Other Hells: Literary Approaches to the World of the Dead

What makes hell what it is? What archetypes of the underworld helped to cement its importance in different religious systems? Why is hell so alive in secular culture today? This course explores the literary topos of the descent into the underworld in several strands of literary culture in the west. In the seminar, we will discuss underworld themes and archetypes in western and eastern antiquity, the Middle Ages, as well as modern and contemporary literature and visual art. Understanding the curious attraction of hell will help us conceptualize what the realm of the dead means for how we inhabit the world of the living.