Acherusia

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In Greek mythology, Acherusia (Ancient Greek: 'Αχερουσια λιμνη or 'Αχερουσις) was a name given by the ancients to several lakes or swamps, which, like the various rivers called Acheron, were at some time believed to be connected with the underworld, until at last the Acherusia came to be considered to be in the lower world itself.

The lake to which this belief seems to have been first attached was the Acherusia in

Misenum in Campania,[4] and lastly in Egypt, near Memphis.[5]

In Greek mythology, it was also the name of a cavern through which

Twelve Labors
.

In Plato's Phaedo, souls are divided into four different categories. Evil souls are sent to Tartarus; good souls are sent onward to pure places of the world; but neutral souls as well as repentant people who performed great crimes are not immediately sent to their next realm. Neutral souls are cleansed in the Acherusian Lake before proceeding onward, similar to good souls but slower. People who committed great evil yet were repentant can hope their victims invite them into Acherusia where they can undergo the cleansing process.[6]

Apocalypse of Moses features a story where Adam is washed in the Acherusian Lake before being brought to converse with God, presumably to ensure his ritual purity. The Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by Bartholomew the Apostle, an 8th-9th century work, features a tour of the afterlife; after the narrator passes through the river of fire (which does not actually harm the godly, for whom it seems like a normal river of water), the angel Michael washes him three times in the Acherusian Lake before proceeding deeper into heaven.[6]

Notes

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1870). "Acherusia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.