The Greek Underwood

1894 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The mystery of the greek underworld

THESIS STATEMENT

The Greek Underworld can be a dark place, especially for those who have angered the gods, where one can see how the punishments often times fit the crime.

PURPOSE STATEMENT

Throughout this research paper the Underworld is portrayed as a dark place where those who committed crimes are punished for them which can be extremely brutal.

INTRODUCTION

The Underworld is often times portrayed only as dark place for criminals, which it is, but it’s where everyone goes after death. “Souls of the dead who carried an ancient Greek coin in their mouths were ferried across another underworld river, the Styx, by Charon, to begin eternity as citizens of his dark kingdom. Those who did not have a coin remained, lamenting, by the riverside.” (Evans 16). The Underworld is where everyone spent the rest of their afterlife. It was a strict place and there was no escaping. Each person was judged when they entered. “Osiris became king and judge of the dead in the underworld.” (Ingpen, Perham 18).

The Erinyes or the Furies are who punishes the people who have committed crime. Virgil is the one who places them as to where they go. “The Erinyes – or the Furies – were regarded by some of the poets as his [Hades] daughters, and the three (or sometimes four) of them are often shown standing beside his throne. They were of fearsome appearance, often garbed in black cloaks soaked in blood…above all those who murdered their own kin.” (Allen 52-3). The Erinyes ruled with the God of the Underworld, Hades. He was the god who controlled everything that went on in the Underworld. “Hades was seen as a dark and unattractive god, hard-hearted and merciless.” (Allen 52). Hades was not always the nicest god to be around. But he was ...

... middle of paper ...

...ping from them. They spent the rest of their life being tormented.

The underworld has different meanings to it. It’s not just a place for punishment. It is the afterlife for everyone. The underworld is where people go after death. There are different ways to go through it depending on the life that person had lived. They have to sail across different rivers. When they arrive, they are sent to be judged on where they will spend their time in the underworld. If they did not live a good life they will be punished for it. If they lived a good life they go to a place that’s like paradise. Some people who committed serious crimes are sent down right away and they are tortured for all eternity. The underworld cannot always just be a place for those who have not lived the way they should have but also a place for those who did live the life they should live.

Show More
Related

  • Divine Justice In 'Sir Gawain And The Green Knight'

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    In most ancient literature some sort of divine justice is used to punish people's acts in life. This is that case with Dante's Inferno, where the Author categorizes hell in 9 circles. Circle 9 being the lowest sins and punishments as the circles decrease. From the time this was written to now in days many things have changed, and things are not seen the same no more. Back then sins like greed and gluttony were ranked as high sins but now people would probably rank those very low with other things like murder way on top. Yet the basic structure set by Dante remains.

    Read More

  • The Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anyone except those who could not speak Greek or have committed murder were allowed to participate in these rituals. Although most things that occurred in the Hall of Initiation were meant to be kept secret, some have been revealed. The mysteries were divided into two parts, the Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries. The Lesser Mysteries, which happened annually, was a preparation for the Greater Mysteries and represented Persephone's first time being in the underworld. Hades, god of the underworld, saw Persephone and wanted to make her his wife. Persephone did not like him so he abducted her and took her to the underworld. Persephone was the main focal point and was honored during these rituals. Before moving on,

    Read More

  • The Aeneid: Virgil's Heroic Underworld

    3216 Words  | 7 Pages

    ...tory, allowing those familiar with the older works to see where the alterations were made and how important these differences are to his characters. To really drive his point home, Virgil writes his underworld in such way to allow his reader to see what horrors await those who fail to adhere to these specific traits. During these scenes he at times speaks directly to the reader, warning them of the dangers of ignoring his lessons. This had such a profound impact that Virgil's version of the underworld has been used as the basis of many works and is the source of a vision of hell that many people adhere to even to this day.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Underworlds in Dante’s Inferno and The Odyssey

    2100 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... All of these differences between the two authors contributed to the different visions of the underworld in The Odyssey and Dante’s Inferno. There is no doubt that the two different descriptions of the underworld share many traits, nevertheless, the differences outweigh the similarities. Hell primarily focuses on punishing sinners; the House of Death does not. In fact, Odysseus meets many more people who are not being punished, than those who are.

    Read More

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    While many people today seem to be scared to die, and make great strides to avoid an early death, this is not a new human concern. In fact, Dr. Peter J. Brand did some extensive research on how people in Ancient Mesopotamia viewed death and the afterlife. He believes death was extremely scary to people of this region. In his article titled: Dying: Death and the Afterlife, Brand states, “Like all human cultures, the people of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were greatly troubled by death.” (Brand pg. 1) Apparently, it death was even more dreadful in the minds of the Mesopotamians. “Mesopotamian views of death were more pessimistic, resulting in less elaborate preparations for death.” (Brand pg.1) On the contrary, it seems that there would have been a lot of preparation involved, since the journey to the underworld alone was a perilous feat. This tells us that there was nothing glorified about death, and nothing exciting about traveling to the underworld. However, it reveals that there was a lot of confusion surrounding death, and confusion how to deal with it. Dr. Brand goes on to talk about how the underworld was a ...

