Itamar Levin, Brown University
Cenotaphs constitute some of the most impressive graves in Greek antiquity, particularly during the archaic period. However, while each of these memorials has been examined individually, scholars of ancient Greek history and archeology have yet to consider empty tombs as a discrete group with unique characteristics. This is especially striking considering the importance that scholarship on the modern nation-state ascribes to cenotaphs in (re)producing national ideology (Anderson 9–36). This paper addresses that gap by discussing the power and symbolism of absence in the process of community-building. It shows that public cenotaphs were a new phenomenon that emerged in the colonies and reflected a new civic ideology.
Archaic Greece offers numerous examples of notable cenotaphs, such as the “Schiff’s grave” in Thera (Kurtz and Boardman 179) and the tomb of Glaucus in the agora of Thasos (Pouilloux 75–6; GVI 51a). This paper focuses on two particular examples. First, the monument of Menecrates in Corcyra, a large cylindrical structure dating back to the end of the seventh century. The epitaph describes Menecrates as a proxenos from Oiantheia in Locris who lost his life at sea (IG IX,1 867). The inscription’s civic tone is underlined by its repetition of the word dêmos and its description of Menecrates as a friend of the entire people (Tribulato 48–50; cf. Wallace 191). Moreover, the emphasis on Menecrates’ office suggests that the proxenos drowned while traveling to or from Corcyra as part of his service to the colony. The second case study is the polyandrion of Ambracia, dating from the first half of the sixth century, which is located at the western necropolis of the city, near the gate. The long and elaborate elegiac epitaph laments four Ambraciot diplomats who accompanied a Corinthian embassy and were ambushed and slaughtered (SEG 44:463a). The civic nature of the incident is apparent, as the deceased did not perish as private individuals, but rather while carrying out a service to their city (Cassio 101–17; Bowie 361–2; Lytle 87–91). Furthermore, by addressing the audience as “citizens” (πολῖται), the epitaph establishes the act of mourning as a civic duty.
These two examples demonstrate that the absence of remains is not contingent but a fundamental element of the public commemorative apparatus. The tombs are empty since the deceased died abroad or at sea while undertaking a mission on behalf of the polis. For this reason, their death was considered a sacrifice for the city, and the people resolved to honor them with grandiose funeral rites at public expense, including a grand empty tomb. These monuments functioned as a symbol of the values that citizens were to learn from and emulate. Therefore, the construction of public commemorations is evidence of the rise of civic ideology in the colonies (cf. Malkin 286). Such cenotaphs embodied the novel conceptualization of the people as a community with shared interests, memory and annual rites.