Katabasis

Articles relating to a katabasis and its depictions, a journey to the underworld. The trip to the underworld is a mytheme of comparative mythology found in a diverse number of religions from around the world. The hero or upper-world deity journeys to the underworld or to the land of the dead and returns. The nature of the quest differs; sometimes an object or the rescue of a loved one is sought, while in other stories knowledge and secret revelations is the goal. The ability to enter the realm of the dead while still alive, and to return, is proof of the classical hero's exceptional status as more than mortal. A deity who returns from the underworld demonstrates eschatological themes such as the cyclical nature of time and existence, or the defeat of death and the possibility of immortality.