Akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon, ca. 350–325 B.C Source: Marble Akroterion [Greek, Attic] (07.286.107) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the psyche, or spirit of the dead, left the body as a little breath or puff of wind. The deceased was then prepared for burial according to the time-honored rituals.

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