Aeneid Burial

The Greeks and Romans collectively shared beliefs that reached out to certain religious practices, as well as respectful deeds when death arrived. This can be seen in the writings of both Homer and Virgil. For example, there are significant problems in both pieces that arise when there is a lack of proper uniformed burial. In F.P. Retief’s article, “Burial Customs, The Afterlife, and The Pollution of Death in Ancient Greece” says that “in the mid-eighth century BC, the Greeks belief system suggests that there was a requirement for burial based partly on what happened when the deceased were not buried properly” (Retrief) The same follows for the Romans; in Paul Burke Jr.’s article “Roman Rites For The Dead And Aeneid 6” he says, that “Aeneas

Shortly thereafter, we encounter Aeneas’ friend who happens to be improperly buried, Palinurus. He then asks to be buried so that he may “rest in a quiet place” (Adams) Paul Burke’s article “Roman Rites for The Dead” says that “Since the main majority of Roman methods of burial was in fact cremation, there needed to be at least one offering from the body, which represented the body in its entire form, to be buried” (Burke 224). Burke also says that “If the dead were correctly laid to rest in a respectful manner, they would then descend into the underworld to join the rest of the dead” (Burke 224) Expanding on Burke’s argument, this means if the dead were not buried correctly then they would not be allowed to enter the underworld. There is an example of this in Homer’s work, The Iliad. We observe that Patroklus comes from the underworld in order to confront Achilles in hopes that he will properly bury him. “He states that he will never return from the underworld once he was given his rite of fire” (Adams) Given the scene with Patroklus, perhaps there is a Greek idea that believe in order for the Greeks to have a peaceful afterlife, then one must be buried correctly in a respectful