Evidence
Each row links back to the complete public-domain source text and the structured extraction record.
| Tradition | Source | Passage | Confidence | Evidence | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biblical | Numbers | Numbers 16:1-50 | low | The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up... He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. | record |
| Egyptian | The Book of the Dead | CHAPTER IX, A Short Description of the "Doors" or Chapters of the Book of the Dead; summaries of Chapters LXIV, LXXIV-LXXXVIII, CXLIV-CXLVII, and CLV-CLXVII | medium | Chapter XCVIII provides a boat and ladder; Chapters XCIX-CIII describe the magical boat whose parts' mystic names must be known. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FOURTH / THE LOVE OF DIDO, AND HER END / BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET; lines 3315-3403 | high | At night Anchises' likeness descends by Jove's command, says Jove drove fire from the fleet, tells Aeneas to take chosen men to Italy, and orders him to meet him in the underworld through the Sibyl, where he will learn his line and destined city. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FOURTH / THE LOVE OF DIDO, AND HER END / BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET; lines 3405-3466 | low | "In safety, as thou desirest, shall he reach the haven of Avernus. One will there be alone whom on the flood thou shalt lose and require; one life shall be given for many." | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3562-3611 | high | Aeneas asks the Sibyl to let him go to his beloved father, teach the way, and open the consecrated portals; he recalls carrying Anchises from flames and weapons and over the seas, and appeals to the Sibyl's power from Hecate. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3613-3702 | high | Twin doves descend, Aeneas recognizes them as his mother's birds, asks them to guide him, follows them to Avernus, sees the gold-shining bough on a tree, breaks it off, and takes it to the Sibyl. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3613-3702 | high | Aeneas hastens to fulfil the Sibyl's command; a deep, dreary cave near a black lake and dark forests emits vapour that prevents birds from flying safely overhead. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3704-3794 | high | “They went darkling through the dusk beneath the solitary night, through the empty dwellings and bodiless realm of Dis.” | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3704-3794 | medium | A shadowy elm holds clustered Dreams, and many monstrous creatures keep covert at the gates, including Centaurs, Scyllas, Briareus, the Lernaean beast, Chimaera, Gorgons, Harpies, and a triform shade. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3796-3885 | high | Aeneas and the soothsayer approach the Stygian river; the waterman challenges the armed newcomer, says no living body may be ferried, and recalls Alcides, Theseus, and Pirithoüs as troubling earlier underworld visitors. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3887-3949 | high | Aeneas reaches fields of the renowned in war; Trojan dead gather around him, while Greek leaders and Agamemnon’s armies flee or cry faintly when they see him armed in the gloom. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 3951-4023 | high | Aeneas sees a triple-walled city by fiery Phlegethon, with an adamant gate, iron tower, Tisiphone at the entry, and sounds of torment within. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 4025-4104 | high | The travelers arrive at the Fortunate Woodlands, a bright meadowed region where some souls practice games, wrestle, dance, sing, and are accompanied by a Thracian priest making music. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 4106-4133 | medium | Anchises ceases speaking, leads his son and the Sibyl among the murmuring throng, and mounts a hillock to scan the ranks and faces. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 4135-4222 | medium | Anchises announces that he will rehearse Dardanian progeny and destinies, then identifies Silvius in the groves as a future child of Aeneas and Lavinia. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET / BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD; lines 4224-4264 | high | Anchises and Aeneas wander through the broad vaporous plains; Anchises shows the whole scene, kindles Aeneas' spirit with coming glories, and instructs him about future wars, peoples, and tasks. | record |
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK SEVENTH / THE LANDING IN LATIUM, AND THE ROLL OF THE ARMIES OF ITALY / BOOK EIGHTH / THE EMBASSAGE TO EVANDER; lines 5161-5236 | medium | Hercules tears loose a high flint rock above the cavern, making the sky thunder, the banks leap apart, and the river recoil; the den is revealed like earth opening an infernal house with pallid realms and ghosts. | record |
| Ainu | Aino Folk-Tales | AINO FOLK-LORE. / I.--TALES ACCOUNTING FOR THE ORIGIN OF PHENOMENA. / II.--MORAL TALES. / IV.--MISCELLANEOUS TALES.; lines 1719-1809 | high | A skilled young hunter pursues a large bear through dangerous mountain heights until it disappears into a hole on a bleak mountain summit. | record |
| Ainu | Aino Folk-Tales | AINO FOLK-LORE. / I.--TALES ACCOUNTING FOR THE ORIGIN OF PHENOMENA. / II.--MORAL TALES. / IV.--MISCELLANEOUS TALES.; lines 1811-1905 | high | An Ainu man seeking proof of the under-world enters an immense cavern at Sarubutsu, passes through darkness toward light, and emerges into Hades with trees, villages, rivers, sea, junks, and inhabitants including Ainu, Japanese, and people he knew when alive. | record |
