Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the “Orphic” Gold Tablets

Plato, Aristophanes, and the creators of the “Orphic” gold tablets employ the traditional tale of a journey to the realm of the dead to redefine, within the mythic narrative, the boundaries of their societies. Rather than being the relics of a faded ritual tradition or the products of Orphic influence, these myths can only reveal their meanings through this detailed analysis of the specific ways in which each author makes use of the tradition. For these authors, myth is an agonistic discourse; it is neither a kind of sacred dogma nor a mere literary diversion, but rather a f lexible tool that serves a wide variety of uses. The traditional tale of the journey to the underworld in Greek mythology is neither simple nor single, but each telling reveals a perspective on the cosmos, a reflection of the order of this world through the image of the other.

Radcliffe G. Edmonds III is assistant professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College. A member of the editorial board of the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, he has contributed to Classical Antiquity, TAPA, and Ancient World.