Dr Maria Stamatopoulou: List of publications

The aim of the chapter is to offer a regional perspective on the issue of Underworld journeys in Antiquity by tracing Thessalian attitudes to Hades from the Classical to the Hellenistic period. What do we know of the beliefs regarding the Underworld in Thessaly, a land where one of the most famous and successful katabaseis occurred? Our starting point will be the most famous Thessalian ‘round trip’ to Hades, that of Alkestis, portrayed through Athenian eyes in Euripides’ tragedy and Plato. This will allow us to discuss eschatological beliefs reflected in fifth-century bce Athenian literary works and address some of the stereotypes about Thessaly, as both are linked to the questions under discussion. We will then turn to Thessaly itself and exam- ine a variety of relevant evidence pertaining to cults of deities linked with passages and human destiny, the gold lamellae from Pherai and Pharsalos, funerary epigrams from the region echoing themes attested in the lamellae or revealing a concern with or a belief in the possibility of a blessed afterlife or for a ‘round trip to the Underworld’ and last but not least, the evidence from contemporary Thessalian necropoleis. As will be seen, the Thessalian evidence, although of a complex and often disparate nature, is suggestive of a heightened interest in the safe journey to the Underworld or a blessed afterlife.

This paper discusses tombstones bearing the banquet theme (Totenmahl) from Demetrias in Thessaly. Nearly all carried painted decoration, as was typical for the city, and date to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The introduction presents the evidence concerning their number, discovery, state of preservation and publication. Following this, their typology, iconographical features and epitaphs are discussed. The imagery of the Demetrias tomb- stones is compared with the evidence from Thessaly and the Greek world. The iconogra- phy of the stelai, similar to their typology, is heavily dependent on Athenian models, with an added emphasis on a luxurious ambience. Contrary to what has been proposed in the past, the study of the imagery and onomastics of the stelai shows that that the banquet motif was neither a minority choice in the city, nor was it limited to foreigners and/or persons of lower status. Rather, it was employed without much variation for Greeks and foreigner inhabitants of the city, regardless of ethnicity. In the multi-cultural environment of this Hellenistic harbour city, the population, with the exception of soldiers, priests and perhaps some Phoenician merchants, chose to be commemorated in a similar manner, placing emphasis on the family and comfortable life. Heroic allusions are few, but this is explained by the relatively early date of the Demetrias tombstones.

In this year's report I will focus on the presentation of the proceedings of AEThSE 3 which were distributed in spring 2013. The publication contains many very interesting articles on Thessaly that demonstrate the vitality and variety of the archaeological work (fieldwork, research and archival studies) conducted in the region, often under difficult circumstances. Although it has often been pointed out (during the conferences) that these meetings have become almost unmanageable, due to the very large number of participants (the volume on Thessaly is over 700 pages long), their importance is obvious. The regularity of the meetings and their prompt publication have increased our essential evidence for the region, but also enable scholars to draw comparisons and discern links among sites and between classes of material, and to illustrate the diachronic importance of key sites in the Thessalian landscape, thus adding greatly to our understanding of the region synchronically and diachronically. As a number of articles from this volume were the focus of last year's report (for example: Roman Demetrias: Triantaphylopoulou [2012]; Kastro/Palaia Volou: Skafida [2012]; Phthiotic Thebes/Nea Anchialos: Dina [2012]; Tempe: Sdrolia [2012b]; Toufexis et al. [2012b]; fortification walls of Late Roman Larisa: Kontogiannopoulou [2012]; Kazanaki: Stantzouris and Panagiotis [2012]), I will concentrate here on new sites/material for reasons of brevity. © Ministry of Culture and Sport .