| Ainu | Aino Folk-Tales | AUDITORS. / LOCAL SECRETARIES. / HONORARY SECRETARIES. / INTRODUCTION.; lines 209-263 | low | The passage discusses belief in wonder-tales involving talking beasts, stones that may once have been giants, and a hero being swallowed by a monster and getting out again. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1860-1970 | medium | At the tomb the cousin destroys the empty sepulchre, digs below it, raises a trap-door, and reveals the top of a spiral staircase. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1972-2079 | medium | The uncle and narrator disguise themselves, leave through a garden door to the cemetery, find the tomb, enter it, and discover a trap-door leading to a staircase fastened underneath with plaster. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2193-2294 | high | At a tree root he finds an iron ring and trapdoor, clears earth away, opens it, and finds a staircase. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2296-2398 | medium | The old man says he is a genius, descended from Eblis, prince of the genii; he seizes the narrator, flies upward and downward, strikes the ground open, and arrives at the enchanted palace. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2400-2513 | medium | When alone with the dervish, the envious man edges toward the well, seizes him, drops him in, and runs away unseen. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2937-3041 | medium | The narrator leaves his tree, digs at the site, removes a large stone with a ring, descends stone steps to a furnished taper-lit room, and reassures the frightened boy that he may have been sent to deliver him from the tomb. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 4010-4107 | medium | At the interment place, the corpse is lowered into a deep pit; the living husband is lowered into the cavern on a bier with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, and a stone covers the opening. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 4109-4187 | high | The narrator appeals unsuccessfully to the king and bystanders, is lowered into a gloomy pit with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, and is sealed in by a stone. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 4377-4474 | medium | Sindbad returns to the river, concludes it may surface elsewhere, and decides to risk building a raft and trusting himself to the water. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 7899-8017 | high | Aladdin and the false uncle reach a valley between two mountains; the magician lights a fire, adds powder, speaks magical words, and the earth opens to reveal a stone entrance. He orders Aladdin to descend through three halls and a garden to retrieve a lighted lamp. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 8148-8267 | low | In Africa the magician discovers by magic that Aladdin escaped the cave, married a princess, and became wealthy by means of the lamp; he travels to China, sees the palace, and plans to seize the lamp. | record |
| Buddhist | Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1 | INDIAN TALES FROM TIBETAN SOURCES. / THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA. / BY A. BARTH. / FOOTNOTES:; lines 17199-17302 | medium | A December festival marks the close of the rainy season; the Buddha spent the period among angels to teach them, and a later legend says he descended into hell for a similar purpose. | record |
| Buddhist | Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1 | TABLE OF CONTENTS. / PART I. / PART II. / SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES.; lines 202-273 | medium | Headings include the last Bodisat’s descent from heaven, birth, song of angels, prophecies by Kāḷa Devala and Brāhman priests, ploughing festival, skill and wisdom, four visions, and the birth of the Bodisat’s son. | record |
| Daoist | Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer | THE SECRET OF LIFE. / CHAPTER XX. / MOUNTAIN TREES. / CHAPTER XXI.; lines 9030-9184 | medium | Wu Jên says the perfect man soars to the blue sky, dives to the yellow springs, or flies to extreme points without change of countenance; he says Lieh Tzŭ is terrified and internally defective. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | BOOK SIX: DIARMUID. / CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF DIARMUID / CHAPTER II. HOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT / CHAPTER III. THE DAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE; lines 10725-10807 | high | Diarmuid enters a boat with the greyhound; the boat goes over the sea and then below it, and he finds himself on a plain. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | BOOK SIX: DIARMUID. / CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF DIARMUID / CHAPTER II. HOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT / CHAPTER III. THE DAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE; lines 10809-10863 | medium | The red man reaches the river before Diarmuid, carries him across, says Diarmuid is going to heal the daughter of King Under-Wave, and directs him to use well water, the cup, and drops of blood; he warns that Diarmuid's love will go away. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF DIARMUID / CHAPTER II. HOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT / CHAPTER III. THE DAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE / CHAPTER IV. THE HARD SERVANT; lines 11053-11154 | high | At the end of the fight the Enchanter breaks off and leaps into the bottom of the well, leaving Diarmuid vexed. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF DIARMUID / CHAPTER II. HOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT / CHAPTER III. THE DAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE / CHAPTER IV. THE HARD SERVANT; lines 11156-11258 | medium | A champion tells Diarmuid he has not come to harm him, warns that his sleeping-place is bad because it is on an ill-wisher's lawn, and offers a better resting-place. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | BOOK ELEVEN: OISIN AND PATRICK. / CHAPTER I. OISIN'S STORY / CHAPTER II. OISIN IN PATRICK'S HOUSE / CHAPTER III. THE ARGUMENTS; lines 14653-14791 | medium | Oisin says the sons of Morna or sons of Baiscne would take Finn out of the place, or have the house for themselves. