[Meaning] the dead [referred to] euphemistically, on the grounds that those who died are blessed, because they no longer perceive anything terrible. Some Dorians call them zameri/tai, as if they have already obtained a share of the greater part; for the [sc. prefix] za refers to something big.[1]
Aristophanes in Wealth [writes]: "how blessed, o Demeter, you have laid down his life, if having lived sparingly and toiled he will not even leave [wherewithal] to be buried." He misused [the word makari/thn by using it] instead of maka/rion ["blessed"]; unless he is joking, as if [he meant] a dead man's life.[2]