THE EARLY AGE OF GREECE VOL.I by W.Ridgeway 1901

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INHUMATION, CREMATION, AND THE SOUL. 539
demons, requiring to be conciliated by sacrificed" But this is
simply the principle followed by the Hindus with respect to
women who have died in a state of physical impurity. So too
the Kalmucks do not burn the mass of the dead, but only
superior priests and holy men of whose passage to paradise
there can be no doubt (p.
.5 29).
As they burn the good, but not the bad, cremation is
evidently done with a good purpose toward the soul of the
deceased. It is therefore done for the purpose of sending the
soul, and that too in a state of purit3^ to a blissful abode,
though there are some souls so imbued with physical impurity
that no fire can cleanse them. This is all the more likely, as
the bad who are not burned remain as demons, who have to
appeased. If the dead were cremated merely to get rid of the
soul, then these people would cremate the bad, for they would
thus get rid of troublesome and mischievous spirits.
These facts ccunpletely overthrow the theory that the body
was burned as the most effectual means of getting rid of the
ghost of the departed.
This doctrine is the opposite of that of the West African
peoples, who, when they want to get rid effectually of a
malignant spirit, completely destroy the Vxidy (p. ,52>S).
The pra(.'tice
of burning the body of dead kinsfolk indicates
a mental attitude very ditfei-cnt from that of ])rimitive ])('oples,
wiio have a \ague idea tliat, at'toi- death the soul abides for a
longer oi- shorter period in, oi' close to, its carnal tenement.
Such a custom thei'efore could only have ai'isen among nu'u
who had long emancipated themselves li-om the grossei- material
('oncepti((ns of the \ast niajoiitv of the human race, and who
had grasped the realit\ ot the spii-itual and incor|)oreal, and
had a deep-roote(l l)eliet' that there was within man that which
conid not be locked within the iron hills or l)lo\vn about the
desert dust, and wjiich cNfii the flames themscKcs could not
dest roy.
it IS priiliahlc liei'efoi-e that the iract ice of cremation t
|
began
be
540 INHUMATION, CREMATION, AND THE SOUL.
among a people dwelling in a forest region, where their houses
were of wood, and that tiie house and all appertaining to the
dead were burned to avoid pollution of the living,
and to purify
at the same time the soul of the dead, which by this means
being freed from all contamination of matter woidd pass to the
place of spirits, just as burnt sacrifices reached the gods by the
of fire.
agency
But the view here put forward is not merely based on the
evidence derived from Vedic tradition and modern Hinduism
;
it is in strict agreement with Greek tradition also. Eustathius'
says that " the Hellenes had formerly the custom of burning the
dead, a practice which still prevails with some of the northern
barbarians. They did so to show that the divine element in
man when borne on high by
fire as if in a chariot mingled with
the heavenly beings, whilst the earthy element remained
below, partly consumed by fire, partly surviving in the remains
of the bones. Some say that it was because the corpse was
held t(j be impure, and because the consumption of decomposed
matter by the agency of fire was a form of purification, because
fire is purificatory. For which reason purifications were eftected
by
means of fire."
Thus no other reason is assigned for cremation save that of
purification, although there were two different views concerning
its object. We may therefore conclude with confidence that
the burning of the dead originated in a desire for
purification.
The physical notion, as is always the case, probably preceded
the spiritual.
Thus while the Vedic people beseech Death to
'
Eustatliius, (((/ JItiiii. II. 4;-i: on ^flos rju "KWyai Kaifiv tovs veKpov^, 8 Sv;
Kal eis in 7rapa/x('cei tloI rCcv Viopt'iwv ^apfidpMV. eiroioi'u Oe tovto (KfU'oi irpos
(Oei^LU Tov TO fXfv thiov Tov avBpdjirov a.vu}(pop7]6iv uicnrep ev oxvp^o-tl n2 in'pi
TT
poa ixltai rojs ovpavioi?, to df y-qCuov koltlc /j-hvui, to p.kv irvpl daTravrjOfv, to Se
ivawoixtivaii Xeii/'dj'OiS octtCov. ol 0( (paaiv oti to fxkv viKpbv ov KaOapov iboKti,
dyvLa/jLos Oe ris rjv 17
5ia Tri'pos haTrdvyj tov viKpodii'TO%, oti xal to irvp ayviGTLKbv.
ol'o xal ol KaOap/xoi oia wi'pos iylvovTO, Kal VjvpiwiSyjs oe tomvto tl iixtpciivfi.. owov
(f>r)ab' oTL TO r^j KXi'TaifivrjcTTpas B^p^as irvpl KaOr]yin