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER XII. CLIODNA'S WAVE / CHAPTER XIII. HIS CALL TO CONNLA / CHAPTER XIV. TADG IN MANANNAN'S ISLANDS / CHAPTER XV. LAEGAIRE IN THE HAPPY PLAIN; lines 4901-5032 | medium | "Fiachna, son of Betach, went down into the lake then, for it was out of it he had come, and Laegaire went down into it after him, and fifty fighting men along with him." | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER XIII. CREDHE'S LAMENT / BOOK FOUR: HUNTINGS AND ENCHANTMENTS. / CHAPTER I. THE KING OF BRITAIN'S SON / CHAPTER II. THE CAVE OF CEISCORAN; lines 8452-8536 | medium | Goll, son of Morna, the Flame of Battle, approaches; the hags meet him, fight him, and he cuts through the two nearest women with one blow. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER IV. THE HOSPITALITY OF CUANNA'S HOUSE / CHAPTER V. CAT-HEADS AND DOG-HEADS / CHAPTER VI. LOMNA'S HEAD / CHAPTER VII. ILBREC OF ESS RUADH; lines 9100-9185 | medium | The young man greets Caoilte, identifies himself as Derg, son of Eoghan of the people of Usnach and Caoilte's foster-brother, and says he lives with his mother's people, the Tuatha de Danaan, in Sidhe Aedha, though he longs for the Fianna. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER VII. ILBREC OF ESS RUADH / CHAPTER VIII. THE CAVE OF CRUACHAN / CHAPTER IX. THE WEDDING AT CEANN SLIEVE / CHAPTER X. THE SHADOWY ONE; lines 9711-9745 | medium | The pig screams; a very tall man comes out of the hill and asks Finn to let the pig go free. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) | PREFACE. / J. G. FRAZER. / CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY.; lines 256-353 | medium | Tradition identified the branch with the Golden Bough that Aeneas plucked at the Sibyl’s bidding before the journey to the world of the dead. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) | MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING THE GOD.; lines 6236-6295 | medium | A Babylonian legend says Istar descends to Hades to fetch the water of life to restore dead Thammuz; water appears to have been thrown over him during a mourning ceremony around his funeral pyre. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) | MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING THE GOD.; lines 7047-7107 | high | A different form of the myth says Dionysus descended into Hades to bring his mother Semele up from the dead. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) | MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING THE GOD.; lines 7183-7267 | high | Frazer identifies the Demeter-Proserpine myth with Aphrodite-Adonis, Cybele-Attis, and Isis-Osiris, and says Demeter mourns Proserpine, who personifies vegetation, especially corn; Demeter and Proserpine are described as a mythical reduplication of one natural phenomenon. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS; lines 1422-1506 | medium | The killing of the pig is described as an annual representation of the killing of Osiris, compared with Thesmophoria pigs representing Proserpine’s descent and with European harvest killings of animals as representatives of the corn-spirit. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | CONTENTS / NOTE. OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS. / INDEX. / FOOTNOTES; lines 15400-15519 | low | Virgil is cited for the Golden Bough; another note says Virgil placed it near Lake Avernus for Aeneas's descent to the infernal world, while Italian tradition placed it in the grove at Nemi. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | CONTENTS / NOTE. OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS. / INDEX. / FOOTNOTES; lines 15521-15650 | high | Frazer says Virgil represents Aeneas taking the mistletoe to Hades, perhaps because the mistletoe was supposed to repel evil spirits. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS; lines 2971-3035 | medium | Fireless and Homeless enters a porcupine burrow, loses his way in darkness, and is released by the kind giant called He who sees before and behind, who cleaves open the earth. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Heroic Romances of Ireland | THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN / EGERTON VERSION / THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN / LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI VERSION; lines 1917-1992 | medium | Eochaid goes with an army to the elf-mound of Femun, called the mound of the Fair-haired-Women, and digs up each elf-mound to take his wife from there. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | THE IDAEAN DACTYLS / THE THEOGONY / THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE1701 / II. 1745; lines 4158-4264 | medium | At Oedipus' burial and the Theban expedition, Amphiaraus knows Zeus' ordinance, but the earth yawns and swallows him with horses and chariot. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | II. 1745 / THE SHIELD OF HERACLES / THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX / THE GREAT EOIAE; lines 4786-4884 | high | Endymion is taken by Zeus into heaven, loves Hera, is deceived by a cloud shape, and is cast down into Hades. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | ENDNOTES / PREPARERS NOTE / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION; lines 626-712 | medium | Several poems ascribed to Hesiod are listed, including Peleus and Thetis, Theseus' descent into Hades, and a Circuit of the Earth connected with Phineus, the Harpies, and the Argonaut legend; the passage discusses later interpolation and detachment from the Catalogues. | record |
