Netherworld: Discovering the Oracle of the Dead and Ancient Techniques of Foretelling the Future - Hardcover

Robert Temple

  • 3.76 out of 5 stars
    55 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780712684040: Netherworld: Discovering the Oracle of the Dead and Ancient Techniques of Foretelling the Future
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0712684042 ISBN 13: 9780712684040
Publisher: Century, 2002

Synopsis

The extraordinary discovery of the Underworld of the ancient Greeks.

We tend to think of ancient stories of visits to the Underworld by Odysseus, Orpheus and Aeneas as being poetic fictions, but Robert Temple shows here that in fact, the Ancients believed the Underworld to be a place that actually existed. It was maintained by a college of priests who would prepare, through ritual fasting, prayer, animal sacrifice, bathing and solitude, whoever wished to meet the shades of the dead. The candidate would then be led through the entrance to the Underworld, a dark, terrifying place, far underground, where after a series of ordeals and apparitions, they would finally meet with the ghosts of the dead. All these features recur in the ancient stories.

Recently Robert Temple heard that a 1962 archaeological expedition had actually discovered the entrance in Italy.This is the amazing story of what he found when he was finally allowed to make his own descent into the Underworld – the River Styx, false doors, a snake pit and carved invocations to the Goddess of the Underworld, all revealed for the first time since ancient times.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert Temple is the author of The Sirius Mystery, a bestseller in many countries. He is also the author of China: Land of Discovery and Invention, and a translator of the epic Gilgamesh, which was staged at the Royal National Theatre to critical acclaim, and the recent Penguin Classic edition of Aesop’s Fables. He is also a television producer, whose credits include Kenneth Clark’s Civilization.

From the Inside Flap

The extraordinary discovery of the Underworld of the ancient Greeks.

We tend to think of ancient stories of visits to the Underworld by Odysseus, Orpheus and Aeneas as being poetic fictions, but Robert Temple shows here that in fact, the Ancients believed the Underworld to be a place that actually existed. It was maintained by a college of priests who would prepare, through ritual fasting, prayer, animal sacrifice, bathing and solitude, whoever wished to meet the shades of the dead. The candidate would then be led through the entrance to the Underworld, a dark, terrifying place, far underground, where after a series of ordeals and apparitions, they would finally meet with the ghosts of the dead. All these features recur in the ancient stories.

Recently Robert Temple heard that a 1962 archaeological expedition had actually discovered the entrance in Italy.This is the amazing story of what he found when he was finally allowed to make his own descent into the Underworld ? the River Styx, false doors, a snake pit and carved invocations to the Goddess of the Underworld, all revealed for the first time since ancient times.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Century
Publication date
2002
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0712684042
ISBN 13 
9780712684040
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
476
Rating
  • 3.76 out of 5 stars
    55 ratings by Goodreads