The Prothesis is the preparation and display of the body before burial. It was highly domestic and was performed by women, specifically close female relatives of the deceased. Because women were believed to be polluted by childbirth, they were deemed to be more capable of coping with the pollution of death. Therefore, just as women washed and dressed newborns, so they did the same with the deceased.
Solon prescribed that the prothesis ceremony last twenty four hours and occur on the day after death. Women were in the majority at the prothesis, a fact indicated by their frequency in vase representations. The prothesis was held inside according to Solon's law, indicating that it had previously taken place outdoors. The washing of the body was the first step and was performed by the women. After bathing, the corpse was clothed, often wrapped in a shroud known as a endyma, covered by a looser garment called a epiblema. However, the unmarried or recently married were laid out in wedding attire, and soldiers were often dressed in hopelite panoply.
After the body was bathed and clothed, it was laid out on a bed, called a kline, and the feet were set facing the door. Pillows were placed under the head, and the kline was draped in a bier cloth. The head was to the mourners'
right, and they stood, knelt, or sat on either side of the bier and also below it. A special importance was attached to the position at the head of the bier, which was usually occupied by close female relatives. In vase representations, these women arrange the pillows and grasp the deceased by the shoulders. Th. eyes of the body were always closed, an act usually discharged by the next of kin. This custom was believed to secure the release of the soul from the body. Laments,, which we will discuss in greater depth on another page, were sung in honor of the dead at this time. Another important aspect of the prothesis was that, if the holding of the ceremony was unchallenged, it signified that those conducting it had established their legal right to inherit.
The true function of the prothesis is controversial. While some writers believe the purpose was a legal or medical one, ascertaining that the deceased was dead and had not died violently, vase paintings contradict this rational explanation. They show that the function of the ceremony was to allow mourners to sing dirges to honor the dead in order to satisfy claims of duty and appease the departed soul.