In the funeral procession the body was carried in a vehicle or on the shoulders of friends or slaves. The male mourners marched in front of the corpse and the female mourners behind it, all dressed in black with the hair cut short. In the Homeric times there were violent outbursts of grief and abuse of person by the mourners, but in later times laws were passed to prevent such. At the grave if the body was to be burnt it was placed upon the pile and precious ointments and perfumes were poured over it while burning and the ashes were collected and placed in an urn. If it was to be interred, the body was placed in a wooden, earthenware, or metallic coffin and put into the grave, which was usually in the rock. The mourners then returned to the house and partook of the funeral meal. On the third and tenth days sacrifices were offered at the tomb and again on the thirtieth day, which concluded the mourning period. The graves were well cared for and decorated with flowers and plants. "To neglect the tomb of your ancestors was so far a crime that no man could become a chief officer of the state who could be proved to have failed in this respect."[173] =Religion.= "An Athenian child begins by listening to the 'old wives' tales' of his nurse; then is present at domestic rites and sacrifices, which impress him without his understanding them; afterwards learns his old-fashioned Homer and his poets, before he has any notion of questioning their theology; next moves about among altars and splendid temples and statues of Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, and many another divinity; is later on initiated into awesome mysteries, which are addressed to his emotions and not to his reason; and is at all times trained to undertake no enterprise, public or private, without first consulting the will of the gods, praying to them, and sacrificing to them."[174] The child was introduced into the religious life in the home, as each house had its own altar and its special household deities, to whom prayers were offered and sacrifices made, and on occasions of marriage, birth, death, and the like, special ceremonies occurred. He learned about both the good and the bad, as amulets were hung about his neck to ward off harm and he saw sacrifices made to appease the wrath of the evil ones. In public there were sacrifices and celebrations to the gods, in some of which the child took part.