Acherusia
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
In Greek mythology, it was also the name of a cavern through which
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]
Notes
- ^ Thucydides, i. 46 & Strabo, Geographica vii. p. 324.
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 2.35.7
- ^ Xenophon Anab. vi.2.2 & Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 14.31
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 3.5 & Strabo, Geographica v. p. 243
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 1.96
- ^ ISBN 978-90-429-1375-2.
References
- Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Acherusia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.