Restless Dead

by Sarah Iles Johnston

  39. Proclus's summary, lines r5-r7.

  40. I do not consider Teiresias's prophecies to Odysseus to be an earlier instance of the dead prophesying, as Teiresias was able to foretell the future even before he died. It may seem that in the Iliad, the dying warrior twice is able to predict the death of the one killing him: Patroclus tells Hector he will be killed by Achilles at 16.85z-54, and Hector tells Achilles that he will be killed by Paris and Apollo at zz.358-60. The former instance, however, seems like nothing more than a threat-i.e., Patroclus is sure that his friend will avenge his death and wishes to frighten Hector with that certainty-and the latter reflects a well-known and apparently long-standing prediction about Achilles' death, which we already have heard about at 21.275-78 (and cf. 18.96, 19.416-17).

  41. I agree with most current scholars (as expressed. e.g., in M. L. West's "Hesiod" in the OCD, 3d ed.) in placing Hesiod's floruit around 700 B.C.E., i.e., after the Homeric poems had undergone most of their development (see n. 3 above).

  4z. Discussion of the problem at M. L. West 1978, 183, and cf. z19-zo. Plutarch accepts the equation of the souls of the Golden Race with the Watchers (De def. or. 431b-e); Proclus does not (p. 87, 15 Pertusi).

  44. Menelaus: 014.56 69; Achilles: Proclus's summary of the Aethiopis, lines z6-z8.

  43• Cf. the remarks of the heroic dead in At. fr. 3z z, who promise to punish thieves and robbers by sending various illnesses against them (quoted on pp. 153-54 below).

  45• The closest Hesiod comes is to advise against conceiving children after a funeral (Op. 735) and against allowing boys to sit on "unmoveable objects," which may refer to tombstones (akinetoisi, 750, see M. L. West 1978 ad loc.). The first may reflect any number of ideas, including the general impurity that participants in a funeral incur or the idea that a fetus is affected by its mother's state of mind. The latter similarly may reflect the pollution generally associated with death.

  46. For date, see Richardson 1974, 5-I1, who suggests that we can date its composition no more precisely than to say between 675 and 550-thus, surely no earlier than Hesiod and probably later. (Some of Richardson's arguments, depending as they do on the assumption that the poet was Attic or at least intimately familiar with Attica, have been called into question by Clinton 1986 and 199z, z8-37, but this will not affect Richardson's main lines of argumentation.)

  48. P1. R. 614bz-6zidz; h. Cer. 480-8z; Pi. fr. 137. Cf. Graf 19'74a, 98-103; LloydJones 1984.

  47. Cf. the analysis of Clay, zoz-6z. Hecate as propolos and opaon: lines 438-40.

  49. Pi 0. 2.68-77 and fr. 133; Emp. frs. 107, 1o8 Wr. = 31 D 117, 115 D-K, and see discussion at Wright 63-76, 270-76. Pherecydes: evidence is collected and analyzed in M. L. West 1971, 25. Pythagoras: evidence is collected and discussed at Burkert 1971, 120-65.

  5o. Pl. Lg. 87od4-ez; cf. Cra. 4ooc and Arist. de An. 41obz9 = Orph. fr. 2.7. Discussion at Burkett 1985, 2.97-301.

  51. Bremmer 1983, 25-38; Meuli 1975, 2: 817-79; Burkert 1967, 147-49; Bolton; Dodds 1951, 135-78.

  5z. Fr. Ioi Wr. (=31 B iii D-K); line 9 = a~EL9 S' EE 'A(Sao KaTa491µ€vou [t6103 avSpos. Cf. the source of the fragment, D.L. 8.59 (quoting Gorgias) and discussion in chapter 3 below.

  53• Cf. also Sol. fr. zr; Simon., epigrams 84 and 85 = AP 7.516 and 7.77.

  54. Cf. PP- 154-55 below.

  55 . Th. r.r3 . -35.i; E. Alc. rsz7-z8. Cf. pp. 61-6z below on the ritual to which Thucydides alludes.

  56. In the following section, I occasionally refer to evidence from Herodotus, comic drama, and Plato's dialogues in the text or notes. None of these sources has enough to say about popular beliefs in the dead to merit a sections of its own, but all of them offer information that confirms the picture found in tragedy, with a few interesting additions.

  57• Fr. 2z B 15 D-K.