| Greek | The Iliad | CONCLUDING NOTE. / INTRODUCTION. / THEODORE ALOIS BUCKLEY. / POPES PREFACE TO THE ILIAD OF HOMER; lines 1303-1376 | medium | Later epic poets are described as following Homer in army catalogues, funeral games, visits to the shades, detention from return by Calypso/Dido/Armida-like figures, absence from the army, and celestial armor; other Greek-source borrowings are also mentioned. | record |
| Greek | The Iliad | THE SINGLE COMBAT OF HECTOR AND AJAX. / BOOK VIII. / ARGUMENT. / THE SECOND BATTLE, AND THE DISTRESS OF THE GREEKS.; lines 8694-8829 | high | Pallas says Jove prevents Hector's fall, complains that he forgot her aid to his favorite son pressed by Eurystheus, recalls Pluto's gates, the triple dog, Styx, and hell, says Jove favors Thetis' son, and urges Juno to launch the chariot while she arms. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | COMPILED BY / PREFACE / JAPANESE FAIRY TALES / MY LORD BAG OF RICE; lines 151-260 | medium | Hidesato agrees to help and is conducted under the bridge to the Dragon King’s palace; the waters part, his clothes remain dry, and he sees a white marble palace beneath Lake Biwa served by fish. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA / THE SAGACIOUS MONKEY AND THE BOAR / THE HAPPY HUNTER AND THE SKILLFUL FISHER; lines 4010-4103 | high | The old man advises the Happy Hunter to go to Ryn Gu and ask Ryn Jin, the Dragon King of the Sea, to find the hook; the Happy Hunter notes that this realm is said to be at the bottom of the sea. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA / THE SAGACIOUS MONKEY AND THE BOAR / THE HAPPY HUNTER AND THE SKILLFUL FISHER; lines 4105-4215 | high | Hohodemi explains that he lost his brother's treasured fishing hook and was directed by a wise old man to seek help from Ryn Jin in Ryn Gu. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA / THE SAGACIOUS MONKEY AND THE BOAR / THE HAPPY HUNTER AND THE SKILLFUL FISHER; lines 4105-4215 | high | Tamayori goes first to the Sea King's Palace and tells her father; the Dragon King is surprised because mortals visit the palace only rarely. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA / THE SAGACIOUS MONKEY AND THE BOAR / THE HAPPY HUNTER AND THE SKILLFUL FISHER; lines 4217-4334 | medium | Ryn Jin welcomes the Happy Hunter at the Sea Palace, seats him in the guest room's uppermost seat, and identifies himself as the Dragon King of the Sea. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | JAPANESE FAIRY TALES / MY LORD BAG OF RICE / THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW / THE STORY OF URASHIMA TARO, THE FISHER LAD; lines 856-981 | high | The tortoise asks whether Urashima has seen Rin Gin, the Palace of the Dragon King of the Sea, says it lies far away at the bottom of the sea, and offers to be his guide. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 10456-10602 | medium | The hostess of Pohyola says she will not give her daughter until Tuoni's bear is muzzled and Manala's wolf is conquered in the Death-land; many sent before have perished. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 10456-10602 | medium | Ilmarinen safely plows the field of serpents, buries vipers under the furrow, returns, and asks the hostess for the Northland maiden. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 10604-10759 | medium | On the third attack, the eagle flashes fire and lightning, grips the pike with beak and talons, and lifts it from Tuoni's coal-black river; the text says the third time succeeds after failures. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM / BOOK II; lines 14560-14736 | high | Wainamoinen asks whether anyone will go to Mana's kingdom and Tuoni's empire to get the magic auger from the master of Manala to repair or remake his snow-sledge. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM / BOOK II; lines 15455-15625 | medium | The snake uncoils, is called a hundred-eyed heinous monster, crawls to other portals, and allows Kaukomieli to proceed to Sariola and Pohya's banquet-halls. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | DR. J.D. BUCK, / AN ENCOURAGING AND UNSELFISH FRIEND, AND TO HIS AFFECTIONATE FAMILY, / THESE PAGES ARE GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED. / PREFACE; lines 597-678 | high | The hero of Wainola needs three words of master-magic to finish a boat to sail for the mystic maiden of Sariola and unsuccessfully searches a white squirrel and dying white swan. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 6913-7085 | medium | Lemminkainen pursues the animal over swamps, woods, snow-fields, mountains, lakes, rivers, Hisi plains, Kalma plains, and Tuoni’s kingdom; fire and smoke arise from his equipment; at the jaws of Death, Tuoni and Kalma cannot overtake him. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 7467-7653 | medium | After Lemminkainen reports bridling the fire-horse and asks again for the maiden, Louhi says he must kill the swan in Tuoni's black death-river with one crossbow and one arrow. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 7655-7840 | high | Louhi says she sent the hero to Hisi's fields to hunt the moose of Lempo, to catch the fire-expiring stallion, and then to Tuoni's Death-stream with one arrow to shoot the swan as dowry for her fairest daughter. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8212-8383 | medium | The mother anoints Lemminkainen's body, wounds, and life-blood centers and commands him to wake. He wakes, rises, speaks in magic accents, and says his sleep in Tuonela was sweet and without joy or sorrow; his mother says he would have slept longer without her. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8570-8763 | high | Wainamoinen decides he can find words in the dwellings of Tuoni and in the fields and castles of Manala. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8765-8952 | high | Mana's daughter brings a boat to Wainamoinen, rows him over the black fatal river to Manala, and says he comes neither dead nor dying. