reflected, at least in part, the Greek belief that a person was responsible for his (or her)
behavior in this life, and that immoral acts did carry a price – if not in this life, then in
the next.
Contacting the Dead:Katabasisand Necromancy
Although the Greeks did not have a strong Death figure in their religion or mytho-
logy, stories of mortal heroes who journeyed to Hades to face death in person appear
frequently in ancient Greek literature. When heroes such as Heracles, Theseus,
Orpheus, and Odysseus descended to Hades and returned successfully, they achieved
a sort of rebirth: they metaphorically died and returned from the dead. This journey
to the underworld is known as akatabasis– a ‘‘descent’’ by the living into the realm
of the dead. Akatabasisgenerally entails the hero having to face his own mortal
nature, overcome his fear of death, and realize that the best way for a mortal to attain
immortality is to achieve a heroic reputation through brave and memorable deeds. As
with the criminals in Hades, although the characters in these stories are mythological,
their situations serve as models for human behavior – in this case, the attitudes we
must take to make our lives, and inevitable deaths, more meaningful. Such an
interpretation of these stories does not necessarily contradict a Greek belief in life
after death, or in the rewards and punishments that might await us in the afterlife. In
some instances, heroes of myth travel to Hades specifically to consult the dead, who
have access to information hidden from the living. And the idea that the dead have
occult knowledge was exploited by the practice of necromancy, a method of commu-
nication with the dead, often for the purpose of divination Although necromancy, like
katabasis, appears in myths and legends, there is sufficient evidence that it was actually
practiced, though not necessarily approved of, in Greek society (Ogden 2001:esp.
xviii–xx and 263–8).
Although the hero Heracles wrestles with Thanatos in Euripides’Alcestis, his main
confrontation with death comes in his twelfth labor, akatabasisto capture Cerberus
and bring the creature back from Hades. Significantly, before embarking on this quest
Heracles went to Eleusis to be initiated into the Mysteries of Demeter; that is, he was
assured of some sort of rebirth after death (Clark 1979:79–94). Then he went to the
entrance to Hades at Taenarum and headed down. He asked the god for Cerberus
and was given permission to take the dog so long as he could capture it without using
weapons. Heracles caught the creature with his bare hands, brought it to the upper
world, showed it to Eurystheus (who had sent him on his labors) and then returned
the dog to Hades (Apollodorus,Library2.5.12), thus metaphorically dying and
being reborn not once but twice, an excess typical of Heracles, that most excessive
of Greek heroes.
Theseus, unlike his Dorian counterpart Heracles, went to Hades for a less than
admirable reason: to help his friend Peirithou ̈s kidnap Persephone. Greek tradition
consistently views this adventure as ‘‘an outrageous act of impiety’’ (Clark 1979:125),
and so although the journey is indeed akatabasisit hardly serves the typical function of
a journey to Hades, that of a hero facing his own mortality and emerging as a
wiser, more mature individual. Entering at Taenarum, Theseus and Perithou ̈s made
their way to Hades’ palace, whereupon he invited them to eat. Hades was no fool, and
94 D. Felton