  58. Clytemnestra in the Eumenides, Alcestis in the Alcestis, Heracles and Theseus in the Heracles. The ghost of Polydorus speaks the prologue of Euripides' Hecuba, and the ghost of Achilles apparently spoke the prologue of Sophocles' Polyxena Jr. 523). As North, 5 r-5z, points out, the development of a device known as "Charon's steps" in the middle of the orchestra of many Greek theaters suggests how frequently ghosts must have appeared in plays.

  59. In the Persians, Darius rises in response to rituals performed by the Persian elders (623-842.). Aeschylus's lost Psychagogoi dealt with Odysseus's invocation of ghosts and thus must have presented them on stage. E. Alc. Ir27-28.

  6o. E.g., A.Eu. 94; S. El. i s z. See further chapters 4 and 7 below.

  611. Heracles in the Heracles, Ion in the Ion, Iphigenia in the Iphigenia in Tauris. Cf. Heracles' statement at Tr. ir6o-63 that Nessus has returned from the dead to kill him.

  6z. E. IT 144-77; S. El. io98-1zz9. Cf. Alc. 1037-1iz6, where the "dead" Alcestis listens to Admetus extol her virtues to Heracles.

  63. E.g., E. HF 516-18, 61o-zi; Heracl. z18-r9; AIc. 357-6z. Cf. Pl. Phd. 68az-7 and At. Ra. throughout the first half of the play.

  64. S. Ant. 850-52; cf. 559-60, 81o-1z, 1070-71; A. Eu. 30z; S. Ph. 946-47; E. Or. 194-zo7; E. HF 44z-43•

  65. Zeitlin 1990, 78.

  66. Seaford 1981, and cf. also Seaford 1976 and 1977-78.

  67. On the gold tablets, see Graf 1991a and 1993. There are also allusions to the Eleusinian mysteries in the first half of the Frogs, as many scholars have noted, but comic poets are under no obligation to be consistent, and when representing the mysteries on stage it was probably best to be imprecise anyway.

  68. E.g., A. Pers. z19-z3; Ch. 4-9,113-15; S. El. 448-5z; E. IT 159-77; El. 90-93, 323-15, 508-15; Hec. 108-43, 530-41; Hel. 1165-66; cf. Tr. 1146-50. Cf. Hdt. 5.9zq, the story of Periander's consultation of his dead wife Melissa at the nekuomanteion of Ephyra (quoted on p. vii above). Melissa demands that she be given clothing to keep herself warm in Hades before she answers the question; the dead exist in a state not too different from that of the living, in which they may have needs and desires.

  69. A. Ch. 39-41. To mention just a few other examples: A. Pr. 568; A. 1186-93, z69-96; S. OC 6zi-zz; El. 114118-i9; E. Or. 34-45, z53-77; IT z8z-3o8.

  70. Pl. Phd. 81cio-d9 (H. Tredennick's translation, adapted).

  73. Comedies: in addition to Menander's Phasma, we have fragments of a Phasma by Theognetus (PCG VII 697) and a Phasma by Philemon (PCG VII z7z-73).

  74. At. Ra. z86-3o5. Further on Empousa, see chapter 4 below.

  75. Ar. Eq. 693; V 1035 (= Pax 758), 1177; also schol. on Ar. V. 1035; schol. Ar. Ach. 58z; schol. At. Pax 474 and 748 and schol. At. Ec. 77. P1. Phd. 77e; X. HG. 4.4.17. See further chapter 5 below.

  71. Pl. Lg. 865d5-e6 (trans. A. E. Taylor); cf. Hp. Ma. z8za7-8.

  7z. X. Cyr. 8.7.18-19 (trans. Walter Miller, adapted).

  76. Pl. Lg. 927b1-4. General requests for aid: S. El. io66-8i; E. HF 490-95; Hel. 961-68; El. 678-81; Or. 1225-45.

  77. Asking for aid while giving gifts: A. Pers. z19-z5; Ch. Iz3-51 479-509; cf. Eu. 598; E. Or. 11z-25.

  78. Jouan usefully discusses this scene and summarizes previous scholarship. I discuss it myself in some depth in chapter 3.

