Grave Stele of a Young Girl, "Melisto"

Melisto, Daughter of Ktesikrates, from the Demos of Potamos Melisto was a child who lived in Potamos, a district southeast of Athens, in the mid-fourth century BCE. If you passed by the cemetery where she was buried, you would have seen Melisto depicted with her dog, a bird, and a votive female figurine on this once-painted grave marker. You would have also seen monuments for her family members, some of whom would have been named in inscriptions. Now, however, we know only her father’s name: Ktesikrates. Relatives tending to the family plot probably looked at it with pride and sorrow: they saw a monument of family history, which included Melisto, as well as their loss. What was her life like? A wealthy girl of about seven years old, she probably played with toys, her dog, and other children and helped her mother and other women in her household make textiles. Her family must have felt her loss deeply. Caring for the Dead at the Harvard Art Museums