The Importance Of Funerals In The Iliad

The idea of burial has been mentioned repeatedly throughout the Iliad. It is a common procedure done by Greeks as part of their culture. It is interesting that burial was recurring in the Iliad as a normative action taken place after death. It was almost necessary for the Greeks to take on the responsibility of hosting an appropriate funeral for the fallen individual. Funerals are quite common, but are not taken as seriously as the Greeks did during the time period of the Iliad. Both the Trojans and the Achaians during war with each other understood the meaning behind the theory of life after death. Even though giving up the body of a vanquished individual illustrates weakness to the enemy, proper burial is needed to present closure and appreciation of the deceased. Since the significance of a burial was mutual among the enemies of the Iliad, it is easy to say that there would be no issues of performing a funeral. The satisfaction after killing one of your enemies is consequently strong that it is simple to delay the process. In the case when Hector begs for his rights of burial he says, “Achilles, by your own soul and by your parents, do not allow the dogs to mutilate my body by the Greek ships” (433.375-377). He goes on to bribe Achilles and insist for him to “accept the gold and bronze ransom [his] father and mother will give [him] and send [his] body back home to be burned in [his] honor by the Trojans and their …show more content…
Gratefully, Achilles understood the feelings when your love one is treated like dirt and you are unable to give the burial they need. In return, Hector was finally able to be buried with the respect he deserved from the Trojans. His family and the people of Troy wanted to the satisfaction of Hector finally being able to pass on gracefully. His proper burial signified how much the people of Troy cared for