tomb. These seasons Plato euphemistically called “days not to be mentioned,” and he did not, think it right at that time to hear sorrows of any kind[304]. These latter celebrations seem to have consisted for the most part of libations to the dead, and to have been celebrated by a cessation from the ordinary duties[305]. One of these mourning holidays was that called genesia[306]. From its apparent derivation, it may be assumed to have been the celebration of the birthday of the deceased. This conjecture is strengthened by the will of Epicurus, found in Diogenes Laertius[307], in which he directs his heirs to arrange offerings to the manes of his father, mother, brothers and himself, and to celebrate his birthday each year on the tenth of the month Gamelion. Herodotus also mentions the fact that the Greeks, like the Issedones, had annual sacrifices for the dead. Whether he refers to the genesia or to another yearly offering known as the nekysia or to both is uncertain[308].
This nekysia was a general holiday for all Athens and was dedicated to all the dead. It consisted of the same sort of sacrificing as that which took place on the anniversary of the birthday[309]. Besides these ceremonies, it was customary, in the very early times, to institute funeral games in honor of the deceased shortly after the burial. On the death of Azan, according to the myth, son of Arcas, the king from whom Arcadia received its name, these games were first established in Greece. In his case, probably, the only contest was horse-racing[310]. But in the Homeric times, although the chariot race was the most important, there were also a boxing match, wrestling, a foot race, an armed combat, competition in weight-casting, a trial at archery and a contest of javelin throwing[311]. There were suitable prizes in each event for every one of the contestants. If the games which the Greek chieftains arranged in memory of Achilles, when he died, were any more elaborate than these, as Agamemnon maintains they were, they must have occupied considerable time[312].
These celebrations occasionally occurred in the historic period. Plutarch tells us that, after Timoleon’s death, the people of Syracuse determined to honor him with funeral games forever, to be celebrated with performances in music, horse-racing and wrestling[313].