Amaranthus was employed by the Thessalians to decorate the grave of Achilles; and Electra is represented as uttering the complaint that the tomb of her father Agamemnon
had not been adorned with Myrtle:—
“With no libations, nor with Myrtle boughs,
Were my dear father’s manes gratified.”
Virgil, when recounting the sorrow of Anchises at the loss of Marcellus, causes him to exclaim:—
“Full canisters of fragrant Lilies bring,
Mix’d with the purple Roses of the Spring.
Let me with fun’ral flowers his body strew.”
In Germany, and in the German Cantons of Switzerland, the custom of decking graves is very common. The Dianthus is a favourite flower for this purpose in Upper Germany. In the beautiful little churchyard at Schwytz, almost every grave is entirely covered with Pinks.
The cemetery of Père la Chaise, near Paris, exhibits proofs of the extent to which the custom of decking graves is preserved even by a metropolitan population and among persons of some rank. Numerous shops in the neighbourhood of this cemetery are filled with garlands of Immortelles or Everlasting Flowers, which are purchased on fête days and anniversaries, and placed on the graves. The branches of Box, or Bois béni, which are used in the place of Palms and Palm-leaves, are frequently stuck over graves in France.