The Greek Personification Of The Death Coach

334 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: d concept of afterlife in Greek culture

Modern Greek folklore has transmuted the concept of Charon into a whole new personification. Death is no longer the withered ferryman, but rather the driver of the "death coach”. In many parts of Greece, it is believed that, as time passed on and men became less connected to their gods (i.e., more concerned with material gains rather than spiritual pursuits) Death had to venture into the land of the living to retrieve souls. Hence, the personification of the death-coach, a black plumed, funerary coach pulled by huge black horses and driven by a faceless driver with burning eyes, who is in effect, Death Himself. Still today, in the age of motorized transport, if one were to hear the prance of hooves coming down the road, all ears are tuned in

Show More
Related

  • Pericles' Funeral Oration

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is widely known that the Athenians highly valued their warrior class, and they saw the warriors as a ring of the higher circle of the society. The Athenians were very proud of Athena and its traditions, as well. Athenian’s thought that Athena was the best, none could be better. The funeral oration was aimed to respect the fallen as well as to keep up the national pride and its passion to protect their nation. The speech was a eulogy which focused on the eminence of Athens and its predecessors. Usually a son was chosen to give the eulogy. The law required the speech to have several essential components. The speech had to concerning the lives of the deceased. At his eulogy’s end, Pericles spoke in regard to the soldiers. The speech talked about the life that the departed lived and the achievements which they gained. Pericles wanted the citizens to recall the soldiers but to forget about the tragedy that had occurred. He wanted the departed’s lives to be remembered, but not their demise. The speech helped the Athenians appreciate what their ancestors had died for and how they shou...

    Read More

  • Pericles’s Funeral Oration and Greek Society

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pericles’s funeral oration was given to honor the soldiers lost in war by commemorating the military accomplishments of the Athens government and to distinguish the roles of men and women in Athens society. Pericles’s speech was given in 430 B.C.E at the end of the first year of war. He then died a year late in 429 B.C.E. Pericles’ Funeral Oration is included in Thucydides’ writing titled History of the Peloponnesian War.

    Read More

  • Social Paradoxes In Ancient Greek Tragedies

    146 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ancient Greek tragedies, have placed the gods a scenes, hostile to each other or have them human emotions exhibited through them. Changing social structures, economic wealth and intellectual environment enriched expression in the first row were tragedies. With the human body, the feeling was on display. Gods descending from heaven to earth, was adding sovereignty conscious to the people. We see then that the next instance of the 1600-1700 year hiatus. Precisely as a comedy, as Marx said. Dante and Boccaccio's lyrical line was marked as a comedy. Human who can become a divine presence can easily come out god justifications _ could now easily pass through waves with it. Not only divine, an era of literary criticism, including social paradoxes

    Read More

  • Charon's Influence On Ancient Greek Culture

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charon is the boatman in the Underworld that carries the dead’s souls across the River Styx in his boat in exchange for payment, which was typically a coin (Hades 198). The Styx is a river in the Underworld (Styx 936). Souls were brought to the Styx by Hermes (Gibson 22). The Styx serves more purpose than being just one of the five rivers in the Underworld, an ominous realm of the undead souls ruled by Zeus’ powerful brother, Hades (Hades 198).

    Read More

  • marriage and funeral in ancient greece

    2321 Words  | 5 Pages

    Marriage in Classical Athens was inevitable. It was a part of life. Everyone had to get married, just as everyone had to someday face death. Although most people would not see a connection between marriage and death, the Greeks did. Both define an irreversible physical change—the loss of virginity and the loss of life. This idea of loss, rebirth, and renewal are present in both wedding and funeral. This is evident in the way wedding and funeral ceremonies complement each other in character and content. Both ceremonies are interwoven with ritual meaning and overlapping rites.

    Read More

  • Death And Death In Antigone

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Antigone, death is a central theme that is consistently present throughout the entire play. In this particular passage, the chorus proclaims that man’s access to resources will allow him to continue to exist; however, as long as man exists, so will death – a fate that no amount of resources can help anyone escape. In this essay, I will explore the correlation and significance of this passage, and more specifically, the correlation and relation to death, with particular characters of the play. These particular characters each have a different relation and perspective of death, however, as the story progresses, I will discuss why their relation, perspective and the way that which they acknowledge death itself evolves and changes so drastically.

