‘From Contradiction to Coherence: Underworld Topography and the Grove of Persephone’

Literary descriptions of the underworld present it as a realm full of contradictions. They prove to be problematical, when they are analysed as real physical phenomena that conform to the laws of physics, time and space. Any attempt to map the underworld as real thus quickly becomes futile. But this does not mean that the underworld is illogical or incongruous. This seminar offers an alternative methodology for surveying underworld topography that emphasises its metaphysical nature. Using as a case-study Homer’s grove of Persephone, it demonstrates how particular geographical features draw upon connotative associations and intertextual allusions in order to describe imagined metaphysical ‘realities’ rather than actual physical ones.