36. Study Questions Copy

Katabasis.This is a journey by an exception mortal (perhaps related to or favoured by the gods) and involves a return to the surface after their mission is complete. The journey is made through one of the entrances to the underworld that can be traced across the world. Figures that have made this journey include Aeneas, Odysseus, Heracles, Orpheus, Theseus.

The main themes are the relationships between the gods, and between gods and men. It also looks to explain the transition of the seasons.

The story was part of an oral tradition, so wasn’t committed to a written version until relatively late. So, it is likely to have subtly evolved and changed over time as it was retold by different narrators and in different locations.

It shows the way that the Greeks wished to impose a narrative template on natural events, and the tendency for Greeks to see their gods in anthropomorphic terms.

It is an aetiological myth i.e it explains the causes or origins of phenomena, in this case the transition of the seasons.

The Eleusinian Mysteries.

There is little information given about the underworld in the Homeric Hymn, with much of the focus on the grief of Demeter at being separated from her daughter, Persephone, rather than on the terrible nature of her new home. In the Odyssey we see a world populated by the souls of the dead, some, like Tantalus and Sisyphus, suffering eternal torment. Others, like Achilles, realise that the afterlife is not the glorious reward for earthly heroism, but is a place of dull nothingness.

It is difficult to know how the ancients thought about the afterlife, but since Aristophanes’ version  contains elements that can be found in other myths, it is likely that many would have felt like this about what happened after death.

It is possible that the audience may have felt shock at this mockery of a religious cult, but we have no idea from the texts about how people felt about it. Clearly it did not transgress into blasphemy, and it may also have taken place in the context of a safe place for exploring these sorts of ideas.