The Role Of Life After Death In Greek And Hebrew Culture

Just as universal as birth, death is an inevitable fate that has threatened mankind for their entire existence. Countless philosophers, authors, scholars, religions, and theorists have grappled with the greatly debated topic of the afterlife. N. J. Richardson eloquently described this struggles as the, “beliefs about what happened to a person at the point of death and afterwards were never fixed and always remained a subject for debate” (Adams). Contributing influential opinions on the afterlife, the Greek and Hebrew cultures have wrestled with many concepts in order to arrive at a rough understanding of their individual views of life after death. These two dominant cultures have what appears to be a drastically different stance upon the time
As portrayed in Homer’s, The Odyssey, the soul would then take one of the various routes that led to their final resting place, Hades. Most commonly believed, the soul would travel the body of water that encircled Hades, known as the river Styx. However, Charon would only let those souls that had received a proper burial attain passage to the other side of the infamous river (“Burial Customs”). Many have claimed that, “Charon allows no souls, before their bones rest in a tomb, to cross the dreadful shores and hoarse rivers” (Adams). For those poor souls, whose mortal bodies were unable to achieve a proper burial, are forced to wander the earth with a bitter and evil will (Adams). However, the souls that did receive a burial would continue on with their journey and pass by Cerberus, the monster that guarded the gates of Hades. Finally, the soul would be presented in front of the panel of judges, consisting of Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aceacus. Here they would receive their final sentencing, some placed in the Elysium fields others to Tartarus. For those souls that lived great and honorable lives, the Elysium fields would become their
Homer, in his work, The Odyssey, vividly described death as, “a way of mortals, whenever one of them should die, for the tendons no longer hold flesh and bone together, but the string might of blazing fire destroys these things as soon as the spirit has left the white bones, and the soul, having flown away like a dream, hovers about” (Adams). Both cultures saw themselves as temporal beings with physical bodies that will eventually die off. Though they knew their bodies would die, their immortal souls would live on. Once death claimed a soul, according to both Greek and Hebrew beliefs, each soul from any walk of life would enter into one single location, either Hades or Sheol. These designations where perceived as dark and grim, and both were an undesirable location to reside in. Both cultures believed that upon enter Hades or Sheol, the soul would no longer perform to its mortal capacities. The Greeks saw them change into transparent images that reflected their past selves, as Hebrews perceived them to have no ability to use logic or reason. In contrast, though both believed in one universal location, Greeks believed that Hades had different planes of judgment. Those who entered Hades were forced in front of a judge’s panel that proceeded to sentence the soul to either the Elysian Fields or Tartarus. While those