Mapping the Afterlife - From Homer to Dante

This book studies the afterlife from Homer to Dante. It posits that there is a dominant spatial idiom in afterlife landscapes, the 'Journey-Vision paradigm:' i.e. the journey through the underworld, and the Vision of the universe. This spatial duality functions to harmonise the underworld with the 'scientific' universe.

List of contents

• Introduction


• PART 1: DUALITIES


• Chapter 1: The Splitting of Herakles


• Chapter 2: The Roadmap


• Chapter 3: Proserpina's Tapestry, Strabo's Cloak


• PART 2: COSMOS


• Chapter 4: The Cloak of Stars


• Chapter 5: Soul Music


• Intermezzo


• PART 3: PLATO'S SOULSCAPES


• Chapter 6: Interplanetary Harmonies


• Chapter 7: A Sprinkling of Science


• Chapter 8: The Lyre and the Cloak


• PART 4: TO THE SKY


• Chapter 9: The Dark Side of the Moon


• Chapter 10: Dante's Poem of Fire


• Conclusion


• Bibliography


• Index


• Endpiece

About the author

Emma Gee is an independent scholar and tutor in the Classics. Her previous books include Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition and Ovid, Aratus, and Augustus.

Summary

This book studies the afterlife from Homer to Dante. It posits that there is a dominant spatial idiom in afterlife landscapes, the 'Journey-Vision paradigm:' i.e. the journey through the underworld, and the Vision of the universe. This spatial duality functions to harmonise the underworld with the 'scientific' universe.

Additional text

Gee's exploration of 'the shadowland where science and soul meet' is revelatory, sweeping aside modern myths and explaining ancient ones with erudition and imagination. The precision of her new readings of some of themost studied passages of classical and medieval literature is matched by the extraordinary lucidity of her prose. This is a landmark study.

Product details

• Authors: Emma Gee, Emma (Independent Scholar) Gee, Gee Emma
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2020
• EAN: 9780190670481
• ISBN: 978-0-19-067048-1
• No. of pages: 368
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Miscellaneous; HISTORY / Ancient / General, PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, RELIGION / Ancient, Folklore, myths & legends, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology, Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500, Ancient religions & mythologies, Ancient religions and Mythologies, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology)