Round trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean tradition: visits to the underworld from antiquity to Byzantium

Description

Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition explores how the theme of visiting the Underworld and returning alive has been treated, transmitted and transformed in the ancient Greek and Byzantine traditions. The journey was usually a descent ( katabasis) into a dark and dull place, where forgetfulness and punishment reigned, but since ‘everyone’ was there, it was also a place that offered opportunities to meet people and socialize. Famous Classical round trips to Hades include those undertaken by Odysseus and Aeneas, but this pagan topic also caught the interest of Christian writers. The contributions of the present volume allow the reader to follow the passage from pagan to Christian representations of Hades–a passage that may seem surprisingly effortless. Acknowledgements......Page 8 Figures and Tables......Page 9 Notes on Contributors......Page 13 1. Round Trip to Hades......Page 20 2. Travels to the Beyond......Page 30 3. Hades, Homer and the Hittites......Page 56 4. Divine Bondage and Katabaseis in Hesiod’s Theogony......Page 76 5. Introducing Oneself in Hades......Page 101 6. Pathein and Mathein in the Descents to Hades......Page 122 7. From Alkestis to Archidike......Page 143 8. Round Trip to Hades......Page 182 9. Hades in Hellenistic Philosophy (The Early Academy and Stoicism)......Page 213 10. Following the Dead to the Underworld......Page 234 11. The Sounds of Katabasis......Page 259 12. Down There and Back Again......Page 279 13. From Hades to Hell......Page 292 14. The Virgin in Hades......Page 306 15. Why did Hades Become Beautifuli n Byzantine Art?......Page 323 16. Hades Meets Lazarus......Page 341 17. “Heaven for Climate, Hell for Company”......Page 361 18. Many (Un)Happy Returns......Page 375 19. Epilogue......Page 389 Index......Page 404