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Odyssey And Enkidu's Dream

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Enkidu 's dream depicts the underworld as place “from which no one enters ever returns”. It is a place where “people sit in darkness; dust in their food and clay in their meat”. All “who wore kingly crowns....stood now like servants” The underworld is a place where anyone dreads to be in because “the end of life is sorrow” the reason why Enkidu had a dream of his fate in the underworld proves that he is truly guilty of unrighteousness. According to Enkidu, he angered the gods by being accused of “cut[ting] down the cedar,...levell[ing] the forest...[and] slew[ing] Humbaba”. Not only has Enkidu not accepted what he has seen in his dream of the underworld, but piercingly cursed his fate because the “great goddess cursed”him. Enkidu unaccepted his fate because knowing he will face death and suffer in the underworld forever. Therefore, if the Underworld in “Enkidu 's Dream” was as elaborated as the Underworld in The Odyssey, Enkidu would have accepted death as part of life and may of not committed the

    Read More

  • Hades

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    The primary ruling god of the underworld is Hades, whose brother is Zeus, king of the gods, and whose parents are Cronus and Rhea. Hades is a greedy god with his greatest concern being to increase the number of his subjects. He is very stubborn about letting people out of the underworld. Hades himself, rarely leaves the underworld. In one myth, however, we know of a time when he did leave his soulful domain.

    Read More

  • The Underworld and Morality in Vergil's Aeneid

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Underworld is more then just a creation to make Aeneis's voyage to his father more poetic. Through it, Vergil creates a moral code for his people, emphasizing grayer acts that can be easily justified such as deciding not to raise a child and giving up on love. Vergil saw how these acts hurt humanity, and created the Underworld to curve them.

    Read More

  • A Rage In Harlem

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    The criminal underworld has been an essential aspect of crime fiction since the concept emerged in the mid-eighteenth century. While many authors have constructed their own idealistic conceptualizations of the criminal underworld, they have implemented distinct boundaries between the “good” and “evil” features of society. These opposing “worlds” often intertwine when the protagonist, a crusader for good, is thrust into the hellscape of society’s underworld. The novels A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson feature protagonists from differing backgrounds who embark on treacherous journeys through the criminal underworld.

    Read More

  • Greek Mythology and the Seven Deadly Sins

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    with a punishment in Hell. Greek mythology has played a major role in the development of the

    Read More

  • Analysis of Dante's Inferno

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite the obvious flaws of Dante himself, he does give a clear vision of how punishments will be taken forth in the afterlife. He gives reason to fear and respect the law of God lest eternal punishment be your only promise in the afterlife. These punishments are as relevant as can be, so he offers a very vivid picture of hell. The men that he puts in hell give it a realistic twist, enhancing the fear that is felt upon reading this work

    Read More

  • How Has Greek Mythology Changed Over Time

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    To the early Greeks, death was dark and mysterious. Early myth about the underworld and life after death is very vague, and it is likely that the Greeks just did not understand death or the underworld. In Homer’s myths the underworld, Erebus, was the child of Chaos along with Night. The early Greeks, according to Hamilton, believed that

    Read More

  • Jean Paul Sartres Writing - No Exit

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    Set in Hell, the vision of the underworld is nothing the characters imagined as they are escorted to a Second Empire styled hotel. This is all ironic, in the fact that Sartre never believed in perdition. He uses this fictitious place to persuade his audience. Hell is used as a foundation to prove his point. The characters, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle, are all brought together by some kind of complicated design that they try to unveil. Each character has a story and a reason for their damnation, but what they look for is an answer for their presence with each other. Garcin, a journalist and pacifist that took 12 to the chest, was the first to attempt to mend matters in the room. His idea to be courteous to one another is later contradicted when he begins to fight with Inez. Estelle, a self-absorbed instigator, appears to suffer from denial.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King: Role Of Gods

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family.

    Read More

  • Life After Death

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way in which death can be viewed comes across the Catholic religion. The Catholic believers look life after death in a prospective of three different worlds, such as Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise according to the deeds committed during life. If a person during his or her lifetime committed any sins, this person’s next world will be the Hell. The traditional view in which people refer to hell can be found in the book written by Dante Alighieri, “La Divina Commedia”. The book states that the formation of Hell was given by the crash of Lucifer (the angel that wanted to be better than God) from the sky onto the earth. Crashing on the Earth in Jerusalem, his head formed an upside down cone inside the Earth. This is where is located the Hell. In the Hell, people pay for their sins with different penitences (12-13). For instance, a person that committed homicide will freeze in a lake frozen by the breath of Satan (XXXIV canto). If a person during his or her life commits any sins but asks for forgiveness, then he or she will go to the Purgatory. The purgatory is represented by an island with a mountain (23). One source states that “Purgatory is very similar to Hell; the main difference is that one will eventually be released from torture. The souls that go in the Purgatory are tortured with fire. These souls remain in purgatory until they become sufficiently purified to enter heaven”(2). For example, if a soul in the purgatory asks for forgiveness and pays the punition with some tests, the soul will be released and moved immediately to Heaven (2).

    Read More

More about The Greek Underwood

Open Document