The purpose of this dissertation is to explore whether the ideas about death, Hades, and the afterlife in the Homeric epics and in Hesiod’s works are reflective of Greek attitudes towards death and the underworld in the Archaic Period. In the process of this, it aims to highlight some of the issues associated with assessing the attitudes and beliefs of the Greeks, such as the lack of uniformity within regions and social classes. The main focus is on the literature of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, while Hesiod’s Works & Days and Theogony are used to emphasise the ideas set out in the epics. The ideas in the epics include the notion of restricted entry to the underworld, the obstacles that the souls potentially face on their journey to Hades, and the belief in an individual, as opposed to collective, destiny for shades. To clarify, since I am unable to discuss the entire Archaic Period within this dissertation, this dissertation will mainly focus on the eighth and seventh centuries, although literature from the fifth century might be used as evidence to support some of my ideas.
The majority of the fifth century sources included in this dissertation are Athenian. Be that as it may, the Homeric epics were almost certainly not composed in Athens. The Greek epic poet Homer is somewhat of a mystery insofar as facts of his life go. There is an ongoing debate on where he was born and where he composed the epics, which I shall not discuss in detail in this paper. However, I will mention that the Homeric epics are written predominantly in the Ionic dialect. The obvious Ionic character of the epics, combined with the mention of northwest winds coming from the direction of Thrace, would suggest that Homer was familiar with the region of Ionia. Therefore, the presumption that Homer was a native of this region, and likely composed his works there too, is a reasonable conjecture.
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Hesiod’s Works & Days and Theogony are epic works. Generally, they are dated to some time between 750 BC and 650 BC. Ulf states: “the epic is conventionally regarded as a genre which conveys to its audience already existing traditions without much intervention by the poet”. Therefore, the ideas in these texts should reflect the societies of the periods in which the epics originated in. It seems that Homer’s writing directly affected Greek beliefs as the notion of personal salvation for shades in the underworld became more and more established after the Archaic age. Literature from the fifth century onwards details how men could secure a happier afterlife for themselves if they acted virtuously while living. Plato exploits the belief in a happy and unhappy dead in Hades to encourage his readers to live their lives philosophically. He replaces the traditional Homeric hero, who was granted access to Elysium on account of his deeds, with a man who is rewarded with a happy afterlife because he has led a philosophical and virtuous life (Plato, Phaedo, 82a-c). In his literature, Homer planted the seeds for this idea. As a result, we can assume that he had a profound impact on the religious beliefs of the Greeks as his ideas remained relevant centuries later.
In the Greek world, the eighth century was a period of massive upheaval and revolution. Population growth surged, the concept of the polis was developed, and the Greek alphabet was established. When reading the Iliad and the Odyssey, we must take into consideration all the aforementioned cultural changes as it is likely that Greek views underwent considerable evolution as a result of these changes. On the other hand, Morris argues that although there were changes in the ideologies about death, there was continuity in individual attitudes. Nevertheless, I believe that social changes should be considered in the reading of the Homeric epics. Another important factor to consider is that the ideas and beliefs expressed in the epics may have originated from a number of different regions and social arrangements. In other words, they may have been attitudes which were compiled from the beliefs of a number of different societies as opposed to the beliefs of any one society. The evidence we have, from both archaeology and literature, shows that there were significant variations in practices and customs amongst regions. Although these variations will not be examined in detail in this dissertation, it is important to recognise that there is not one uniform set of beliefs and customs that is representative of all Greeks in the Archaic Period. However, the continuity of some beliefs in the Homeric epics, and in fifth century literature too, implies that Homer’s ideas about death and the afterlife were probably well-established and correspondent to actual attitudes about death in the eighth century.
During the process of completing research for my dissertation, I became aware that the epics also may not be representative of all social classes. In the Iliad and Odyssey, only the households of the elite are described and as such, the traditions and beliefs concerning death and the afterlife may not be indicative of the bulk of Greek society. The elite would have certainly had vastly different customs for burial and funerals from ordinary people as they had the means to hold extravagant funerals and build lavish temples or grave-markers. Unlike the Homeric epics, however, the world portrayed in Hesiod’s works is not that of the elite. Rather, Hesiod’s works explore the world of a working man who farms his land, owns a few animals, and lives in a modestly sized oikos along with a few servants. The differences between the worlds described in Homer and Hesiod are indisputable. This is useful for pinpointing traditions in the Archaic era as any overlapping beliefs between the two authors are likely to be beliefs that existed in society during the eighth and seventh centuries.
It is also important to distinguish between the deaths of a heroes and the deaths of ordinary men. In this dissertation, I will discuss the importance of being remembered after death for the Greeks. Specifically, I shall detail how men gave up their lives in battle in order to achieve the kleos that would immortalise their name in the land of the living. The warrior’s death, his burial, and his afterlife must all be distinguished from that of a regular man. Although it appears crucial for any corpse to be given a proper burial in order for them to reach Hades (this will be discussed in greater detail in chapter one), the bodies of soldiers who died in battle were often buried or burnt on the battlefield itself by his comrades as opposed to by his family. The warriors who did achieve kleos may also be given preferential treatment in their afterlife, while ordinary men were not.
This paper is split into three chapters, which logically follow from one another. First, I will discuss what death meant to the Greeks, what happens at the moment of death, and what the process of burial consists of. I will also examine the reason for the emphasised importance of a proper burial using Homer’s literature as the primary evidence. While the notions of heroic death and glory will be mentioned throughout this dissertation, I shall present Achilles’ words as the most obvious example of the importance of immortal fame to the Greeks in the first chapter. Following this, my next chapter will examine the perceptions of the underworld found in the epics and in Hesiod. Specifically, I will look into ideas found in literature both in and after the Archaic Period, such as the beliefs that a river acts as a barrier to entry and that a fearsome hound guards the gates to Hades. My next point in this chapter will focus on the transition between the living world and the underworld. This will incorporate fifth century ideas such as the role of Charon and his ferry as well. The last part of this chapter will review the debate amongst scholars concerning whether the shades in Homer are thought to be lifeless or lively. My final chapter will consider another controversial topic amongst scholars: whether Homer and Hesiod expressed the idea of differentiated afterlives for individuals or the idea of a collective destiny for all the shades in Hades. This chapter will focus heavily on both Homer and Hesiod’s works as evidence for the existence of the belief that certain souls obtain personal salvation and that others suffer punishment after death. The similarities that are drawn between the two authors can then be used as specific proof for my argument that the views of death and the afterlife expressed in Homer and Hesiod are indicative of Greek attitudes in the eighth and seventh centuries.