The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the
supernatural world of the dead in various
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
traditions and
myths, located below the world of the living.
Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old as humanity itself". Common features of underworld
myths are accounts of
living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
ic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that the entrance of souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead
Patroclus haunting
Achilles until his body could be properly buried for this purpose. People with high social status were dressed and equipped in order to better navigate the underworld.
A number of mythologies incorporate the concept of the soul of the deceased making its own journey to the underworld, with the dead needing to be taken across a defining obstacle such as a lake or a river to reach this destination. Imagery of such journeys can be found in both ancient and modern art. The descent to the underworld has been described as "the single most important myth for Modernist authors".
[Evans Lansing Smith, ''The Descent to the Underworld in Literature, Painting, and Film, 1895–1950'' (2001), p. 7.]
By religion
This list includes underworlds in various religious traditions, with links to corresponding articles:
Underworld figures
This list includes rulers or guardians of the underworld in various religious traditions, with links to corresponding articles.
See also
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Afterlife
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Yomi
is the Japanese language, Japanese word for the underworld, land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is ...
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Barzakh
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Hell, a similar infernal realm
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Hollow Earth
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Otherworld
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Pure land
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World Tree, a tree that connects the heavens, the earth and the underworld in a number of spiritual belief systems
References
External links
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