How is the Underworld presented in Virgil’s Aeneid, and how does this
differ to other Classical presentations?
Description of the Underworld itself
1. Homeric models
- Location of the Underworld (Lawton, The Underworld in Homer,
Virgil, and Dante, 1884)
Odysseus confronts the spirits of the dead whilst in ‘the deep
waters of the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the
Cimmerians who live enshrouded in mist and darkness which
the rays of the sun never pierce’ (Od. 11)
He is able to sail to this, though ‘no man ever yet sailed to
Hades in a black ship’ (Od. 10.502)
The spirits arise from a trench Odysseus digs ‘a cubit each way’
Hermes is described as leading the suitors ‘down the dank ways,
past the streams of Oceanus… past the rock Leucas, past the
gates of the sun and the land of dreams… to the mead of
asphodel, where the spirits dwell phantoms of men who have
done with toils’ (Od. 24.10)
However they were ‘standing in the house of Hades, beneath
the secret places of the earth’ (Od. 24), which does imply the
Underworld is underneath them rather than somewhere that can
be travelled to by land or sea
On the other hand, in the Iliad the Underworld is described as
beneath us: ‘in the world below was Aidoneus, lord of the
shades’ (Il. 20.62)
- Homer presents the Underworld as somewhere grey and undesired
Odysseus asks Elpenor how he has arrived into this ‘gloom and
darkness’ with a similar lack of light to that in Virgil’s
Underworld
However there is far greater focus on the ghosts he meets than
the physical Underworld itself
Since the depiction is less detailed, it appears to conform to the
foggy nature of religious (and general) beliefs surrounding the
afterlife
2. Virgilian model
- Location of the Underworld
Entrance to the underworld in Virgil is ‘a huge, deep cave with
jagged pebbles underfoot and a gaping mouth guarded by dark
woods and the black waters of a lake’ (Aen. 6.236)
Locationally described as ‘hidden deep in the mists beneath the
earth’ (Aen. 6.267)
However they do walk ‘through the empty halls of Dis and his
desolate kingdom, as men walk in a wood by the sinister light of
a fitful moon when Jupiter has buried the sky in shade and black
night has robbed all things of their colour’ (Aen. 6.268)
Rationalism is shown as the boat’s creaking lets in water under
the weight of a living human, showing Virgil isn’t entirely
differ to other Classical presentations?
Description of the Underworld itself
1. Homeric models
- Location of the Underworld (Lawton, The Underworld in Homer,
Virgil, and Dante, 1884)
Odysseus confronts the spirits of the dead whilst in ‘the deep
waters of the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the
Cimmerians who live enshrouded in mist and darkness which
the rays of the sun never pierce’ (Od. 11)
He is able to sail to this, though ‘no man ever yet sailed to
Hades in a black ship’ (Od. 10.502)
The spirits arise from a trench Odysseus digs ‘a cubit each way’
Hermes is described as leading the suitors ‘down the dank ways,
past the streams of Oceanus… past the rock Leucas, past the
gates of the sun and the land of dreams… to the mead of
asphodel, where the spirits dwell phantoms of men who have
done with toils’ (Od. 24.10)
However they were ‘standing in the house of Hades, beneath
the secret places of the earth’ (Od. 24), which does imply the
Underworld is underneath them rather than somewhere that can
be travelled to by land or sea
On the other hand, in the Iliad the Underworld is described as
beneath us: ‘in the world below was Aidoneus, lord of the
shades’ (Il. 20.62)
- Homer presents the Underworld as somewhere grey and undesired
Odysseus asks Elpenor how he has arrived into this ‘gloom and
darkness’ with a similar lack of light to that in Virgil’s
Underworld
However there is far greater focus on the ghosts he meets than
the physical Underworld itself
Since the depiction is less detailed, it appears to conform to the
foggy nature of religious (and general) beliefs surrounding the
afterlife
2. Virgilian model
- Location of the Underworld
Entrance to the underworld in Virgil is ‘a huge, deep cave with
jagged pebbles underfoot and a gaping mouth guarded by dark
woods and the black waters of a lake’ (Aen. 6.236)
Locationally described as ‘hidden deep in the mists beneath the
earth’ (Aen. 6.267)
However they do walk ‘through the empty halls of Dis and his
desolate kingdom, as men walk in a wood by the sinister light of
a fitful moon when Jupiter has buried the sky in shade and black
night has robbed all things of their colour’ (Aen. 6.268)
Rationalism is shown as the boat’s creaking lets in water under
the weight of a living human, showing Virgil isn’t entirely
