Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-22

main kings and hunters follow game and
the daughters Of Danaus were required to
carry water to continue the irrigation oper-
atoms on which they were engaged before
death. Odysseus recognizes his mother and
other friends. Their faces and forms are
not changed. The shade Of Hercules was
found feasting with the immortal gods, al
though he carried a bow and appeared
ready to shoot. while the ghost of the
mighty hunter Orion with bronze club
doubtless only the shade of his former club
is still chasing the ghosts Of the wild
beasts he slew upon the mountains before
he died.
If the ghosts. of Tantalus, sisyphus and
Tityus are included. Prof. Seymour says.
dead men not only suffer hunger and thirst,
but also physical pain and perform physi-
cal labor. Agamemnon's ghost was eager
quired concerning his son Neoptolemus, and
evidently had not heard Of him from any
of the newcomers before the arrival OF
Odysseus in Hades.
Even this shadowy existence Of the souls
OF the dead was not conceived by the
Greeks as lasting forever. Prof. Seymour
says; 1t is not Immortality in the modern
sense. Odysseus found In Hades no ghost
older than the second or third generation
before him. That existence in Hades was
not satisfactory to Achilles is shown by his
reply to Odysseus, who congratulates him
on his hOnors in that state worthy Sc
quence to his glorious life on earth Speak
not comfortably to me of death, o glorious
Odysseus! I should rather be upon the
field as the servant Of another, Of one who
had no land and little property, than be
the king Of all the dead"
No Punishment or Rewards.
Prof. Seymour says that in general men
are neither punished in Hades for their evil
deeds done upon earth nor rewarded for
their good deeds. Strictly speaking, Homer
knows Of no instance Of reward and of only
one case Of punishment after death. Sissy
phus and Tanta!us suffer, but for no
stated crime. Ssyphus, the old ruler Of
Corinth, was doing in HadeS just what he
had been doing in life, heaving great stones
up HILL just Orion continued his occu-
patton of hunting.
While the spirits of men after death We're
thought to lead such a shadowy existence
as is indicated for them in the Homerc
poems, there was no need for cheering or
propitiating them in any way. They passed
from the regions of earln never more to
return they were helpless and powerless.
Once admitted to the realms of Hades
soul is beyond the reach of friends and
enemies on earth; it can receive no salts
faction; 1T can work neither veal nor woe.
Upon leaving their old homes and the
graves Of their ancestors on the mainland
Of Greece and, in particular on adopting
the custom of burning the bodies of the
dead, which would remove the possibility of
the souls return to its former habitation
the Greeks who migrated to Asia Minor
Ielt Denluu IIeIn also their Dellef In the in
f1uence over them of the spirits of their
ancestors But this Is not wholly satisfac-
tory, for even If they left their old ghosts
behind them they could have gained new
ones In the next generation. A German
writer calls attention to the large number
of haunted houses in England and the few
ness of these in America, but Prof. Sey-
mour explains that the New England COL
onists did not abandon their belief in ghosts
and many an American garnet is still full
oatS
Danish Even in so modern and practical a
land as California are haunted houses for
which no tenant can be found.
Sacrifices to the Dead.
DR.. Seymour says twice In the poems of
Homer offerings are made which bear a
close resemblance to sacrifices to the souls
of the dead, although they may be distin-
guished from them. At the funeral pyre
of Patroclus. Achilles leaves jars of honey
against the bier on which the corpse is
lying, and when Odysseus goes to the realm
Of Hades to consult the seer of Teiresias.
following the directions of Gree he digs
a small pit In the ground, a cubit square
and Dours about 1t libation for all the
dead, first milk and honey, then sweet wine
and water. After a prayer for the dead
including vow that on his return to Ithaca
he Will sacrifice a farrow COW and burn a
pyre full of treasures. and in particular
that he will sacrifice a black ram to Tel
resias OdysSeuS cuts the throat of ram
and Of a black eve in such a manner that
their blood shall flow into the pit
Some process of preserving the body from
decay must have been known and used by
the ancient Greeks. for the corpse Of
until the eighteenth day after his death:
that of Hector was treated with despite by
Achilles for eleven or twelve days and is
then bewaled by the Trojans for nine DAYS
nF Iofr
kept from decay by Thetis, who drops am
brosia and red nectar through the nostrils
Funeral Ceremonies.
The use of black for mourning appears
but once in Homer One princely military
funeral is described In detail-that of Pa
troclus. The chariots bearing the mobiles
and knights lead the way the infantry fol-
lows. In the midst his comrades bear the
body of the dead covered with locks Of
hair which they had cut off as a sign of
mourning. Achilles follows the corpse as
chief mourner, bearing his friends head
and when they reach the place appointed for
the fire he cuts off his own long, tawny
hair and places it in the hand of PatrocIus
The pyre is a hundred feet square. The
body is laid upon 1t at the center, wrapped
from head to foot in the fat of sheep and
kline. The carcasses of beasts are laid
on the outer part; jars of honey are leaned
dogs and twelve young Trojans taken. cap
tive on the last day of battle, are then
slain. their bodies are laid on the outer
part of the pyre, and, finally, the fire is
applied.
The funeral ceremonies of Achilles are not
reported in such detail those of his
friend, but he was mourned for seventeen
days and nights. the muses. themselves act
ing as the singing women. and his body was
covered with oil and honey and wrapped
in raiment brought by his goddess mother
His ashes were placed in a golden urn
with oil and unmixed wine, and with the
remains of his friend Patroclus. Over this
urn high mound was raised on a prom
ontory projecting into the Hellespont
The killing of captives, horses and dogs,
unlike the usages of some of the North
American Indians. Prof. Seymour thinks
was done in spirit of vengeance, not to
furnish attendants in the next world. The
mound was intended as monument to
lead coming generations to ask their fathers
who were buried there and thus keep alive
the memory of the dead. Everybody, on
seeing the mound Of Ajax, would ask who
was buried there. and then who was AjaX2
Similarly, Prof. Seymour says, the Passover
service was intended to remind the Israel
ties to tell their children the story Of the
release from captivity in Egypt.
HONEYMOON FOR BRIDES.