Essay On Ancient Greek Life After Death

Burial of the dead can be explained as the act of placing the corpse of an individual in a tomb constructed for that purpose or in a grave dug into the earth. Ancient Greece had many thoughts concerning death and dying. The people of ancient Greece contracted burial under the earth and continued the tradition of the after-life existing underground. Ancient Greeks had beliefs in an afterlife and were fascinated with the human soul's roles, actions, and location after death. For the ancient Greeks, the funeral ritual was an essential key to the afterlife and contributed to help the individual on its way. The ancient Greeks made sure to provide their dead with carefully carved stones to remind the living of who the deceased were and what honors …show more content…
The belief of the living soul was split into two different topics. The concept of the "free soul" represents the personality of an individual, and "body souls", which are those things that provide life and consciousness to the body. When the free soul would leave the body at the time of death, it begins an afterlife. Then the soul is considered a kind of spirit. The souls traveled to the underworld or afterlife ruled Hades. Hades and his brothers Poseidon and Zeus defeated their father to end his reign. They had agreed to split their rule where Poseidon the god of the sea, Zeus became the god of the skies, and Hades the god of the underworld. When reaching the underworld, the spirits would have to cross the river Styx on Charon's ferry to enter into Hades. Depending on the deceased's actions in life. Tartarus was for those who had committed sins against the gods, so they would have received eternal torment for their crimes. Asphodel, was where most spirits ended up, it was a large field covered in flowers where the dead lived aimlessly. The third place was Elysium, which was used for heroes and those for those the gods