Mythologis

Across cultures

Death & Underworld

The keepers of what is gone and the gates we all pass through.

Underworld deities are not, on the whole, evil. They are gatekeepers and judges. The myth pattern is consistent enough across cultures to be one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the comparative method: a river you must cross, a guardian beast, a weighing or judgement, a place of rest for the just and a darker place for the rest. Hades, Osiris, Hel, Yama, Mictlantecuhtli all share the role, all are misread by modern readers as villains.

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