WorksheetsXenia - Greek death and burial
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 5mins
Which of the following was NOT a reason for ritualized funeral procedures in Ancient Greece?
honor the dead
ensure their immortality
honor the gods
protect the living from being punished by the gods
Which of the following was the god of gentle death?
Zeus
Thanatos
Hades
Persephone
According to their original belief system, what became of the psyche after a person died?
It went to the Underworld and was able to work off the person's debt to Hades
It became a shallow phantom that was condemned to a murky, shadowy place in the Underworld.
It was sentenced to one of the 3 realms of the Underworld, according to the person's wealth and behavior while still alive.
It became a thin phantom that wandered Earth until properly sacrificed to the gods.
As the Greeks began to view the psyche as a soul, what change to their beliefs of the afterlife also changed?
The soul was able to make moral choices which elevated or condemned their level in the Underworld.
The soul needed to be prepared for the journey to the Underworld, which included money for passage.
Only people of high moral character were capable of being rewarded in the Underworld, while those who were bad people spent eternity being punished.
People's destination in the Underworld was predetermined, so there was little the living could do to control their fate.
Along with the Elysium Fields, what was/were the other level(s) of the Underworld?
Hades
Plains of Asphodel
Tartarus
Mount Olympus
There is archaeological evidence that coincides with the Greek funeral belief that Charon brought the dead across the River Styx only if they had the money for passage, or obol.
True
False
Which Greek burial belief is part of the basis for the play Antigone?
The dead needed to cross the River Styx in order to get into the Underworld.
Only the most virtuous were able to spend their afterlife in the upper level of Hades, the Elysium Fields.
Those who tried to cheat the gods or were horrible people on Earth spent eternity being tortured in Tartarus.
The soul of an unburied and unmourned body would never find peace.
According to Greek laws, the prothesis and ekphora were required to be completed before sunrise because the psyche was only able to move into the Underworld in the dark.
True
False
What might a mourner encounter at the prothesis? Select all that apply.
coins in the mouth or hands of the dead
laurel wreaths left placed around the body of the dead
a veil placed over the face of the dead
wailing and other lamentations to mourn the dead
What was the purpose of the funeral procession in Ancient Greece?
The dead had to be brought from the church to the cemetery.
The dead had to be buried outside the city walls.
The dead had to be mourned throughout the city to ensure proper honor.
The dead had to be brought to each temple to be blessed by the gods.
