THE GREEK MIND IN PRESENCE OF DEATH. 



275 



any which belongs certainly to an Athenian. Of 

 this simple and touching phrase we find a num. 

 ber of metrical amplifications : 



" Farewell, tomb of Melite ; the best of women 

 lies here, who loved her loving husband, Onesi- 

 mus ; thou wert most excellent, wherefore he longs 

 for thee after thy death, for thou wert the best of 

 wives. Farewell, thou too, dearest husband, only 

 love my children." 



But an inscription of this kind is necessarily 

 of a late period, and but little in accord with the 

 canon of Greek taste. No doubt, when it was 

 set up, it was at once condemned as vulgar by 

 people of culture. 



Far more usual and less extravagant is the 

 following, which details a conversation, not with 

 the dead, but with his tomb : " Whose tomb are 

 we to call thee ? That of famous Nepos. And 

 who of the children of Cecrops begat him ? say. 

 He was not of the land of Cecrops, but from 

 Thrace." Another epitaph, after proceeding in 

 verse, suddenly breaks into prose: "And if you 

 seek my name, I am Theogeiton, son of Thymo- 

 chus of Thebes." Of course, it is quite natural 

 that the tombstone should thus speak in the first 

 person in the name and on behalf of the deceased. 

 In some of our commonest English epitaphs, such 

 as " Affliction sore long time I bore," we find the 

 same peculiarity; but that a gravestone should 

 give information in reply to cross-questioning is 

 less usual. » 



The second kind of metrical inscriptions, 

 which is by far the most numerous, speaks of the 

 past life and history of the deceased. Thus, over 

 the grave of a soldier we find : 



" Of thy valor stands many a trophy in Greece 

 and in the souls of men ; such wert thou, Nicobo- 

 lus, when thou leftest the bright light of the sun 

 and passedst, beloved of thy friends, to the dwell- 

 ing of Persephone." 



Other triumphs, besides warlike ones, are else- 

 where recorded ; on the tomb of one Praxinus, 

 the doer, we read the punning epitaph : 



" My name and my father's this stone proclaims, 

 and my country ; but by my worthy deeds I at- 

 tained such a name as few may obtain." 



We are not aware in this case to what special 

 kind of deeds the inscription refers ; often it is 

 more explicit, as in the following, erected over a 

 young statuary : 



" I began to flourish as a statuary not inferior 

 to Praxiteles, and came to twice eight years of age. 



My name was Eutychides, 1 but that name fate 

 mocked, tearing me so early away to Hades." 



On the tomb of one Plutarchus, who seems to 

 have been a merchant, we find a brief history of 

 his life : 



" This is the tomb of the discreet Plutarchus, 

 who, desiring fame which comes of many toils, 

 came to Ausonia. There he endured toils on toils 

 far from his country, although an only child and 

 dear to his parents. Yet gained he not his desire, 

 though longing much, for first the fate of unlovely 

 death reached him." 



Sometimes out of a whole life one event or cir- 

 cumstance of peculiar interest was taken, and 

 commemorated as well by inscription as relief, as 

 in the case of that Phoenician stranger, already 

 mentioned, who narrowly escaped the jaws of a 

 lion. The inscription on his tomb describes that 

 escape, and explains the meaning of the repre- 

 sentation it accompanies. 



The virtues of the dead must always in all 

 countries form the most frequent and suitable 

 subject of sepulchral inscriptions. Athens is no 

 exception to the rule. We find on the grave of 

 a young man : 



" Here Euthycritus, having reached the goal of 

 every virtue, lies entombed in his native soil, dear 

 to father and mother, and loved by his sisters and 

 all his companions, in the prime of his life." 



A copper-smelter from Crete has the simple and 

 pleasing epitaph : 



" This memorial to Sosinus, of his justice, his 

 prudence, and his virtue, his sons erected on his 

 death." 



The following is from the tomb of one Sotius : 



" Here in earth lies Sotius, superior to all in the 

 art he practised, virtuous of soul, and dear to his 

 fellow-citizens ; for ever he studied to please all, 

 and his heart was most just toward his friends." 



Such are a few of the panegyrics bestowed on 

 men after their death ; those bestowed on women 

 are fewer in number, but not less interesting. A 

 young girl is commended for her serious and 

 staid disposition : 



" She who lies here coveted not, while alive, 

 garments or gold, but desired discretion and virtue. 

 But now, Dionysia, in place of youth and bloom, 

 the Fates have awarded thee this sepulchre." 



More than once we find epitaphs which speak of 

 the virtue and kindness of nurses, evidently set 

 up by young men who had never ceased to care 



1 Child of good luck. 



