Death was ever-present in the ancient world with many men dying in battle and many women dying in childbirth. After death, corpses were either placed on a funeral pyre and cremated or were buried.
A Greek funeral was quite a dramatic event. The body was placed on a couch with the feet facing the door so that the spirit could leave the body. A wreath was put on the head, and a procession of mourners escorted the corpse to the place of burial or cremation.
Women often tore at their cheeks as a sign of grief and cut off their long hair. A lock of the hair was given to the deceased and food and drink offerings were made.
The Greeks believed that the spirits of the dead went to the Underworld, a gloomy place deep in the earth ruled by the god Hades, though some later Greeks divided the Underworld, introducing Tartarus, a place of punishment for evildoers, and Elysium, a blessed land to which went heroes and other deserving souls.
Followers of the mystery faith of Orpheus believed in reincarnation, with the soul rising up to the stars to await rebirth in a new body.
