The burial of the Theran Parthenika who died prematurely
An imposing funerary monument that functioned as a marker for the tomb of a young woman in the cemetery of ancient Oia, touchingly reveals how a Cycladic woman would cope with the loss of a loved one. Meticulously built, the monument consists of a solid marble block placed over a raised stepped base —a structure shown at actual size in the exhibition. The impressive funerary construction, around 1.295 m in height, had been mounted over a pit where the cremation of the deceased woman had taken place. An epigram inscribed on the lower part of the marble block praises the deceased mentioning her name: “Parthenika.
According to the epigram, the monument was commissioned by Damocleia for her lost sister who passed away prematurely. Although the age of the deceased woman is not specified, it is certain that she was young and unmarried, because the monument was installed in her honour by her sister. However, she was not too young either, because cremation was chosen for her instead of jar burial, which was the standard funerary practice for infants and young children.
Following cremation, her charred bones were placed inside a lebes (cinerary urn), the mouth of which was sealed with a thin slate slab. The lebes was deposited in the pit, on the bed of ashes produced by the pyre, alongside numerous offerings, such as vases, a neckless, female figurines and protomes, objects that all seem to have been selected by Damocleia to accompany her sister to her final abode. The rich grave goods, in combination with the prominent location of the funerary monument and the epigram, lay emphasis on the high social status of the family of these women in Theran society of the 6th century BC. At the same time, they indicate the identity of the deceased who passed away early before she could live the life that awaited her. The pivotal role of Damocleia in honouring her deceased sister underscores the ineffable pain caused by the premature loss of Parthenika, whose memory was symbolically perpetuated through the ages by her sister.
