Genealogical Writing and Epigraphic Layout: Some Preliminary Remarks

After some preliminary reflections on the ancient Greeks’ genealogical attitude, the chapter focuses on the layout of genealogical gravestones, which consist of two main types. The first type includes individual gravestones, where the name of the deceased is followed by a linear, ascending genealogy that relates the male ancestors, expressed in a list-like style without lateral branches. The second type consists of the so-called family-tree gravestones, a typical product of classical Attica consistently associated with funerary periboloi, where names of various family members were inscribed in descending order, starting from a forefather and moving down through the generations, according to a predominantly age criterion. In both cases the layout contributes significantly to the visual communication of the genealogical message. In the first case, the mise en page was carefully planned to emphasize the line of ancestry, as in the pedigrees of Homeric heroes: long sequences of names arranged in columns stress the antiquity of the lineage and the direct filial relationships linking the deceased to a (presumably) illustrious forefather. In the second case, the attention shifts from ancestry to dynasty: the focus is on the development of the forefather’s family over time through its various ramifications. The difficulty of progressively adding the names of the most recently deceased and graphically representing the lateral branches, without abandoning the list-format, posed difficult challenges for the stonecutters. They responded with a sort of predictive layout, reserving empty spaces for individuals still living.