  79. Hdt. 5.921 (Periander consults the Ephyran oracle of the dead); 1.46.2-3, 49 (Croesus consults the oracles of Trophonius and Amphiaraus); 8.134.1 (Mys consults the oracles of Trophonius and Amphiaraus). If we believe these tales, the nekuomanteion at Ephyra was well known at least by the late seventh century, and the nekuomanteia of Trophonius and Amphiaraus were known as far away as Lydia by the mid sixth century. Cf. also S. fr. 478 and Ar. Av. 1553-64 on the general existence of nekuomanteia in the fifth century. For a detailed description of the way a nekuomanteion might work, see Plu. Cons. Apollo. io9b-d.

  8o. Hero cult: A. Eu. 76z-74; S. OC 389-90 457-60; E. Alc. 996-1005; Heracl. 1oz6-44; At. fr. 3zz (on which see pp. 153-54 below); cf. Hdt. 6.69.1-4, for example, where the Spartan hero Astrabacus leaves his shrine one night to sire the future king De- maratus on a local woman. Further briefly on hero cult, see pp. 15 3 -5 5 below and the authorities cited in n. 17 above.


  81. R. 364b5-365a3; Lg. 933a2.-b5; cf. 9o9a8-b6; these passages, and their connection to the curse tablets, are discussed in depth in chapter 3.

  8z. Punishments and rewards: A. Eu. 2.73, 320, 388; E. Alc• 744-46; Hel. 1013-14; At. Ra. 145-57, 448-78; Pl. Phd. 69cz-d1, 81a4-c3, 113d1-114c8; Grg. 513a5- 5z4a7; Phdr. 248e6-z49b1 R. 330d4-331a1, 363c3-d7, 365a1-3, 614b8-615c4.

  83. Socially stratified: A. Pers. 681; Ch. 354; S. El. 836-39 Ethically judgmental: A. Eu. 94-95; cf. Pl. Phd. to8bz-c5.

  84. Psychopompoi: S. Aj. 831-3z; OC 1556-78; E. Alc. 253-54, 361, 439-41, 743-44; HF 431-34; Ar. Ra. 139-41, 268-70; Ar. Lys. 605-607. Cerberus: E. HF 61o, Iz76. We also see Hermes, Persephone, Hades, and even Earth take on the newer role of leading the souls back up again: A. Pers. 629-30; Ch. 124 483-90. In At. Ra. 464-78, Aeacus, elsewhere a judge of the Underworld, seems to take on the role of infernal porter. In Plato (Phd. Io7d5) each departing soul is given its own guide.

  85. Underworld geography: E. Alc. z5z; Hec. 1; HFV11oz; Ar. Ra. 186; 194; Pl. R. 614b8-6zib1; Phd. 111c5-113c8.

  86. Althaea: 1l. 9.566-7z; Epicaste: Od. II.z79-8o; Patroclus's ghost: II. 23.65-74; Gilgamesh: Tablet XII.

  87. Dodds 1951, 70. Also on the assumption that Homer avoided mentioning the supernatural, see, e.g., Luck, z4z; Janko, 53; M. Edwards, z83; Griffin, 40-4z; Eitrem 19a8. See also discussion in chapter 7 below and Johnston 199zb on Achilles' talking horse in particular.

  88. Sarpedon's death: 11. 16.454-61, 667-83; Aphrodite's kestos: R. 14.153-351; Hermes' moly: Od. 1o.z87-88; Odysseus's uncles: Od. 19.455-58.

  i. My theoretical division follows that of Jacoby 1944b. Cf. also the analysis of Schmidt 1994, ch. i, for a more nuanced discussion of the reasons that the living might pay cult to the dead.

  z. Discussion in Humphreys, esp. 98-99; Garland 1985, 104. Ancient sources include Is. z.10, 37; 6.65; 8.38-39; cf. Arist. Ath. 55; X. Mem. z.z.13.

  3. Some basic starting points are Garland 1985, ch. 3; Burkett 1985, 190-94; Humphreys; Kurtz and Boardman, passim, but esp. chs. 7 and i1; Nilsson 1967, 174-8z; Rohde 19z5, 16z-71, 5z4-27. More theoretical and selective but still valuable is Seaford 1994, esp. chs. 3 and 4.

