Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/27

 CHAP. I. NOTIONS ABOUT THE SOUL AND DEATH. 21 when these rites were establisheJ, men did not yet be- lieve in Tartarus and the Elysian Fields. The earliest opinion of these ancient generations was, that man lived in the tomb, that the soul did not leave the body, and that it remained fixed to that portion of ground where the bones lay buried. Besides, man had no account to render of his past life. Once placed in the tomb, he had neither rewards nor punishments to expect. This is a very crude opinion surely, but it is the beginning of the notion of a future life. The being who lived under ground was not suf- ficiently free from human frailties to have rio need of food ; and, therefore, on certain days of the year, a meal was carried to every tomb. Ovid and Virgil have given us a description of this ceremony. The observance continued unchanged even to their time, although religious beliefs had already undergone great changes. According to these writers, the tomb was surrounded with large wreaths of grasses and flowers, and cakes, fruits, and flowers were placed upon it ; milk, wine, and sometimes even the blood of a victim were added." We should greatly deceive ourselves if we thought that these funeral repasts were nothing more than a sort of commemoration. 'Ihe food that the family brought was really for the dead — exclusively lor him. What proves this is, that the milk and wine were poured out upon the earth of the tomb ; that the earth was hollowed out so that the solid food might reach the dead ; that if they sacrificed a victim, all its flesh was burnt, so that none of the living could have any part of it; that ' Virgil, JPn., III. 300 et seq. ; V. 77. Ovid, Fast, II. 533-542.