Reading the Way to the Netherworld

Education and the Representations of the Beyond in Later Antiquity

Contributions by Heinz-Günther Nesselrath Contributions by Katerina Oikonomopoulou Contributions by Ken Dowden Contributions by Calum A. Maciver Contributions by Marta Otlewska-Jung Contributions by Anna Lefteratou Contributions by Merryl Rebello Contributions by Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser Contributions by Stelios Panayotakis Contributions by Konstantinos Stamatopoulos Contributions by Gabriela Ryser Contributions by Petra Korte Contributions by Chiara O. Tommasi Moreschini Contributions by Andrea Villani Contributions by Ilaria Ramelli Contributions by Dmitrij F. Bumazhnov Contributions by Ron Naiweld Contributions by Elisabetta Abate Contributions by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler Contributions by Christoph Auffarth Contributions by Marvin Döbler Edited by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler Edited by Gabriela Ryser Edited by Anna Lefteratou Edited by Konstantinos Stamatopoulos

Book cover: Reading the Way to the Netherworld

Extent: 550 pages

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Subjects: Classical Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Beiträge zur Europäischen Religionsgeschichte (BERG)

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(December 2016)

ISBN: 9783525540305

6.34 x 9.33 inches

Price: $213.00

In stock

The volume focuses on the various representations of the Beyond in later Antiquity, a period of intense interaction and competition between various religious traditions and ideals of education. The concepts and images clustering around the Beyond form a crucial focal point for understanding the dynamics of religion and education in later Antiquity. Although Christianity gradually supersedes the pagan traditions, the literary representations of the Beyond derived from classical literature and transmitted through the texts read at school show a remarkable persistence: they influence Christian late antique writers and are still alive in medieval literature of the East and West.


The volume focuses on the various representations of the Beyond in later Antiquity, a period of intense interaction and competition between various religious traditions and ideals of education. The concepts and images clustering around the Beyond form a crucial focal point for understanding the dynamics of religion and education in later Antiquity. Although Christianity gradually supersedes the pagan traditions, the literary representations of the Beyond derived from classical literature and transmitted through the texts read at school show a remarkable persistence: they influence Christian late antique writers and are still alive in medieval literature of the East and West. A specifically Christian Beyond develops only gradually, and coexists subsequently with pagan ideas, which in turn vary according to the respective literary and philosophical contexts. Thus, the various conceptualisations of the great existential unknown, serves here as a point of reference for mirroring the changes and continuities in Imperial and Late Antique religion, education, and culture, and opening up further perspectives into the Medieval world.

  • Contributions by Heinz-Günther Nesselrath
  • Contributions by Katerina Oikonomopoulou
  • Contributions by Ken Dowden
  • Contributions by Calum A. Maciver
  • Contributions by Marta Otlewska-Jung
  • Contributions by Anna Lefteratou
  • Contributions by Merryl Rebello
  • Contributions by Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser
  • Contributions by Stelios Panayotakis
  • Contributions by Konstantinos Stamatopoulos
  • Contributions by Gabriela Ryser
  • Contributions by Petra Korte
  • Contributions by Chiara O. Tommasi Moreschini
  • Contributions by Andrea Villani
  • Contributions by Ilaria Ramelli
  • Contributions by Dmitrij F. Bumazhnov
  • Contributions by Ron Naiweld
  • Contributions by Elisabetta Abate
  • Contributions by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler
  • Contributions by Christoph Auffarth
  • Contributions by Marvin Döbler
  • Edited by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler
  • Edited by Gabriela Ryser
  • Edited by Anna Lefteratou
  • Edited by Konstantinos Stamatopoulos