REVISITING GENESIS
is constantly changing, evolving everything around it; death is no exception. The ways in which we mourn have certainly changed. The visceral passion of ancient mourning has given way to quieter and more contained displays of grief: mere crying as opposed to guttural shrieking and scratching one’s face. However, that is not to say that today’s mourning is necessarily more conservative. Indeed it is true that the very sober affair that is a Christian burial is most prevalent in British society today, but more and more options are gaining traction to reflect rapidly changing social norms. It is becoming ever more popular to leave something of oneself behind, be it a digital legacy or an artefact made out of one’s own body for friends and relatives to have and to hold. What has remained constant through time is the desire to live on through memory.
Lena Dizane (WHS), Kitty Knight (OHS), Alice Politi (WHS), Eileen Vilaca (WHS) Between the classical and modern eras, customs related to burial, mourning and writing wills has changed. There are some key similarities between ancient and modern practices, showing how some fundamental human instincts have endured over time - in both time periods bodies can be either cremated or buried, and funerals are both a way to mourn the loss of a person and to celebrate their lives. However, practices have evolved as society has changed, with Greek and Roman funerals involving bloodthirsty games and competition, compared to the more sombre occasions in modern day society. Modern mourning practices are also more varied than those of the classical era, reflecting a freer society, and customs relating to writing have changed as different things have to be passed down the generations.
Bibliography
Within Ancient Greece, mourning was a large part of the burial process. Within the mourning procedure, crying out and groaning was done by the family, this becoming particularly loud when passerbys drew near, as to attract attention, and honour the dead. This would be initially done by the family, but professional mourners would carry out this for the family. The tearing of clothes and defiling of face and hair were also practised during the mourning process. During this, songs of mourning would also be played as the body made its way. Burial practices in the classical era varied over time. From around 1100 BC, the Greeks began burying their dead in individual graves rather than group tombs. Later, a rise in simplicity of burial occurred which coincided with the rise of democracy, with Athenians beginning to cremate their dead rather than bury them. The Romans both buried and cremated their dead, though over time burying became more popular.
https://wellcomecollection.org/pages/ XFHGvRUAAAQ_pEx- accessed 9th October 2019 https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_ dbag.htm accessed 9th October 2019
In the digital age, however, technology allows for more and more possibilities in life, and in death. People’s possessions no longer have to be tangible, and their remains no longer have to be in an urn, or buried six feet under. In modern times, loved ones can turn to vinyl, be preserved in a jewel, or even fertilise new life in the ground after they have passed on. Of course, just as - if not more - important than where one goes to rest is what they left behind. A traditional will doesn’t cover everything in regards to this, and thus comes into play the role of a digital will. An archive of a person’s digital presence will remain even in their death, and with the increasing use of online services, the image this creates has become even more important. It is understandable that some people might wish to control what is done with their accounts, blogs, profiles, and other identities, and it serves to keep their memory alive. Technology 7
