The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition PDF
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The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches Series Editor: Gregory Nagy, Harvard University Assistant Editor: Timothy Power, Harvard University On the front cover: A calendar frieze representing the Athenian months, reused in the Byzantine Church of the Little Metropolis in Athens. The cross is superimposed, obliterating Taurus of the Zodiac. The choice of this frieze for books in Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches reflects this series' emphasis on the blending of the diverse heritages-Near Eastern, Classical, and Christian-in the Greek tradition. Drawing by Laurie Kain Hart, based on a photograph. Recent titles in the series are: Nothing Is As It Seems: The Tragedy oft he Implicit in Euripides' Hippolytus by HannaM. Roisman Lyric Quotation in Plato by Marian Demos Exile and the Poetics ofL oss in Greek Tradition by Nancy Sultan The Classical Moment: Views from Seven Literatures Edited by Gail Holst-Warhaft and David R. McCann Nine Essays on Homer Edited by Miriam Carlisle and Olga Levaniouk Allegory and the Tragic Chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus by Roger Travis Dionysism and Comedy by Xavier Riu Contextualizing Classics: Ideology, Performance, Dialogue Edited by Thomas M. Falkner, Nancy Felson, and David Konstan The Pity ofA chilles: Oral Style and the Unity oft he Iliad by JinyoKim Between Magic and Religion: Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religion and Society Edited by Sulochana Asirvatham, Corinne Ondine Pache, and John Waltrous Iambic Ideas: Essays on a Poetic Tradition From Archaic Greece to the Late Roman Empire Edited by Antonio Aloni, Alessandro Barchiesi, Alberto Cavarzere The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, Second Edition by Margaret Alexiou revised by Dimitrios Yatromanolakis and Panagiotis Roilos The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition Second Edition MARGARET ALEXIOU REVISED BY DIMITRIOS Y ATROMANOLAKIS AND PANAGIOTIS ROILOS ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Oxford ROWMAN & LIITLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A Member of the Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishing Group 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www .rowrnanlittlefield.com 12 Hid's Copse Road Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ, England Copyright © 2002 by Rowrnan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Originally published in 1974 by Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available ISBN 0-7425-0756-4 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN: 978-0-7425-0757-9 Printed in the United States of America 9 ... The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. To the memory of JESSIE GRAHAM STEWART and L\HMHTPH AAE:~IOY Contents List of plates X Series Editor's Foreword xi Foreword xii Introduction to the Second Edition xiii Preface XV Part I: Lament and ritual Problems and method 3 1. Tradition and change in antiquity 4 Wake, funeral procession and burial 4 Offerings at the tomb 7 Kinswomen and strangers 10 The legislation on funeral rites and lamentation 14 2. From paganism to Christianity 24 The struggle of the soul 25 The wake 27 The funeral procession 29 Burial and after 31 3. Modem survivals 36 The fight with Death 37 Washing, dressing and lamentation 39 From house to tomb 42 Burial and after 44 vii viii Contents Part II: Gods, cities and men 4. The ritual lament for gods and heroes 55 Adonis, Linos and Hyakinthos 55 Lityerses, Bormos and Mariandynos 58 Lamentation in the hero cults and mysteries 61 The Virgin's lament 62 Leidinos and Zafeiris 78 5. The historical lament for the fall or destruction of cities 83 The ancient lament for cities 83 Byzantine tradition and the laments for the fall of Constantinople 85 Modern historical laments 90 6. The classification of ancient and modern laments and songs to the dead 102 The ritual lament of the women: threnos, g6os, komm6s 102 The men's part: praise of the dead 104 The growth of a new terminology 108 The Song to Fate-origin of the modern moirol6gi? 110 Moirol6gia for departure from home, change of religion, and marriage 118 Moirol6gia for the dead 122 Part III: The common tradition 7. Antiphonal structure and antithetical thought 131 Form and structure 131 Antithetical style and antithetical thought 150 8. Conventions, themes and formulae 161 Initial hesitation and questions 161 The contrast: past and present 165 The contrast: mourner and dead 171 Wish and curse 178 Praise and reproach 182 Contents ix 9. The allusive method 185 Form 185 Light 187 Journey 189 Support 193 Spring and harvest 195 The tree 198 Water and thirst 202 Notes 206 Bibliography 243 Abbreviations 257 Bibliographical Supplement 261 Glossary 273 Indexes 275
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