The Underworld Research Paper

Since ancient civilizations people have been trying to explain what goes on after death. Throughout history, many cultures have had different theories about what happens. Two distinguished ideas of where people go after death are the underworld and Hell. The idea of the underworld came from the Greeks and Romans. A few famous works by the Greeks and Romans that talk about the underworld are The Iliad, The Aeneid, and, The Odyssey. A famous work that discusses Hell is Dante's Inferno. Hell is an accepted part of the Christianity religion and taught all over the world. The two beliefs are very similar but some distinct differences can be seen.

-Hades was the angry, change-hating, God of the underworld who never let his servants or mortals leave.

The underworld in Greek mythology was not a lively place, for it was where all the dead souls went. When a person died, the soul would be sent to Hades, a more formal name for the underworld. "The dead would go to Hades because there was no annihilation in the Greek mythology. The dead are dead because they have a flavorless and unhappy existence".

The afterlife in ancient Greece was Known as Hades. It was a grey world ruled by Hades, the Lord of the Dead. If they had a virtuous life they could enjoy the sunny pleasures of the Elysium or paradise, if they had a wicked life, then they fell into the dark pits of Tartarus, while if they

Picture it, dark, gloomy, lifeless. Pictured it? Well that’s the underworld for you. After one’s death there soul was supposidly sent down to the underworld. A joyless and hopeless, where no soul was able to escape once it had entered the doomed pit. However, if my some chance they had permission from Hades himself they were able to leave. Supposively the underground was no a horrible place but for the souls that roamed there it felt as if it were a never ending nightmare. No hope or light of any sort lived in this place.

Bilbo enters the dark cave and sees the dragon sleeping on top and under the gold and silver as if protecting it. The author describes the cave as being red lighted with a hot temperature that makes Bilbo sweat. He takes a heavy golden cup and returns back up through the dark tunnel to his dwarf friends. They are so elated to see Bilbo and praise him for his excellent thieving. This descending into darkness, being face to face with the evil dragon, and coming out again with a new appellation represents examples of two archetypes: descent into the underworld and death and resurrection. Hades, as mentioned before, is the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. He is the protector of the lost souls and like the dragon he is evil, uncanny, and deceitful. The underworld is most times described as dark, hot, and scary, as it was for Bilbo to enter the dark cave to steal from the

The Celts believed that the soul lived on after death. The concept of Elysium is found in a series of Irish tales where the gods inhabited an underworld within the hills or on an island obscured by mist.

Hades’ realm, also known as the Underworld, is a dark and gloomy place where the souls of the dead reside. He rules the Underworld with the help of his loyal

The afterlife is described in many cultures, dating back thousands of years. It is no different in Greek culture. As with the other cultures, the ancient Greek perspective on the afterlife shares similarities with the other views of life after death, but also contains its differences. The traditions, values, beliefs and culture of different people across the world shaped multiple views on the afterlife. The conception of the Greek underworld can be traced to the culture of the people at the time and shifts in perspective can be explained by shifts in beliefs and values.

The practicers of Greek mythology place a great deal of importance on the afterlife, and how you might get there. There is simply an underworld, there is no heaven, this means there is no way of having eternal life. This is not to say the underworld is without a hierarchy of itself. The underworld is a hopeless place, the few who receive the privilege of happiness only are given this gift while they are remembered. Burial is also very important in mythology, if buried incorrectly certain fundamental rights in the underworld were stripped. The Greek mythological concept of the afterlife makes it seem as though death, and what happens to

Homer’s The Odyssey, Plato’s Meno, Algernon Charles Swinburne’s The Garden of Proserpine, and Ovid’s Fasti were one of the many literatures that explained the idea of Persephone, Hades, and Demeter. The quote by Plato in Meno that says They say that the soul of man is immortal, and at one time comes to an end, which is called dying, and at another is born again, but never perishes. Consequently one ought to live all one's life in the utmost holiness. For from whomsoever Persephone shall accept requital for ancient wrong, the souls of these she restores in the ninth year to the upper sun again.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire (NIV Bible). There is another rendition of Hell depicted by a Catholic believer aptly called Dante Alighieri. He envisioned that Hell was divided into nine different circles each level more horrible than the last, while being led through it by Virgil, an ancient Roman Poet. “The first circle is called limbo which isn’t horrible at all, it is the place where virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized pagans who are punished with eternity in an inferior form of Heaven” (Dante's Inferno). In the second circle it contains individuals that have done the deadly sin of Lust, in which their punishment is to continuously be blown by wind from every direction and not allowed to rest. On further note each circle they document the deadly

In the underworld there is no anguish, sadness or pain. But there is neither joy or expectation. Accordingly, these all appertain to the orb above. Although the former living experience may be remembered here below, it is not done so as it occured. Hence, in the underworld, all things that happened above are of equal value; that is, a murder may be deemed but a friendly handshake to these that dwell below; and regardless of handshake or murder, they are both of no importance now.

Being the god of The Underworld does not make someone a villain but it sure does make their actions look pretty evil. Hades is the oldest of the three brothers from Cronus and Rhea. When the Olympians defeated Cronus and The Titans the siblings drew for their area of power; Hades got The Underworld. This caused many problems for Hades such as not being considered equal by the other gods and rarely getting credit for what he does. When thinking of Hades people instantly think he is evil and a horrible god. Hades is not a villain because he is not evil, he is not a thief, and he is not focused on wealth.

The Book was originally intended as a set of spells and incantations meant to insure safe passage for the soul of a deceased person into the Underworld. Some of the ending chapters include instructions on not dying a second time, meaning how not to die in the underworld and thus having no chance of being reborn or living a full afterlife. The original text--at least, the bits and pieces that modern scholars possess--consists of a set of hymns, beginning with the Hymn to Osiris. This hymn is meant to call up the king of the underworld and make him aware of the presence of the soul. After summoning Osiris, the presiding priest would begin a series of ceremonies designed to give the spirit all the