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8955-9137 | medium | A shepherd tells Wainamoinen that many words and wisdom-sayings are in Wipunen's mouth and body and that the path to his tomb passes over needles, swords, and hatchets. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8955-9137 | medium | Wipunen awakens in pain, bites the staff, cannot break the steel, opens his mouth, and swallows Wainamoinen together with his magic, shoes, staff, and armor. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 9496-9697 | medium | Wainamoinen has learned magic sayings, ancient songs, ancient wisdom, lost words, and secret doctrine, and prepares to leave the body and bosom of Wipunen. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 13289-13435 | medium | Joseph’s brothers say Joseph and his brother are favored, propose killing or expelling Joseph, and one advises casting him into the bottom of the well; they ask their father to send him with them, while the father fears a wolf may devour him. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 1841-2018 | medium | The Prophet is told not to be like the one in the fish who cried to God in deep distress; divine favor prevented him from being cast on the naked shore in shame, and his Lord chose him as just. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 5185-5401 | medium | Jonas is an apostle who flees to a laden ship; lots are cast, he is doomed, and the fish swallows him because he is blameworthy. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER V. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER VI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 14707-14802 | low | The speaker is told that if he could seek a den into the inward parts of the earth or a ladder to ascend into heaven to show a sign, the search would be fruitless unless God willed guidance. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 20236-20305 | medium | Commentators say Joseph's brothers abused and beat him in the field and would have killed him if Judah had not invoked their promise not to kill him but to cast him into the well. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XX. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 25309-25406 | medium | Dhu'lnun departs in wrath, cries out in darkness that there is no God but God and that he has been unjust, and is delivered; notes identify him as Jonas and the darkness as the belly of the fish. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | ENTITLED, Y. S.; REVEALED AT MECCA. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXXVII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 31215-31300 | medium | Jonas is said to be one of those sent by God; he flees into a loaded ship, those on board cast lots, he is condemned, and the fish swallows him because he is worthy of reprehension. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | INTRODUCTION / C. E. G. / THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN / PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC; lines 2073-2161 | high | A fair lady on a mound says Peredur is going to encounter the Addanc, which kills by craft from behind a stone pillar with a poisonous dart; after Peredur pledges to love her above all women, she gives him a stone that lets him see the Addanc while unseen, says to seek her toward India, and vanishes. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | C. E. G. / THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN / PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC / GERAINT THE SON OF ERBIN; lines 5346-5386 | medium | Arthur asks if any marvel remains, and a man answers that it is "the blood of the witch Orddu" from "the confines of Hell." | record |
| Hindu | Maha-bharata | BOOK IV / DYUTA / BOOK V / PATIVRATA-MAHATMYA; lines 2570-2710 | medium | Yama draws the thumb-sized vital spark, purusha, from Satyavan's body, fastens it in his noose, and goes southward with the youth's immortal life while Savitri follows. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | BOOK THE SEVENTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 11584-11674 | high | The fable heading says Hercules chains Cerberus, guardian of the gates of the Infernal Regions. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 5030-5135 | medium | The explanation reports traditions: Cadmus has Semele and her son thrown into the sea; Semele is buried at Oreate; Apollodorus says she is deified as Thyone; Bacchus descends to hell, brings her away, and carries her to heaven; other authors give her divine honors. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 8531-8624 | medium | Pezeron says Pluto received the west, worked Spanish gold and silver mines, and that the low, dark, subterranean setting generated the fable of Hell; Tartarus and Lethe are identified with Spanish rivers. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE SIXTH.; lines 9428-9441 | medium | Footnote 30 adds that some accounts derive aconite from the foam of Cerberus when Hercules dragged him from the infernal regions. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10542-10617 | high | Æneas reaches Cumæ, the swampy regions and cavern of the long-lived Sibyl, and asks to visit his father’s shade through Avernus. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10542-10617 | medium | The Sibyl points to a branch shining with gold in the woods of the Juno of Avernus and orders Æneas to pluck it from its stem. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10710-10786 | high | While the Sibyl speaks during the steep ascent, Æneas emerges from the Stygian abodes to the Eubœan city; after sacrifice he approaches the shore not yet named after his nurse. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 11508-11560 | medium | Venus petitions her father to grant godhead to Aeneas, born of her blood, and recalls that Aeneas has once seen the unsightly realms and crossed the Stygian streams. