On the second day after the funeral a sa-
crifice to the dead was offered, called
rpCra ; but the principal sacrifice to the dead
was on the ninth day, called ewara or
Svara. The mourning for the dead appears
to have lasted till the thirtieth day after the
funeral, on which day sacrifices were again
offered. At Sparta the time of moumiag was
limited to eleven days. During the time of
mourning it was considered indecorous for
the relatives of the deceased to appear in
public ; they were accustomed to wear a
black dress, and in ancient times they cut off
their hair as a sign of grief. — The tombs were
preserved by the family to which they be-
longed with the greatest care, and were
regarded as among the strongest ties which



attached a man to his native land. In the
Docimasia of the Athenian archons it was
always a subject of inquiry whether they had
kept in proper repair the tombs of their
ancestors. On certain days the tombs were
crowned with flowers, and offerings were
made to the dead, consisting of garlands of
flowers and various other things. The act
of offering these presents was called hmyC^tiv,
and the offerings themselves ivayiaimra^ or
more commonly x<x**. The yeWo-ta mentioned
by Herodotus appear to have consisted in
offerings of the same kind, which were pre-
sented on the anniversary of the birth-day of
the deceased. The veiewria were probably
offerings on the anniversary of the day of
the death ; though, according to some writers,
the vtKvtna were the same as the ye»wia.
