RELS 247 Otherworldly Journeys

Mythical journeys to otherworldly places are common in Mediterranean cultures, and represent important points of intersection between ancient Near East and Classical cultures. These mythical journeys—which articulated both the divisions and connections between the realms of the living and of the dead—served various objectives: describing heroic actions of central characters (divine or human), symbolizing the quest for secret knowledge, explaining the mysteries of life and death, and/or endorsing a political or economic system through divine precedent.