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE FIFTEENTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 12944-13014 | high | Hippolytus is hurled from the chariot, dragged, torn apart, and becomes one continuous wound; he says he visited lightless realms and bathed in the waves of Phlegethon. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | BOOK THE EIGHTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 1330-1459 | medium | Amphiaraüs foresaw that he would not return from the Theban war, hid himself, was betrayed by Eriphyle after Adrastus bribed her with a gold necklace, and was swallowed by the earth with his chariot. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | BOOK THE NINTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 2843-2927 | high | Hercules delivers Theseus from imprisonment in Epirus, said to underlie the Hades descent fable; a monstrous serpent in the cavern of Tænarus is linked to the Cerberus-chaining story. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | BOOK THE NINTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 3008-3100 | high | Hercules’ greatest toil is described as conquest over death, represented by descent into the underworld and dragging Cerberus to light; older accounts include conflict with Hades and with Death. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE TENTH.; lines 3955-4038 | high | After mourning Eurydice, Orpheus dares to descend to Styx through the Taenarian gate and goes among the shades to Persephone and the ruler of the infernal realm. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE TENTH.; lines 4040-4101 | medium | The ferryman drives Orpheus away while Orpheus entreats and vainly desires to cross the stream again. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE TENTH. / EXPLANATION.; lines 4104-4203 | medium | Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, dies very young, and Orpheus is inconsolable for her loss. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 6256-6345 | medium | Lycophron says the monster devoured Hercules, who remained three days in its belly and emerged hairless; Palæphatus explains Hesione as threatened by a pirate, with Hercules wounded while boarding the ship but later victorious. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | ALCMAEON AND THE NECKLACE. / THE HERACLIDAE. / THE SIEGE OF TROY. / RETURN OF THE GREEKS FROM TROY.; lines 10012-10108 | medium | Near the shore the party enters a vast cave containing piles of cheese and pails of milk; companions urge return, but Odysseus waits for the owner. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | ALCMAEON AND THE NECKLACE. / THE HERACLIDAE. / THE SIEGE OF TROY. / RETURN OF THE GREEKS FROM TROY.; lines 10201-10297 | high | Odysseus stays with Circe for a year; at his companions' urging he leaves. Circe, unable to detain him after vowing not to use spells, warns him of dangers, commands him to consult Tiresias in Hades, provisions the ship, and bids farewell. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | VENUS. / HELIOS (SOL). / EOS (AURORA). / PHOEBUS-APOLLO.; lines 2441-2527 | high | Heracles arrives at Admetus' palace, learns of Alcestis' death, descends into the tomb, and holds Death until he promises to restore Alcestis to her family. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | VENUS. / HELIOS (SOL). / EOS (AURORA). / PHOEBUS-APOLLO.; lines 2598-2664 | high | Orpheus, longing for Eurydice, descends into Hades with Apollo's golden lyre; his music temporarily halts the torments of Sisyphus, Tantalus, Ixion, and the Furies. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | VICTORIA. / HERMES (MERCURY). / MERCURY. / DIONYSUS (BACCHUS).; lines 4043-4125 | high | Dionysus descends to the realm of shades to find his mother and brings her to Olympus, where as Thyone she joins the immortal gods. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | MERCURY. / DIONYSUS (BACCHUS). / BACCHUS OR LIBER. / AIDES (PLUTO).; lines 4150-4244 | high | Odysseus visits the lower world at Circe's command and speaks with Trojan War heroes; Achilles says he would rather be the poorest laborer on earth than rule the shades. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | FORTUNA. / ANANKE (NECESSITAS). / MOMUS. / EROS (CUPID, AMOR) AND PSYCHE.; lines 4917-4962 | high | Psyche undergoes severe penance; Aphrodite orders her to descend into the underworld and obtain from Persephone a box containing charms of beauty. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | THE ARGONAUTS. / STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. / PELOPS. / HERACLES (HERCULES).; lines 8076-8168 | high | After initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries and priestly instruction, Heracles goes to the opening at Taenarum; Hermes conducts his descent, shades flee, and Hermes stops him from striking Medusa's shadow. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | PELOPS. / HERACLES (HERCULES). / BELLEROPHON. / THESEUS.; lines 8683-8725 | medium | Pirithoeus asks Theseus to help descend to the lower world and carry off Persephone; Theseus recognizes the peril but accompanies him. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXIV: THE DWARFS / CHAPTER XXV: THE ELVES / CHAPTER XXVI: THE SIGURD SAGA / CHAPTER XXVII: THE STORY OF FRITHIOF; lines 10939-11058 | high | Thorsten and Belé seek a magic ring or armlet forged by Völund and stolen by Soté, who buried himself alive with it in a Bretland mound where his ghost guards it. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXVI: THE SIGURD SAGA / CHAPTER XXVII: THE STORY OF FRITHIOF / CHAPTER XXVIII: THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS / CHAPTER XXIX: GREEK AND NORTHERN MYTHOLOGIES; lines 12651-12759 | medium | Sif’s golden hair is interpreted as vegetation; Loki’s theft of the tresses is compared with Pluto’s rape of Proserpine, and Loki’s visit to dwarfs underground is compared with Mercury seeking Proserpine in Hades. