350 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
earth after the castration of Uranus; according to others, they are the offspring of
Night. Both versions are appropriate in terms of their sphere and their powers.
They vary in number, but they may be reduced to three with specific names: Al-
lecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. In literature and art they are depicted as formida-
ble, bearing serpents in their hands or hair and carrying torches and scourges.
They are the pitiless and just avengers of crime, especially murder; blood guilt
within the family is their particular concern, and they may relentlessly pursue
anyone who has killed a parent or close relative. It has been conjectured that orig-
inally they were thought of as the ghosts of the murdered seeking vengeance on
the murderer or as the embodiment of curses called down upon the guilty.THE UNIVERSALITY OF GREEK AND ROMAN CONCEPTS
A consideration of how different societies and peoples at various times have viewed
the afterlife cannot help but be fascinating. We all must die, and what will happen af-
ter death is a question that each of us has pondered deeply. Whatever our beliefs, the
Graeco-Roman view must stand as one of the most philosophically profound and re-
ligiously archetypal, with themes that find parallels not only with religions of the West
(such as ludaism and Christianity) but also with those of the East (Buddhism and
Platonism share basic concepts).^28 For those who dismiss any certain knowledge of
death's aftermath as futile, the artistic bequest of the ancient world can offer its own
rewards.
The profundity and intensity of the Greek and Roman visions of an afterlife have
been all-pervasive in the art and literature of Western civilization. The most explicit
literary description is that of Vergil, and this has been the most potent inspiration for
postclassical artists and writers. The great Italian poet Dante (1265-1321) was steeped
in its radiance, which he suffused with Christian imagination and dogma. Dante takes
Vergil as his guide through the Inferno, in which many of the classical features of Hades
are to be found. In Canto 1 Dante, terrified and lost in a wilderness, encounters Vergil,
who becomes his guide through Christian Hell; lines 82-87 express Dante's intense
devotion to the Roman poet, inherent in the poem.
O, honor and light of all the other poets,
May the long study and great love
which made me pore over your tome
help me now.
You are my master and my authority,
You are the only one from whom
I drew and cultivated the noble style
which has brought me honor.
Many excerpts from Dante could be offered to show the myriad debts to the Aeneid. The
depiction of Cerberus in Canto 6 is a particularly famous example.