Deathly Depictions and Descriptions: Understanding Attic Representations of the Deceased in the Afterlife in Text and Image during the 6th and 5th Centuries BC

Abstract

This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of Attic conceptions of the deceased in the afterlife. It thereby aims to identify and explain how the deceased were represented in a specifically selected corpus of textual and iconographic material originating from the Archaic and Classical periods. This body of evidence includes descriptions of the deceased in the afterlife in Homeric epic poetry and 5th century Athenian drama, as well as representations of the deceased in Attic vase-paintings from the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Additionally, this thesis has identified changes in the deceased’s representation between the Archaic and Classical periods. This study has focused on four prominent manifestations of the deceased in the afterlife; the psuche, eidôlon, miniature winged figures and human conscious figures. The psuche and the eidôlon are the two most frequent forms of representing the deceased in the afterlife in the textual evidence examined within this thesis. Iconographic analysis was conducted on the material evidence concerned within the thesis. Analysis revealed that the deceased in the afterlife could be portrayed as a miniature winged figure and as a conscious human figure. These forms of the deceased are present in Homer-inspired imagery as well as scenes of the prothesis, grave-visits and transitions to the afterlife. These figures feature on black-figure, red-figure and white-ground vessels. Previous scholarship has most often unified the four representations of the deceased, insisting on a correlation between miniature winged figures in art and either the psuche or eidôlon. This thesis does not attempt to unify the varying representations of the deceased and instead considers the evidence from a new perspective, focusing on the shared features across the various representations. In particular, this thesis found three significant features commonly present amongst the analysed material, namely; the deceased’s ability to fly, to interact with the living and representation of the deceased’s somber attitude. This specific research topic is highly relevant to the wider research conducted on ancient Greek conceptions of death and the afterlife. Studying the representation of death has also illuminated the challenges faced by artists, and how these were overcome, in the representation of an intangible and abstract concept in a palpable form.