While reading past epics such as the Odyssey I never really understood why burial was extremely important until reading The Aeneid. I realized that one of the reasons the soldiers would fight over the fallen bodies so they could have a proper burial was so they would receive honor, but I felt there was more to it. When Aeneas makes his trip to the underworld he encounters the souls of the unburied. Sibyl informs Aeneas that the souls of the unburied are not allowed to cross the river into the underworld. They have to wait until either their bones are buried in the ground or wait one hundred years on the banks of the river before they are allowed to cross. Aeneas unfortunately encounters Palinurus( his helmsman who was pitched overboard and was killed by savages when he finally go to the shore of Italy) as one of the unburied souls and Palinurus begs Aeneas to "deliver him from his captivity." I never really understood this part of the underworld until reading this. If you knew that that is what would happen if you or a loved one wasn't buried you probably would almost fight to the death to give someone a proper burial. This would insure they would have a safe passage to the underworld and not have to wait another one hundred years. Actually being in the underworld can seem bad enough and then having to wait even longer to enter would be devastating knowing that peace is just across a river. Thankfully as Aeneas journey went on we were able to see a more pleasurable side to the underworld, which almost makes waiting even harder. Therefore, all the fighting over the bodies to give the people proper burials makes so much more sense because it is not only for their honor but also to gain easy passage to the underworld.
p.s. commented on Molly Gray's Changing the Names
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