Descent to the Underworld

Descent of Inanna

“The Queen of Heaven, Inanna, descended to the Great Below, to the house of her sister Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Dead. At each gate she was stripped of her garments and symbols of power. When she reached the throne room, she was judged and slain, hung upon a hook as a corpse. But by the power of her office and the tears of her faithful, she was restored to life.”

Inanna's underworld journey and resurrection

1 Peter 3:18-20

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah.”

Jesus harrowing of hell

Ovid Metamorphoses X

“Orpheus descended into the depths of Hades, his lyre playing mournful melodies that even the dead could not resist. The shades wept at his song, and Hades himself was moved to compassion. He granted Orpheus the return of his beloved Eurydice, with only one condition: he must not look back until reaching the world above.”

Orpheus' underworld journey for love

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

“Persephone was taken by Hades to his dark kingdom beneath the earth. But Demeter's grief caused the world above to wither and die. By divine decree, Persephone returns to the upper world for part of the year, bringing spring renewal, while she must spend the remaining months in the underworld, bringing winter's sleep.”

Persephone's cyclical descent and return

Kojiki I

“Izanagi descended into Yomi, the land of the dead, seeking his beloved wife Izanami. But she had already been corrupted by death and had become a rotting corpse. In horror and revulsion, Izanagi fled, sealing the entrance to Yomi with a great stone.”

Izanagi's failed rescue of Izanami

Katha Upanishad 1:1

“Nachiketa, a young boy, was sent by his father to the house of Yama, the Lord of Death. There, in the presence of Death himself, Nachiketa asked for knowledge of the eternal Self. Yama, pleased by the boy's fearlessness and sincerity, granted him the highest wisdom.”

Nachiketa's dialogue with Yama