  4. Ar. Ec. 1030. Cf. discussion at Rohde 1925, 163 and n. 36. I discuss other evidence for the idea of ghosts or demonic creatures attacking the soul of the newly dead in the two next chapters. The story: Ap. Met. z.z5. On the power of origanos to turn away animals and insects, see Arist. HA 534b; Plin. HN Io59o; Thphr. CE 6.5.4; Dsc. 3.29; further at Rohde loc. cit. For later European beliefs in its power to avert demons, see Rohde loc. cit., n. 36. The belief that evil supernatural agents might attack the corpse is fairly common throughout the world; see, e.g., Metcalf and Huntington, 91-9z.

  5.-See further chapter 3 below.

  6. On maschalismos, or ritual mutilation of corpses by severing their extremities, see further chapter 4 below.

  9. Metcalf and Huntington, passim, but esp. pt. z (citing many earlier studies in various parts of the world); Bremmer 1983, 89-107.

  1o. On ekphora and deposition, see Kurtz and Boardman 144-45; Garland 1985, 31-37. On funerary legislation, see the following note.

  7. Kotansky 1994; see examples z, 15, zo, z3, 27, z8, z9, and 39 with commentary.

  8. On prothesis, see, e.g., D. 43.6z (quoting Solon's law) and more fully the discussions at Kurtz and Boardman, 143-44, and Garland 1985, z3-3o, which cite the ancient evidence.

  11. The most important ancient texts are conveniently provided by Seaford 1994, 74-78. Interpretive discussion at Seaford 1994, chs. 3-5; Foley; Holst-Warhaft, 1oz-3, 114-z6; Garland 1989; Sourvinou-Inwood 1983; Gernet and Boulanger, 137-38; Alexiou, 15-M

  iz. Among the many ancient sources on choai are A. Ch. 84-164; S. El. 894-5; E. El. 511; IT 159-66; Hec. 535; Or. 115; At. fr. 488.13; Eust. ad Od. 10.519. Discussion at Garland 1985, 113-15; Burkett 1985, 19z-93. Stengel 188o is still useful, too.

  13. On suppers and their ingredients, which sometimes included blood sacrifices, see A. Ch. 483; At. Lys. 599-601; Plu. Arist. z1. The remark at Ath. Deip. 8.344c may be a joking reference to such meals for the dead, and the sacrifice to the dead by Odysseus at Od. 11.z3-33 seems to echo regular funerary offerings. Discussion and more citations at Garland 1985, 110-13; Kurtz and Boardman, 66, 76-79, z15-16; Nilsson 1967, 177- 8o; Rohde 19z5, 169 and notes. On eudeipnos, see A. Ch. 484; Phot. and Hsch., s.v. Cf. also below on the "suppers" (deipna) taken once a month to the crossroads to keep the dead away.

  14. Ath. Deip. 9.409f-41oa and cf. the lex sacra from Selinus, discussed below. Discussion at Nilsson 1967, 18o.

  15. Kurtz and Boardman, ch. 11, passim; Burkert 1985, 19z-93; Nilsson 1967, 178- 79.The most famous case of the dead demanding additional possessions is that of Melissa, wife of Periander (Hdt. 5.9zf, quoted above p. vii).

  16. Cic. Leg. 2.59-66. These laws probably date to the last third of the sixth century; see Seaford 1994, 75 and notes, with references to earlier scholars. On stelai and other grave markers, see Humphreys; Kurtz and Boardman, esp. 84-90, 12.1-41, 2.18-46; and Garland 1985, 107-8, 115-16.

  17. Hair: the loci classici are Il. x3.135; A. Ch. 7-9; S. El. 52, 449; E. IT 172.

  18. On hero cult, see pp. 1153-55 below, and specifically on hair dedicated to heroes and heroines, p. 67 below and examples throughout Larson (see index under "hair offerings"). On contextualization of hair offerings within other types, see Burkett 1985, 70; Nilsson 1967, 18o-81. More generally on the variety of ways in which cutting hair-or allowing it to grow unkempt-is associated with funerals, see Leach.