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXVI: THE SIGURD SAGA / CHAPTER XXVII: THE STORY OF FRITHIOF / CHAPTER XXVIII: THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS / CHAPTER XXIX: GREEK AND NORTHERN MYTHOLOGIES; lines 12761-12872 | medium | Idun falls from Yggdrasil into Nifl-heim; Bragi follows her; her wolf-skin is interpreted as winter snow preserving roots. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER IV: THOR / CHAPTER V: TYR / CHAPTER VI: BRAGI / CHAPTER VII: IDUN; lines 4135-4274 | medium | A fragmentary account says Idun sits on Yggdrasil, grows faint, falls to Nifl-heim, and lies pale and motionless in Hel's realm; the quoted poem names her as sunk down from Yggdrasil's ash. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER IV: THOR / CHAPTER V: TYR / CHAPTER VI: BRAGI / CHAPTER VII: IDUN; lines 4135-4274 | medium | Idun lets the gods wrap her in the wolfskin but refuses to speak or move; Bragi sees her tears, tells the others to return, stays with her in Hel's realm, and his harp remains mute. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XVIII: THE VALKYRS / CHAPTER XIX: HEL / L. E. R. / CHAPTER XXI: BALDER; lines 7325-7472 | high | Odin mounts Sleipnir and rides over Bifröst and the road to Giallar, Nifl-heim, the Helgate, Garm, and Hel's dark abode. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XVIII: THE VALKYRS / CHAPTER XIX: HEL / L. E. R. / CHAPTER XXI: BALDER; lines 7594-7696 | high | The gods cannot revive Balder, are restrained from killing Hodur by the law of their peace-steads, and Frigga asks that someone go to Nifl-heim to entreat Hel to release Balder. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XVIII: THE VALKYRS / CHAPTER XIX: HEL / L. E. R. / CHAPTER XXI: BALDER; lines 7698-7821 | high | Hermod rides over the trembling bridge, along the dark Hel-way, and across Giöll; Mödgud challenges him and notes he is a living rider trying to enter Hel's realm. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XVIII: THE VALKYRS / CHAPTER XIX: HEL / L. E. R. / CHAPTER XXI: BALDER; lines 7824-7975 | high | Hermod journeys over fields of ice until he reaches a wall and grate, tightens Sleipnir's girths, leaps the grate, and enters. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXI: BALDER / CHAPTER XXII: LOKI / CHAPTER XXIII: THE GIANTS / CHAPTER XXIV: THE DWARFS; lines 8943-9039 | medium | Angantyr had Tyrfing buried with him; Hervor visited his tomb at midnight, recited magic spells, forced him to rise from the grave, and received the blade. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXIII: THE GIANTS / CHAPTER XXIV: THE DWARFS / CHAPTER XXV: THE ELVES / CHAPTER XXVI: THE SIGURD SAGA; lines 9547-9642 | medium | Sigmund and Sinfiotli are captured by the Goths; Siggeir orders them buried alive in one mound with a stone partition between them. Signy throws Sinfiotli a straw bundle, which the Goths assume contains provisions. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK XX / BOOK XXI / BOOK XXII / BOOK XXIII; lines 10213-10296 | medium | Ulysses tells Penelope that their troubles are not over and that Teiresias prophesied a long, difficult task when Ulysses went down into Hades to ask about his return. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK XX / BOOK XXI / BOOK XXII / BOOK XXIII; lines 10298-10348 | high | He tells of Circe and of sailing to the chill house of Hades to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias, where he sees old comrades and his mother. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK VIII / BOOK IX / BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.; lines 4680-4781 | high | After feasting, Ulysses gets into bed with Circe and asks her to keep her promise about furthering his homeward voyage. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 4783-4874 | high | At sunset the ship reaches Oceanus and the land and city of the Cimmerians, a place of mist, darkness, and unpierced by sunlight; the crew beaches the ship and follows Oceanus to Circe's indicated place. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 4876-4967 | high | Teiresias returns to the house of Hades after speaking his prophecies; Odysseus remains until his mother tastes the blood, recognizes him, and speaks fondly. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 4969-5068 | high | A dead female speaker addresses the narrator as her son, explains that bodies perish by consuming fire after life leaves and the soul flits away like a dream, then tells him to return to daylight and remember these things for his wife. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 5070-5169 | high | Ulysses agrees to continue and introduces a sadder tale of comrades who died on their return through the treachery of a wicked woman. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 5171-5269 | high | Ulysses tells Achilles that he came to consult Teiresias for advice about returning home to Ithaca, after Achilles remarks that Ulysses has ventured down to the house of Hades among the dead. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 5271-5317 | high | Hercules recognizes Ulysses and says he suffered many labors, including being sent to Hades to fetch the hell-hound, which he brought out with help from Mercury and Minerva. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88 / BOOK XII / THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.; lines 5320-5420 | high | After clearing Oceanus, the voyagers reach Aeaea, draw the ship onto the sands, sleep on shore, and wait for dawn. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | HENRY FESTING JONES. / THE ODYSSEY / BOOK I / BOOK II; lines 762-849 | low | Aegyptius’s son Antiphus went with Ulysses to Ilius; the savage Cyclops killed him in the cave and cooked him. Eurynomus, another son, is one of the suitors, and Aegyptius still mourns Antiphus. