Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks

A comprehensive study traces ancient Greek ideas about the soul and life after death from Homeric poetry through funeral practice, chthonic cults, hero veneration, and mystery rites to later philosophical systems. It reconstructs rituals, beliefs, and literary expressions, examining Dionysiac and Orphic traditions, Eleusinian practice, and philosophical treatments including Platonic thought, arguing for complex origins and mutual influences. The author balances detailed textual and comparative analysis with summaries of ritual procedures and appendices on related rites, aiming to show how conceptions of immortality evolved in both popular and elite contexts.