Erebus Mythos Artwork - Silent Dead

"With a brick in the mouth, they silenced the dead..."
The Greek folklore believes that placing a brick in a dead person’s mouth is tied to preventing them from returning as a vrykolakas (undead). The brick was thought to weigh down the corpse, stop it from speaking spells, or even force it to consume dirt, weakening its supernatural potential. This practice was part of various apotropaic rituals aimed at ensuring the dead remained in their graves.