Mass Ashes

This chapter evaluates changes in the spectacle of the corpse in fifth-century Athens. It describes private burial of the war dead in the sixth century and contrasts it with public burial in the fifth century, which here receives a detailed treatment and reconstruction. Using literary and archaeological evidence, including recent discoveries of commemoration for the Marathon dead, it argues that the institution of public burial emerged around 500. The patrios nomos developed in the context of the nascent democracy, and it helped give shape to the new community.

Genealogy · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History