Notions of death and the hereafter varied greatly, and not infrequently different and even opposing ideas would exist side by side, but in general in this period there was no belief in life after death, or at least no life comparable to one’s earthly life. The grave was literally the last resting place, and whenever the rites at the cremation or funeral had been properly performed, the shade or ghost of the dead was supposed to be content. Only if that proper treatment had been lacking, a restless ghost would haunt the living and wander tormented by its unhappiness. Therefore, the correct treatment of the dead was everywhere an obligation of the family as well as the community. Already quite early, in Mesopotamia, the notion of an underworld can be found, a place where all the shades were assembled and ruled over by a terrifying pair of god and goddess. Greek ideas of the realm of the dead were certainly influenced by these older notions. In Greece, Hades was the name both of the realm of the dead and of the god ruling there. The shades were thought to exist there without any consciousness, although some particularly wicked criminals were eternally punished, which supposed at least some sort of consciousness on their part. At the same time, the shades also existed in their graves, which were entrances to the common underworld. Only a few great heroes of the sagas were believed to be actually living on consciously, with their own earthly bodies or with new ones, in some faraway place (similar ideas prevailed in Egypt). In Greece, in the Dark Age and in the Archaic period, another form of existence after death concerned the so-called heroes: their spirits or ghosts remaining in their graves could be restored to consciousness by special sacrifices or even spontaneously regain consciousness. Their ability to perform all sorts of deeds for the good—rarely to the detriment—of the community transformed them into demigods. Heros had originally, in the epics of Homer, meant a living hero, but from around 700 BC the term denoted the dead “heroes” of the past and was applied to the spirits or ghosts just mentioned, that somehow still “lived” in their graves, because these dead were supposed to have been like the epic heroes while still on Earth. Practically every polis had one or more such local heroes. The rise of their cult is characteristic of the Archaic period. Certainly, this hero cult contributed to a sense of community among the inhabitants of a polis territory.
World History
