Lastly, burial was denied, or at least entombment with others was refused, to those who had been killed by lightning. This, from the modern point of view, seems more extraordinary than the other cases of forbidden sepulture that have been mentioned, but the ancients considered any one who was killed in that manner as struck by a god, who knew of some crime that had been hidden from mortal eye. Theseus, who was renowned for his piety, in speaking of those slain at Thebes, declared that he would burn the corpse of Capaneus apart, because he was struck by the flame hurled from Zeus’s own hand, but that he would burn all the others on a single funeral pyre[19]. Plutarch declares that the bodies of those who have been killed by that means never putrefy, and that “many people never burn nor bury such bodies, but let them lie above ground with a fence about them, so that every one may see that they remain uncorrupted[20].” In some cases, on the other hand, the remains of these wretched beings were cremated and then interred[21]. We must bear in mind, however, that the prohibition of burial or a separate entombment in the case of a man struck by lightning, did not necessarily signify disgrace, but was, in a certain sense, indicative of distinction. His corpse was considered “sacred” or appropriated to the gods, and, as such, could not be dealt with in the conventional way[22]. In opposition to the circumstances under which burial was denied, were the cases and conditions which called for extraordinary funeral ceremonies. Special pomp was displayed in honoring those who had suffered a violent death at the hand of a murderer. As the funeral procession moved slowly and solemnly along to the grave, an upright spear was carried in advance, to typify the manner of the unfortunate one’s death[23]. On arriving at the place of entombment, this spear was set up in the grave. That was done even when, for lack of means, no procession had been conducted[24]. After that, proclamation was made at the tomb, to discover, if possible, whether the deceased had any relatives who might avenge the murder. Afterward the grave was watched for three days[23]. A peculiar ceremony was also observed when a person was drowned, or where, through any other mischance, it happened that the body could not be recovered. Under those circumstances, the ancient law of the Greeks bade them erect a cenotaph[25]. The following bit, a portion of a most pleasing little epigram, written in memory of a youth lost at sea, and admirably illustrating this law, we owe to Callimachus: “The surges toss his breathless frame, An empty tomb preserves his name[26].” In one of Euripides’s plays, by means of this custom and various other ceremonies, which Helen declares to be part of the Grecian religion, Theoclymenes is outwitted and the triumphant husband and wife, once more reconciled, succeed in returning to their native land[27].