Examining a range of contemporary fictional works that adapt Greco-Roman myths of the descent into the underworld, from novels and comics to children's culture, this volume reveals the ways in which the catabasis narrative can be manipulated by storytellers to reflect upon postmodern culture, feminist critiques, and postcolonial appropriations.

Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture: The Backward Gaze' examines a series of twentieth and twenty-first century fictional works that adapt Greco-Roman myths of the catabasis, the heroic journey to the underworld. Covering a range of genres - including novels, comics, and children's culture, by authors such as Elena Ferrante, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, A.S. Byatt, Toni Morrison, and Anne Patchett - it reveals how an enduring fascination with life after death, and fantasies of accessing the world of the dead while we are still alive, manifest themselves in myriad and varied re-imaginings of the ancient descent myth. The volume begins with a detailed overview of the use of the myth by ancient authors such as Homer, Aristophanes, Vergil, and Ovid, before exploring the ways in which the narrative of a return trip to Hades by Odysseus, Aeneas, Orpheus, and Persephone can be manipulated by contemporary storytellers to fit themes of social marginality and alterity, postmodern rebellion, the position of female authors in the literary canon, and the dislocation endured by refugees, exiles, and diasporic populations. It also argues that citations of classical underworld stories can disrupt and challenge the literary canon by using media - such0as comic books, children's culture, or rock music - not conventionally associated with high culture.

Thomas Pynchon and the Postmodern Mythology of the Underworld is devoted to the work of one of the most highly acclaimed writers of the post-World War II period of American literature, Thomas Pynchon. Through close readings and broad amplification, this book illustrates that the descent to the underworld is the single most important myth in Pynchon's work, conferring shape and significance upon each of his novels. This book also offers a unique perspective on postmodernism, which is characterized by ludic syncretism - the playful synthesis of myths from a variety of cultures. In addition, Thomas Pynchon and the Postmodern Mythology of the Underworld is a major contribution to the study of myth and literature as a whole, through the definition of what Evans Lansing Smith calls necrotypes - archetypal images catalyzed by the mythology of the underworld. This book employs an interdisciplinary methodology that will be of critical interest to scholars of comparative literature, mythology, and religion; to theorists and critics of modernism and postmodernism; to depth psychologists in the traditions of Jung, Freud, and James Hillman; as well as to the broad base of Pynchon enthusiasts and exponents of popular culture.

Monumental epic poem tells the heroic story of Aeneas, a Trojan who escaped the burning ruins of Troy to found Lavinium, the parent city of Rome, in the west.

This dissertation asserts that myths of the journey to the underworld in which the protagonist is female have been marginalized in favor of stories in which the descender is male. In laying out the historical basis of the scholarship on the journey to the underworld (the nekyia), the study attributes this prejudice to a Christological bias that has lent prominence to myths in which the narrative follows the pattern of descent and resurrection or return. The dissertation further asserts that, often, female figures who descend to the underworld act in significantly different ways than their male counterparts and that stories of feminine descent commonly break the traditional mold and result in the protagonist remaining in the underworld.Through religious and cultural analysis and psychological interpretation, the dissertation compares six myths of female descent. Analyses of the nekyia of Ereshkigal, Hel, Izanami, Hine-nui-te-po, Inanna, and Persephone show that female descent narratives are as wide-spread as those of males and illuminate the differences between feminine descent and the traditionally accepted pattern of katabasis. Using both a socio-religious and a Jungian lens, this dissertation focuses on the meanings these figures had for their contemporary believers and may have archetypally for all people.The study concludes that despite traditional interpretations that see female figures in nekyia myths as incubators for male heroes, female katabatic figures have far more agency than is traditionally granted to them and that their remaining in the underworld results in a taking up of sovereignty. It finds that these female figures, far from being “defeated” by the underworld, cloak themselves in its power and come to abide there, making it their home. The conclusions drawn in this dissertation illuminate the contribution to be made to nekyia studies by the inclusion of female stories, as well as the diversity of ways in which descent without anabasis is not only a viable, but powerful part of the nekyia.

