Wednesday, April 16, 2014

N is for . . .


Image courtesy: Benjamin Asmussen

The place below, the infernal, or more specifically, the afterworld. I suppose it could be hell. Whenever my daughter talks about the Nether, she is speaking from the point of view of a veteran Minecraft maniac.

There are plenty of myths about the Netherworld: Innana, the Sumerian goddess of love, makes her descent and gives up an article of clothing to pass through each of the seven gates of Irkalla, gets stuck in this dreary place, and eventually escapes. See Wiki for more details. The ancient Egyptians had Osiris, a "lush and pleasant afterworld". The ancient Greeks had Hades.

Whatever version you prefer, this notion of a realm for the dead is a fertile place for a writer. Have you read or written anything set in a netherworld? Seen any fantastic movies or tv shows dealing with the netherworld?

2 comments:

I will do everything in my power to visit commenter's blogs unless I've been abducted by aliens or my children get sick. (If my children get abducted by aliens, I will be very busy, of course, catching up on my sleep.)