Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The article examines ancient Greek funerary rites and rituals related to children, as well as children’s tombstones from the Archaic and Classical periods. The study is based on material from Athens. Visual sources show that children took part in all stages of the funerary rite and the commemoration of the deceased, thus sharing the family’s rituals and values. From the Mycenaean and Homeric periods in Ancient Greece infants were buried in clay vessels. In late Archaic and Classical Athens infants’ and children’s burials marked with grave steles began to appear as well. Analysis of these steles makes it possible to draw conclusions not only about the nature and content of the funerary rite, but also to clarify the social role that children played in Athenian society. Children’s steles often feature depictions of pets – dogs and birds. The article cites various scholarly opinions on the reasons for this practice. The images of pets on grave steles carried several metaphorical meanings of significance, evoking different interpretations and emotional reactions among viewers. Most likely they symbolized the essence of youth or of life itself – a happy childhood surrounded by pets, at the same time emphasizing the fragility of existence. From the late Archaic period until the mid-4th century BCE there was a steady increase in the number of children’s burials and grave monuments. By the end of the Late Classical period, and especially in the Hellenistic era, their number declined. In our opinion, the most convincing explanation for this statistical trend is the link between the evolution of commemorative practices and the development of Athenian democracy.
Author: Tatyana V. Kudryavtseva
Institution: Herzen University
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Russian Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7219088723