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Author Topic: Coins and Greek Burial Customs  (Read 689 times)

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Offline Virgil H

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Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« on: January 31, 2021, 04:47:48 pm »
I read many years ago in a credible source that I can no longer remember the name of, that it was customary for a coin to be placed in a deceased person's mouth as part of the preparation of the body for the funeral and afterlife. The coin was for payment to Charon, the ferryman who took the departed across the River Styx into Hades.

In a couple of popular movies, such as, I believe, Troy, coins were placed on the eyes of the person on the funeral pyre. I have no idea if this has any relation to history or is just a Hollywood device. And, of course I am sure that various places had various customs regarding funeral rituals.

Anyone have more information on this topic or can point me to some authoritative sources?

Thanks,
Virgil

Offline Mark Fox

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2021, 05:26:41 pm »
Dear Virgil and Board,

Not the best pictures of the picture, but hope you at least get the picture!  Of the Pre-Raphaelite corpus, this is one of my favorite works (although Waterhouse's depiction of the Lady of Shalott takes the cake).


Best regards,

Mark Fox
Michigan

 

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2021, 06:43:16 pm »
That is wonderful. Thank you.
Virgil

Offline lawrence c

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2021, 09:22:48 pm »
Probably the best source is Ian Morris, Death-ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, 1992). Unfortunately, this probably is available only in a university library.

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2021, 10:41:46 pm »
Quote from: lawrence c on January 31, 2021, 09:22:48 pm
Probably the best source is Ian Morris, Death-ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, 1992). Unfortunately, this probably is available only in a university library.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just found a used one for a very reasonable price. Totally worth the price to read this one. And you can still buy it new from Cambridge.

Virgil

Offline gallienus1

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2021, 02:55:36 am »
Hi Virgil.

In the movie Troy coins were placed on the eyes of the person on the funeral pyre in an attempt to allude to the Pagan past. As far as I know that custom is fairly recent, done to keep the eyes of the dead closed as they lay in an open casket in the 19th century.

The young freelance writer Samantha Tetrault has an excellent piece on the subject, with references at the end.

See-

https://www.joincake.com/blog/charons-obol/

In the ancient world the custom was to put a low value coin in a dead persons mouth, not on their eyes. This was usually an obol, and was done so they could pay Charon for ferrying them across the river Styx. As I understand it, this ensured everyone could afford it, and it was symbolic that in death we are all equal. Once in the mouth the little coin was safely inside the person's body, so they could conveniently carry the small payment for Charon and reach the next phase of their existence on the far side of the Styx.

It seems carrying small coins in the mouth while going about daily life was an ancient practice. There was a Forum thread that touched on the subject many years ago.

 See-

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=42459.0


The Charon that was portrayed in ancient art was usually a fairly benign, even helpful figure. The concept of him being monstrous, greedy or difficult again seems to be a more modern idea.

Steve



Offline gallienus1

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Re: Coins and Greek Burial Customs
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2021, 03:01:50 am »
I'll just add images of an obol on a human finger so you can see how easy it would be to keep such a small coin in your mouth.

Best regards,

Steve

 

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