Delve into the depths of mythology and mystery with "Echoes of the Underworld" by Skye Hellviolet. This captivating book takes readers on a journey through ancient legends, modern interpretations, and the timeless symbolism of the underworld archetype. From the ancient myths of Greece and Egypt to the contemporary tales of fantasy and science fiction, "Echoes of the Underworld" explores the universal themes and archetypes that have captivated human imagination for centuries. Through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis, Skye Hellviolet sheds light on the hidden truths and deeper meanings behind these timeless tales, inviting readers to uncover the mysteries of the human psyche and the collective unconscious. With a blend of scholarship and creativity, "Echoes of the Underworld" offers a fresh perspective on familiar stories and introduces readers to lesser-known myths and legends from cultures around the world. Drawing on her background in literature and psychology, Skye Hellviolet delves into the symbolism of the underworld archetype, exploring its relevance to contemporary culture, spirituality, and personal growth. Whether you're a lover of mythology, a seeker of wisdom, or simply someone who enjoys a good story, "Echoes of the Underworld" is sure to captivate and inspire. Journey into the depths of the human psyche and discover the echoes of the underworld that resonate within us all.

This unique approach to the Iliad and the Odyssey explores the role and function of Hades as a poetic environment in which traditional exposition of heroic values may be subverted in favour of a more personally inflected approach to the epic past, giving rise to a different kind of poetics: the 'poetics of Hades'.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo has dazzled and challenged audiences with its unique aesthetic design and startling plot devices since its release in 1958. In Classical Vertigo: Mythic Shapes and Contemporary Influences in Hitchcock’s Film, Mark William Padilla analyzes antecedents including: (1) the film’s source novel, D’entre les morts (Among the Dead), (2) the earlier symbolist novel, Rodenbach’s Bruges-la-morte, and (3) the first-draft screenplay of Maxwell Anderson, a prominent Broadway dramatist and Hollywood scenarist from the 1920s to the 1950s. The presence of Vertigo amid these texts reveals and clarifies how themes from Greco-Roman antiquity emerge in Hitchcock’s project. Padilla analyzes narrative figures such as Prometheus and Pandora, Persephone and Hades, and Pygmalion and Galatea, as well as themes like the dark plots of Greek tragedy, to reveal how Hitchcock used allusive form to construct an emotionally powerful experience with an often-minimalist script. This analysis demonstrates that Vertigo is a multifaceted work of intertextuality with artistic and cultural roots extending into antiquity itself.

Dream Tonight of Peacock Tails marks the first in-depth examination of Pynchon’s debut novel, which was immediately recognized as a breakthrough masterpiece. The eight essays collected in the volume provide both scholars and avid readers with new and original insights into a too-often underestimated work that, probably even more than Gravity’s Rainbow, established Pynchon as one of the great masters of twentieth-century American literature. This book deliberately privileges a multidisciplinary and transnational approach, encompassing collaborations from a particularly international and diverse academic context. As such, this volume offers a multifaceted pattern of expanding investigation that tackles the novel’s apparently chaotic but meticulously organized structure by rereading it in the light of recent US and European history and economics, as well as by exploring its many real and imagined locations. Not only are the essays brought together here revelatory of Pynchon’s way of working, but they also tell us something about our own ways of approaching his fiction.

"The Underworld in Myth, Magic and Mystery" reveals that ceremonies have always been conducted in secret underground spaces throughout the world where drama and music accompanied the rituals. Death always has been an enigma to humanity. Rituals were developed in each culture to teach humanity about life, death and the afterlife. The reader is taken on a journey of discovery into prehistory and history, tracing the myths and Mysteries that veiled hidden knowledge about dying and death. The views of present-day psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and depth psychologists on the place of the Underworld in modern life are given. Near death experiences and the existence of a "God-Spot" in the brain that predisposes us to be religious are considered.