Introduction

The form laments take is just as varied as their subject. Anything from an elaborate poem to ‘tuneful weeping’ can be classified as a lament. In this investigation I am particularly interested in laments for the dead, and since the two cultures I will be looking at closely are ancient and modern Greece, I will be looking at a variety of forms of lament, from the kommos of classical tragedy to the folk laments of Mani and Epirus.