Styx was located in Northern Arcadia, and Acheron was located in the Thesprotian Mountains of Northern Greece. Both rivers, according to myth, both had locations in the real world. In both cases, the River is something very sacred that shifts within the context of the myth. This River, while common, is thought of by less to be Charon’s River of choice.

Another river, the River Acheron, is also common, and is said by Euripides to be the place where Charon rowed the dead soul of Alkestis.

It is a common thought that Charon, the fisherman of the dead, rowed the dead souls over the River Styx to the underworld. Plato said that the River Styx flowed into a massive lake. In Greek Myth, there are three common rivers found in the Underworld, however, the River Styx is the river most people associate with the underworld. In Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, there are many references to ‘the river’. In fact, the philosophers in the Underworld are fully capable of debating as if they never died. Also, the dead do not lose their identity in the Underworld, according to this account. Another important aspect of Aristophanes’ Underworld is the idea that there are different groups of people in different areas of the Underworld. There is an account of Dionysus having to take Charon’s Ferry across a bottomless lake. This view of the Underworld starts to provide a look into the geographical landscape of the Underworld. One thing that is important about these punishments, is that the crimes are explicitly crimes against the honor of the gods.Īristophanes’ Underworld: A brief OverviewĪristophanes provides a look into the Underworld in his satirical farce, Frogs. Some examples include: Tityos having his liver pecked out by vultures, a punishment for raping the goddess Leto, or Sisyphos who pushes a boulder up a hill for eternity for trying to escape death. When in the Underworld, Odysseus sees many examples of punishment, most of which are now told as common stories in mythology. Homer describes the Underworld in the story of Odysseus. Collect the blood in a vessel to attract the souls of the dead, who upon drinking the blood will gain the ability to speak with living humans. Step 2: Arrive at the spot where the two rivers of the Underworld, Pyriphlegethon (Fire) and Kokytos (Lamentation) converge into the River Acheron (Groaning). Step 1: Sail to the edge of the world, arriving on the beach of the ocean that encompasses existence. Below are examples of the Underworld as told by specific people, as well as some excerpts of different aspects of the Greek Underworld that seem to be common among authors. The most important thing to remember is that with the Greek Underworld, like most Greek Myths, to the Underworld also differs according to context. 364-377.There are several interpretations and descriptions of the Greek Underworld. 261-406 on the doctrinal significance of the word see the BB. Greswell on the Parables, Appendix, chapter x, vol. On the existence and locality of Hades cf. (See especially Boettcher, De Inferis, under the word ἀϊδής in Greek index. Acts 2:24 Tr marginal reading)) Revelation 6:8 Revelation 20:13f. Winers Grammar, 592 (550) ( Buttmann, 171 (149)) (but L T Tr WH in Acts 2:27 and T WH in both verses read εἰς ᾅδην so the Sept. see ἄβυσσος), the common receptacle of disembodied spirits: Luke 16:23 εἰς ᾅδου namely, δόμον, Acts 2:27, 31, according to a very common ellipsis, cf. the Hebrew שְׁאול is almost always rendered by this word (once by θάνατος, 2 Samuel 22:6) it denotes, therefore, in Biblical Greek Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark ( Job 10:21) and dismal place (but cf. an appellative, Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead (cf: Theocritus, idyll. a proper name, Hades, Pluto, the god of the lower regions so in Homer always.Ģ. Ἅιδης, ᾅδης,, ὁ (for the older Ἀΐδης, which Homer uses, and this from the alpha privative and ἰδεῖν, not to be seen (cf. Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 86: Ἅιδης

Hades greek