    Read More

  • Socrates´ Death

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 399 BC, Socrates, the great philosopher in ancient Greece, was put to death under the hands of his Athenian fellow-citizens to whom he had a strong attachment, after a final vote with over two-thirds of jurymen against him. We cannot experience the situation where Socrates gave his final argument in the court of law. From Plato’s Apology, we admire Socrates’ brilliant rhetoric and rigorous logic, while at the same time feel pity for him and indignant with those ruthless jurymen. However, the question of what exactly caused his death and why was Socrates, such a remarkable thinker sentenced to death in the very society that valued democracy the most is not easy and straightforward to answer. There are multiple elements involved that finally caused this tragedy in which “a person of high moral principle is confronted step by step with a situation from which there is no escape” (38). First of all, the moral principle and belief in divinity held by Socrates are inconsistent with those of the Athenian society, implying the very crimes charged upon Socrates were not completely groundless. Secondly, the imperfect juridical system of Athens played a role in causing this tragedy. What’s more, Socrates himself, could have offered better defense in the court, also had a hand in his own death by his stubbornness regarding to his own interpretation of wisdom and piety. His rebuttal, though brilliant and insightful, was not persuasive enough to move the fellow-citizens for his wrong approach and sophistry in his cross-examination on Meletus.

    Read More

  • The Life of Socrates

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Socrates (470-399 BC) was a credited philosopher born in the city of Athens to father Sophroniscus and mother Phaenarete. Despite his world-renowned contributions, he did not leave any written accounts of his life. His story was taught through the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, along with Aristotle and Aristophanes in various forms of dramatic texts and histories. Among others, Plato wrote many dialogues that quoted Socrates’ exact words. Much of what we know comes from this greatly influenced student. However, Plato being a literary artist, leads many to think that he brightened up Socrates’ teachings as a result of his positive bias. For this reason, much of his history remains uncertain.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Comparing Odysseus and Medea

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    This theme of death giving meaning to life is prevalent throughout the Odyssey. Hell is death, heaven is now, in life, in the field of time and action.

    Read More

  • Antigone: Divine Law Vs. Human Law

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    The corpse mutilated and eaten by carrion-birds and by dogs" (Sophocles). Herein lies the dilemma; in Greek culture, the spirit of a body that is not buried by sundown on the day that it died cannot find rest but is doomed to walk the earth.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Death In The Odyssey

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death, humanity’s worst fear. Humans do everything they can to avoid it, yet it is inevitable. If one believes, as the Ancient Greeks did, that there is some sort of life after death that can be reached by the living, then one would be able to theoretically speak to one’s dead acquaintances. Most people believe that one grows wiser as one grows older; however one can wonder whether the dead are wiser than even the oldest of the living. Death, death occurs to many men in the Odyssey, but one can wonder at the amount of death in this epic poem. Epic poems were supposed to teach listeners on how to be good Greek citizens and they were supposed to teach life lessons, similar to fables in today’s time. This leads one to question why Homer, the author,

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Death In The Odyssey

    1608 Words  | 4 Pages

    Odysseus is often times considered a hero for triumphing, for living through the many challenges that he has to face over the course of The Odyssey. He defeats the mighty cyclops, he braves years away from home fighting one battle after the other and makes it home alive. Many times he has the chance to give in to death, to end his suffering, however he doesn’t take his chance and he continues fighting. He survives. However Homer doesn’t put it in that light, he doesn’t centralize the idea of life in The Odyssey but rather the idea of death, and all that it brings, or fails to bring.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Socrates's View On Death

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    Socrates discusses that people should not fear death because we do not know the qualities of death. Even though we do not know what death is, he makes some suggestions for the possibilities after death. He suggests that maybe death is just an endless sleep without dreaming, it is where we can finally come to peace with ourselves. He also suggest that maybe in the afterlife he will be able to meet heroic people in the past, where he can share his experience and question people to see whether they are wise. Even in death Socrates is still going to practice philosophy even if the place is bad. Even if he did not live a just life that he thought he did, he can examine what he did wrong and fix the problems in the after life. I agree with Socrates

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: Hellenistic Hell

    488 Words  | 1 Pages

    It's November, the shittiest month of the year. The past couple days have been absolute hell, I started walking around in my trench coat with the rest of the group and almost everyday we get attacked by the jocks, the odd thing is, Mary never gets attacked. She always gives a certain look to them, like a signal. I could be tripping though, cause I did get my head stomped on the last time I saw her give the look, so it could possibly just be my imagination. As me, Riley, and Boyd were walking through the lunchroom we noticed something peculiar, "What in the fucking hell is that?" said Boyd. He was talking about a large group of students gathered in a circle, shouting. We run over and push through the crowd. Once we are through we see a kid fighting

    Read More

  • The Relationships of Fate, the Gods, and Man in "The Iliad"

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    To view the links that are instilled between mortals, immortals, and fate in The Iliad, it is worthwhile to examine each on its own to observe how they connect. The characteristics of the three are inherently unique in relation to each other, though in some areas there is overlap. Man is defined as a mortal, someone who can die from old age and disease. Products from mortal and immortal procreation, such as the hero Achilles, fall into a sort of category all their own, but Achilles himself suggests that he would die from old age if he were to return home (9:502-505). In this weakness of the flesh they differ from the immortal gods, who cannot die from natural causes. Nevertheless, the gods share the imperfections of man: disloyalty, deceit, anger, and even lust. They see themselves as above man, and yet their actions are often as selfi...

    Read More

More about The Greek Personification Of The Death Coach

Open Document