This grave stele belongs to a specific type of reliefs, composed of a half-naked male figure reclining on a couch, a table of offerings, and numerous standing figures. The type appeared in the 6th c. BC and enjoyed wide currency until Roman times. In the 6th and 5th c. BC such reliefs were primarily dedicated in sanctuaries, but from the 4th c. BC onwards they are also found in cemeteries. The relief obviously depicts a banquet for the dead (Gr. nekrodeipnon), who is identified with the recumbent figure. The standing figures may represent relatives, servants or even the dedicator. According to ancient sources, meals in honour of the dead were organised on the third and the ninth day after funeral (comparable to today’s memorial services). However, some elements in this representation suggest that the person honoured was not an ordinary mortal but a hero: the snake under the couch, the incense-burner on the table, and the altar on the left, upon which a slave places a lamb for sacrifice. The fact that the earliest use of such reliefs was in sanctuaries permits the hypothesis that they were originally aimed as votive offerings to heroized dead or even to gods. Their later funerary use may reflect a desire to link the dead with a heroic past and to pay him due honours.