A descent into Hades

Lake Avernus, the birdless lake; an entrance to the Underworld.

A map of Hades, Erebus or the Underworld

Hermes, in the role of

Psychopompus, guided the souls

of the dead to the banks of the Styx

River.

Psychopompus

Charon ferries the souls of the dead across the river Styx.

The Greeks and Romans put a coin in the mouth of a dead person to be used as payment to Charon for the boat ride.

Dante and Virgil crossing the Styx

There are five rivers in the Underworld:

Cocytus—wailingLethe—forgetfulness

Acheron—sorrow or woePhlegethon--fire

Styx---hate;unbreakable oath

Thetis dips her son Achilles

into the River Styx and he

becomes invulnerable except for his

heel.

The entrance to the Underworld was

guarded by a three-headed dog, Cerberus.

The king and queen of the

Underworld were Pluto

and Proserpina..

Here, with his dog Cerberus, Pluto is seen wearing the helmet of

invisibility and holding the bident.

Hecate, goddess of

witchcraft, was a resident of the

Underworld.

Orpheus, son of Apollo, entered the Underworld while still living to retrieve his bride Eurydice

from an untimely death.

Orpheus pleads with Pluto for the life of

his bride Eurydice.

Charon

Tantalus

Danaids

Ixion

Tityus

Pluto tells Orpheus to

take his Eurydice,

but“noli

respicere!”

”“

Orpheus disobeys Pluto’s command and “looks back;” Eurydice is lost for a second time to death.

When Orpheus refused to choose another bride, the nymphs tore

him to pieces.

The head of Orpheus is flung into the Hebrus river, still singing as it floats along.

One of the Muses (probably

Calliope, his mother) with the head of

Orpheus

Sinners of the Underworld

Ixion on the wheel of fire

Ixion’s sin was an attempt to rape

the goddess Hera.

Sisyphus indiscreetly disclosed one of Zeus’ many amorous

affairs.

He went to Asophus, father of Aegina, with the details of Zeus’ intrigue.

For interfering in Zeus’ affairs and

for trying to escape from the

Underworld, Sisyphus was

condemned to roll

a rock up a hill forever.

Tantalus, forever hungry and

thirsty, while standing in water

up to his neck and with moist fruit hanging

above.

Tantalus’ punishment was assigned because he fed his son

Pelops to the gods.

Demeter, the only deity fooled by Tantalus’ trick, ate Pelops’ shoulder.

Hephaestus made a new shoulder for Pelops out of ivory.

The Danaids filling the sieve with water; this

was their punishment for murdering their

husbands on their wedding

night.

49 Danaids

The one Danaid who did not obey her father Danaus and refused to murder her husband Lynceus was Hypermnestra.

Odysseus in the Underworld

Odysseus journeyed to the Underworld to speak

with Tiresias.

In the Underworld

Odysseus saw the shades of many of his comrades at

Troy, including Achilles and Agamemnon.

Odysseus also saw the shade of his

mother Anticlea, who had

died in his 20 year absence.

Aeneas and the Sibyl of Cumae

Aeneas saw the shade of

Elissa, or Dido, while

in the Underworld.

Anchises shows his son Aeneas the future heroes of Rome.

Psyche with

Charon

Psyche entered the Underworld to steal

Proserpina’s beauty for the goddess Venus.

Hercules wrestling

with Death for the life of Alcestis

Thanatos was the god of death.

Theseus and Pirithous went to Hades to kidnap

Persephone.

Pirithous was seated for eternity in the chair of

forgetfulness.

Editorial cartoon using Thanatos,

death and Bacchus, god of wine, to condemn the

vagaries of alcohol.

Orpheus respexit.

Jupiter strikes Asculapius for raising the dead.

Eleusis

The return of

Persephone

Orpheus loses Eurydice for the second time.

Souls of the virtuous and noble spent eternity in the Elysian

Fields.

Elysian Fields

Quis in Tartaro semper sedet?

Pirithous

Who was the goddess of witchcraft?

Hecate

Minos, the former king of Crete; one of the judges of the

Underworld.

Quis in Tartaro stans in aquā semper manet?

Tantalus

Sisyphus

Orpheus uxorem defunctam apud inferos requirit.

Orpheus Eurydicen recipit, dum supplicat orco sed male respiciens perdit, et illa perit.

Ceres and Triptolemus, the teacher of agricultural arts to man

Quis mortuos ad Charontem adducebat?

Mercurius aut Psychopompus

Psyche and Cerberus. What does Psyche have in her hand?

Proserpina’s beauty.

Quis est? Orpheus est.

Ceres and Triptolemus, the teacher of agricultural arts to man

Ceres and Triptolemus, the teacher of agricultural arts to man