Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/550

 official encouragement; for St Anastasius Sinaites, bishop of Antioch during the latter half of the sixth century, enjoined the observance of them, and in so doing used some of the old names by which the customs were known in pre-Christian times. 'Perform,' he wrote, 'the offices of the third day ([Greek: trita]) for them that sleep, with psalms and hymns, because of him who rose from sleep on the third day, and the offices of the ninth day ([Greek: enata]) to remind those that yet live of them that have fallen asleep, and the offices of the fortieth day according to the old law and form (for even so did the people mourn for Moses), and the offices of the anniversary in memory of the dead, with gifts from his substance to the poor as a remembrance of him .' In this passage the cloak of Christian decency which St Anastasius provided does not entirely cover the nakedness of heathen superstition. There is indeed much aetiological skill in the saint's manipulation of Biblical references; but the [Greek: trita] and [Greek: enata] practised in his day, despite the addition of Christian prayers and hymns, were without doubt the same in essence as those to which Aristophanes and others allude—meals provided for the dead; for such indeed they still remain.

At the present day the funeral service usually concludes with a distribution of baked-meats and wine to the company assembled at the grave-side, and a share of both is given to the dead. In some districts this function means more than the serving of light refreshments, and the grave-side becomes the scene of a substantial meal, from which however meat is excluded; for, owing to Christian ideas of fasting, it is generally held to be 'spiritual' for the mourners to abstain from meat for the period of forty days. It is to this meal at the graveside that the word [Greek: makaria] seems to be properly applied, in the sense of a 'feast of blessing,' and it obviously corresponds with the term [Greek: makaritês], 'blessed,' which was in antiquity, and still remains, the Greek equivalent of our 'deceased' or 'late.'

Subsequently, in the evening after the funeral or even on two or three evenings thereafter, the nearer friends and relatives of the dead assemble for another funeral-feast. This meal, which in ancient times was called the [Greek: perideipnon] is now commonly known