CLASSIC 45B Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Aegisthus, Clytemnestra, Trojan War
Document Summary
Who do you see when you go to hades? (or else the underworld) Trip to the underworld is a mytheme of comparative mythology found in a diverse number of myths, narratives, storytelling, and religions from around the world. The hero or upper-world deity journeys to the underworld or to the land of the dead and returns, often with a quest-object or a loved one, or with heightened knowledge. Motif called catabasis (literally means going under) The ability to enter the realm of the dead while still alive, and to return, is a proof of the exceptional status of a hero/god who has access to deeper, more mystic, cosmic knowledge. Hades regarded as, zeus and poseidon, defeated their father"s generation of gods, the titans. The 3 claimed rulership over the world. In older greek myths, the realm of hades is the misty and gloomy abode of the dead where all mortals go. Homer"s book of the dead (the odyssey . )