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXV. The Battle. / Canto XXVIII. Khara Dismounted. / Canto XLIII. The Wondrous Deer. / Canto XLVI. The Guest.; lines 32934-33108 | medium | Sítá says Ráma would bring her back if she dwelt in hell, even if Yama claimed her as prey. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto LXX. Kabandha. / BOOK IV. / Canto V. The League. / Canto VI. The Tokens.; lines 38276-38433 | medium | Mayavi flees, Bali and Sugriva pursue him by moonlight, and Mayavi enters a grass-covered cave; Bali tells Sugriva to remain at the cavern mouth while he explores the dark recess. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto VI. The Tokens. / Canto XI. Dundubhi. / Canto XII. The Palm Trees. / Canto XIV. The Challenge.; lines 39591-39757 | low | The speaker says that if Ráma had asked him first, he would have restored the Maithil lady, bound Rávaṇ with a chain, laid him at Ráma's feet, and followed her even to deepest hell or the ocean, as Hayagríva once freed the white Aśvatarí from hell. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XLIV. The Ring. / Canto XLV. The Departure. / Canto XLVII. The Return. / Canto L. The Enchanted Cave.; lines 43443-43565 | medium | “The Vánars rushed within to cool / Their fevered lips in spring or pool. / Vast was the cavern dark and dread, / Where not a ray of light was shed” | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XLV. The Departure. / Canto XLVII. The Return. / Canto L. The Enchanted Cave. / Canto LII. The Exit.; lines 43568-43738 | medium | The ascetic woman says the living scarcely return from the cave to daylight, but she will free them through penance, fasting, and holy rite; she instructs them to close their eyes. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXXIII. The Sone. / Canto XXXIV. Brahmadatta. / Canto XXXIX. The Sons Of Sagar. / Canto XL. The Cleaving Of The Earth.; lines 5492-5590 | medium | Sagar summons his sixty thousand sons, tells them to pursue the robber whether hidden in earth or beneath the ocean, explore the sea-garlanded world, and dig a league each until they find the horse. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXXIV. Brahmadatta. / Canto XXXIX. The Sons Of Sagar. / Canto XL. The Cleaving Of The Earth. / Canto XLI. Kapil.; lines 5593-5733 | medium | Sagar's sons cleave and search the earth, killing many creatures and treading on snakes, demons, fiends, and gods, but they fail to find the robber or the spoil. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | CAREY AND MARSHMAN. / SCHLEGEL. / GORRESIO. / HIPPOLYTE FAUCHE.; lines 57756-57837 | medium | Rávaṇ invades the kingdom of departed spirits and fights its sovereign Yáma. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | CAREY AND MARSHMAN. / SCHLEGEL. / GORRESIO. / HIPPOLYTE FAUCHE.; lines 57839-57896 | medium | After Sita’s oath, the earth opens; a beautiful divine throne rises, borne by resplendent dragons; the Earth goddess welcomes Sita and seats her beside herself; the throne descends to Hades while flowers fall from heaven. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | SCHLEGEL. / GORRESIO. / HIPPOLYTE FAUCHE. / ADDITIONAL NOTES.; lines 57936-58038 | medium | In the boar avatar Vishnu rescues the earth from Hiranyaksha, who had carried it into the ocean depths; Vishnu dives into the abyss and slays the demon after a long contest. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXXIV. Brahmadatta. / Canto XXXIX. The Sons Of Sagar. / Canto XL. The Cleaving Of The Earth. / Canto XLI. Kapil.; lines 5908-6061 | medium | For Bhagírath’s sake Śiva ends Gangá’s wandering and sends her into Vindu’s lake; seven rivers issue from her, and the seventh follows Bhagírath. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | FOOTNOTES / ILIAD. XVII. 426. / GORRESIO. / MACBETH.; lines 64865-64999 | medium | Svayamprabha, the self-luminous, is discussed as identified by De Gubernatis with the moon and a good fairy; the note says Hanuman and companions wandered for a month in the cavern while searching for Sita, and Svayamprabha then led them out. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | THE REPUBLIC. / PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE. / BOOK I. / BOOK II.; lines 10460-10547 | medium | Gyges, a shepherd serving the king of Lydia and ancestor of Croesus, is present when a storm and earthquake make an opening in the earth where he feeds his flock. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 4013-4089 | medium | The second gymnastic training of the soul lasts about five or six years from thirty; afterward the student goes down into the den, commands armies, and gains life experience for fifteen years. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 5706-5773 | medium | The story of Er is introduced: Er, son of Armenius, is thought killed in battle, remains uncorrupted, is placed on a funeral pyre on the twelfth day, revives, and reports what he saw below. | record |
| Greek | Symposium | Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 1320-1353 | medium | Orpheus, son of Oeagrus and a harper, is sent away empty; the gods show him only an apparition of the woman he sought and do not give her up. | record |
| Greek | Symposium | Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION.; lines 64-148 | high | Orpheus, called a miserable harper, goes alive to Hades to bring back his wife, receives only an apparition, and is later punished by the gods for cowardliness. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | The Origin of the Narran Lake | low | Byamee pursues water beings through connected water holes, kills them, restores his wives, and declares that the water-filled hollows will become Narran Lake. | record |
| Maya/Kiche | The Popol Vuh | The Second Book, Hero Twins in Xibalba | high | The twins cross the river of blood and river Papuhya, expose wooden decoys, avoid the red-hot stone, pass the House of Gloom, and beat the Xibalbans at ball. | record |