Death and Grief in the Greek Culture

Abstract

None would disagree that death is the great separator. Death has many meanings, and they change with culture and society. In the Greek mythology, the dead journeyed to the Afterlife, ruled by Hades. Death was not perceived as an end in and by itself, but rather as another “world” to belong to. By Classical times there was a rise to burial rituals and commemorative practices, carried out throughout the centuries. Christian religion attempted to change the way the dead were mourned, and preached the immortality of the soul and resurrection of the dead. Nevertheless, the way people grieved and buried their dead has not changed much. The only change is a difficulty in the receptiveness of burial procedures, observed in large cities and in younger population. Today in Greece, the perceptions and practices on grief and death derive both on the ancient and the Christian Orthodox traditions.