Burning bones

A cemetery in Naxos, Greece As a manufacturer of children’s stationery, holding the copyright for Disney motifs, Antonis Alkiotis never expected to specialise in matters of death. Greece, of course, has a long history of concern with the subject. In ancient times, the deceased were often cremated on the third day, when the soul was believed to begin its journey through the underworld. Yet before 2019, such practices were impossible in Greece. Cremation is virulently opposed by the Greek church – the only branch of Eastern Orthodoxy to ban the practice. When Alkiotis opened his crematorium in November of last year, The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece warned that members choosing to be “burned in the oven” would not receive a religious funeral.