Tränen und Gefühle in Ritualen und Dichtung in der klassischen Antike und bei den Hethitern

My contribution examines the institution of lamentation, focusing on weeping in Hittite culture, primarily from an anthropological perspective that analyzes the symbolic values of humanity in their cultural manifestations, especially in the first half of the 20th century. The analysis of Hittite texts allows for a description of the symbolic value of tears, which are mostly depicted negatively as symbols of misfortune, the role of tears in magical cults and corresponding rituals, and a reference to the soul's journey to the underworld. Furthermore, the Hittite material is compared with other Indo-European cultures, such as Greek and Latin, as a case study, which attributes different valences to tears. Particular emphasis is placed on linguistic elements, such as collocations with išḫaḫru, and other lexemes of onomatopoetic origin, to delineate a semantic field around the institution of weeping.