“They who had the dead in charge Remained, and heaped the wood and built a pyre A hundred feet each way from side to side. With sorrowful hearts they raised and laid the corpse Upon the summit. Then they flayed and dressed Before it many fatlings of the flock, And oxen with curved feet and crooked horns. From these magnanimous Achilles took The fat, and covered with it carefully The dead from head to foot. Beside the bier And leaning toward it, jars of honey and oil He placed, and flung, with many a deep-drawn sigh, Twelve high-necked steeds upon the pile. Nine hounds there were, which from the tables of the prince Were daily fed; of these Achilles struck The heads from two, and laid them on the wood, And after these, and last, twelve gallant sons Of the brave Trojans, butchered by the sword; For he was bent on evil. To the pile He put the iron violence of fire, And, wailing, called by name the friend he loved. * * * * * ...They quenched with dark red wine The pyre, where’er the flames had spread, and where Lay the deep ashes: then, with many tears, Gathered the white bones of their gentle friend, And laid them in a golden vase, wrapped round With caul, a double fold. Within the tents They placed them softly, wrapped in delicate lawn; Then drew a circle for the sepulchre, And, laying its foundations to enclose The pyre, they heaped the earth, and, having reared A mound, withdrew.” These lines are from William Cullen Bryant’s translation of the Iliad, and give one a very good idea of the cineration of a warrior. In times of peace the favorite animals of the deceased were placed with him on the funeral pile, and he was covered with costly robes and rugs. Not infrequently the pyre was decorated with an abundance of flowers, and rich folks had their trinkets and jewels thrown into the fire. The weapons of warriors were consumed with them. The extravagance at funerals finally became so great among the Greeks that special laws had to be enacted to put a stop to it. Solon ordained, for instance, that no more than three robes and one bull should be placed upon the cremation pyre. After the bones were placed in an urn, the Greeks covered it with the fat of the animals that had been slaughtered at the funeral ceremonies, to protect it from the influence of the atmosphere. Many of the celebrated men of Greece were cremated: Solon, Alcibiades, Timoleon, Philopoemen, Plutarch, Pyrrhus, and many others.