  19. Heg. PCG V fr. 1.11-16; Men. Asp. z3z. Further on the evidence for perideipna and the question of where they were served, see Garland 1985, 111-i and notes; Burkert 1985, 193; Kurtz and Boardman, 146-47.

  zo. Periodic offerings after burial: Is. 2.10, 2.37, 8.39; Aeschin. 3.225; Hyp. fr. rzo; Poll. 8.146 (s.v. protheseis); Phot., s.v. kathedra; Anec. Graec. Bekker 268.19; Harp., s.v. triakas. See also comments at Kurtz and Boardman, 145-47; Burkett 1985, 425 n. 38; Humphreys, loo-1o1. Offerings when help was needed: most famously Orestes' and Electra's requests for Agamemnon's help in various versions of their story, e.g., A. Ch. 12.4-48. Offerings on special occasions: A. Ch. 486; D.L. 2..14, 1o.18; Clytemnestra's behavior at S. El. 277-81 seems intended to mock this practice. See also the discussion of the Hellenistic "Will of Epictete" (IG XII.3 330) at Garland 1985, 109-10.

  zi. E.g., A. Ch. 483;S. El. z84; E. Hec. 535-6; AP 9.8; and cf. Lucian Luct. 9 and Charon zz. At E. IT 166, Iphigenia describes her offering as something that "charms" or "enchants" the dead (nekrois thelkteria). Discussion at Garland 1985, 118-zo; Rohde 1925, 170-71.

  zz. Hdt. 4.26; Inscr. Magn. 116.

  z3. E.g., Humphreys, zo0-101; Jacoby 1944b; Burkett 1985, 194; Deubner, zz9- 30; Parke 1977, 53-54.

  Z4. Philoch. ap. Anec. Graec. (Bekker) i.86.zo (FGrH 3z8 F 168); Hsch., s.v. Genesia; fully quoted and discussed in Jacoby 19446. All other ancient evidence for the Genesia is also quoted in full in Jacoby's appendix. The evidence for libations to Ge is taken from Hesychius; there is no direct evidence for libations to the dead as far as I can discover, but as numerous sources indicate that the Genesia was specially consecrated to them, it probably is fair to assume this (in agreement with all other scholars).

  z5. SEG z1 (1965) #541 = LSCG #18; the pertinent columns are D, lines 18-z3 and E, lines 9-15, quoted and discussed in Mikalson, 49-50. On the calendar itself, see also Dow; Daux. On the possible mythology connected with Epops, see Hollis.

  z6. Paus. z.ii.1. Cf. the discussion of Burkett 1983, 185-90, which takes a different approach but also emphasizes the importance of this hero as a "watcher."

  z7. Some scholars (e.g., Garland 1985, 104; Rohde 19z5, 167) presume that a visit to the grave was made on the thirtieth day of each month, as well as annually at the Genesia, but the evidence they adduce does not support this. Cf., however, the monthly offerings to the dead at the crossroads, discussed shortly below.

  z8. Jacoby 1944b (he partly follows Mommsen, 3
, 17z); contra, see Parker x996, 48-49•

  29. D. 41.11; schol. ad loc.; Harp., Phot., and Suda, s.v. nemesia. Parker (1996, 24647 n. tor) has suggested that "Nemesia" is an error for "Genesia" introduced into the text at an early date, but this seems to me only a distant possibility. We do not know whether this Nemesia was the same as an athletic festival of that name held in the Attic deme of Rhamnus, where there was a temple to the goddess Nemesis; this is not impossible, because athletic games often were linked to commemoration of the dead, mythic or real.

  30. A. Ch. 523-50; S. El. 410, 417-z5, 459-60; empura, line 405; choai, line 406.

  31. A. Ch. 94-5; cf. S. El. 453-58•

  32. Plu. De def or. 418b-c. The same problem obtains for alastor and palamnaios as for apotropaios: these words can represent the angry dead, a supernatural agent working on behalf of the angry dead, or a god who averts the angry dead-indeed, Alastor was even a title given to Zeus in his role as avenger of the dead. The meaning in any given instance can be determined only through context. Further discussion at Parker 1983, 107-9; Hatch.

  33. The editio princeps of this inscription is Jameson, Jordan, and Kotansky. See also the review article by Clinton 1996.

  34. Cf. Jameson, Jordan, and Kotansky, 54-55, on elasteros.

  35 • Contra the reading of Clinton here. Salt was a traditional part of a meal offered to a guest.

  36. Discussion of salt's purificatory role at Parker 1983, 226-27.

  37• A. Ch. 269-305.

  38. Here I follow along the same general lines of Clinton 1996, 178, who argues that xenikos means "foreign" in the sense of "guest," and that patroios points to a victim of familial murder.

  39. For a different view of the timing and periodicity of the rites, see Clinton 1996.