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Lamentation dates back to ancient Greece and has survived through the centuries primarily as an exclusive tradition of women. It can be described as a controlled performative act of memory and mourning that has been closely associated with all stages of the death rituals. Nowadays it is a ritual performed in just a handful of Greek villages. The present study focuses on a 91-year-old female lamenter from Mesta, a village in Chios Island. The function of her role as a female lamenter in the bereavement process of self and others is examined through biographical narrative interviews. Biographical narrative analysis, as a tool to explore and gain insight about a human experience, allows for a closer investigation of the lamentation experience; it does so by reaching back in time through establishing a narrative connection to the role of the lamenter and interpreting her function within the bereavement process of self and others. Following a thematic analysis of the narration, it appears that the lamenter, through the semi-structured and semi-improvised moiroloi, becomes the bridge between the living and the dead, communicates the pain, expresses the inner tension and, as a result, may facilitate the mourner to reach catharsis.

Introduction ...339
Lamentation as a socially structured musical ritual ...340
Methodology: The narrative approach ...343
The context ...345
Her life story in brief ...346
Lamenting and caring for the dead: the analysis ...347
1. Direct emotional involvement ...347
2. Care for both the deceased and the mourners ...348
3. Collective knowledge of women ...349
4. The trajectory of a long-standing tradition ...350
5. On aging and death ...351
Discussion as epilogue ...352
Reference List ...355