The Underworld Flashcards
What is an Eschatology?
An account of life after death
What is the underworld like in Iliad and Odyssey (Homeric) and Hesiod’s Theogony?
Final home of all mortals where they go after death
Is devoid of light, joy, substance (all ghosts), hope, vitality
Has no escape
→ Being alive is precious; “to see the light” refers to life
What does a hero get in return for risking his life in battle?
Rewards are honour (timé) and fame/glory (kleos)
Timé: given to the hero while he is alive, in the form of precious objects, best feast portions, and respect
Kleos: given to the hero after death; his memory is kept alive in song (epic) and monuments
Where are the entrances to the underworld? What do souls of the dead have to cross? Who/what helps them?
Entrances to the Underworld are at inaccessible/extreme regions (ex., edge of the ocean, place where the sun sets)
Souls of the dead cross a river boundary
○ 2 rivers in Hades are Styx and Acheron
Helpers:
○ Charon is the ferryman who carries the souls across the river; He needs a coin offering (the deceased often have coins covering their eyes)
○ Hermes is the psychopomp/escort
○ Cerberus is the three headed guard dog
What is Tartarus?
The “cellar of Hades”
Beneath Hades
Those who have the most horrible punishments will go here instead of Hades
Who are some famous inhabitants of Tartarus?
Tantalus
Mortal son of Zeus
Crime: invited to dine with the gods but stole their divine food (hubris)
○ He tricks them by serving them his SON Pelops (Demeter, distracted by her grief, takes a bite)
○ The gods revive Pelops and replaced his shoulder with ivory
Punishment: tantalised by food and water just out of reach
Sisyphus
Mortal trickster
Crime: tied up Thanatos (Death) so no one could die
Ares releases Thanatos, Sisyphys dies
He tells his wife not to perform funeral rites
- Hades is fooled and allows him to return home to reprimand his wife, but Sisyphus stays on earth until he dies again much later of old age
Punishment: roll a rock repeatedly up a hill, only to have it roll down again
Ixion
Crime: first person to kill his own kin
○ Promised bride gifts to his father-in-law and invited him to collect them
○ Prepared a pit of fire to kill him!
- Zeus purified the miasma Apollo placed on him and invited him as a guest
Ixion tried to rape Hera, who was replaced by a cloud
- Kentauros was born as a result (first centaur)
Punishment: tied to a wheel (sometimes flaming) which rolls around endlessly
What are later representations of the Underworld like?
Later, Hades renovates different regions for different souls with different degrees of virtue
Mystery religions offer initiates hope for a blessed afterlife
○ Ex., Eleusinian mysteries, orphic cult, dionysiac mysteries
What does Odysseus say about his journey to the underworld?
In Odyssey book 11
Odysseus tells people in Alcinous about his journey to the Underworld
Witch Circe says, to get home, he must go to the entrance of the Underworld (edge of the ocean) and perform the chthonic sacrifice
1. Libations (liquid sacrifices such as milk, honey) are poured into a pit 2. Sheep are sacrificed over the pit 3. Souls rise up to drink the blood - Those who drink have the temporary ability to speak with Odysseus
Who does Odysseus speak to?
Agamemnon: he died when his wife took a lover, warns about Penelope
Ajax: killed himself after Odysseus won the competition for Achilles’ armour
Achilles: says he would rather be a peasant than dead when Odysseus congratulates him on his timé
Heracles: Heracles is actually immortal, but his mortal part is in Hades
Elpenor: one of his men who were forgotten, he requests burial
His mom: she died of missing him as he was gone for almost 20 years
Tiresias: gives directions and instructions
