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Netherworld: Discovering the Oracle of the Dead and Ancient Techniques of Foretelling the Future
The extraordinary discovery of the Underworld of the ancient Greeks.
We tend to think of ancient stories of visits to the Underworld by Odysseus, Orpheus and Aeneas as being poetic fictions, but Robert Temple shows here that in fact, the Ancients believed the Underworld to be a place that actually existed. It was maintained by a college of priests who would prepare, through ritual fasting, prayer, animal sacrifice, bathing and solitude, whoever wished to meet the shades of the dead. The candidate would then be led through the entrance to the Underworld, a dark, terrifying place, far underground, where after a series of ordeals and apparitions, they would finally meet with the ghosts of the dead. All these features recur in the ancient stories.
Recently Robert Temple heard that a 1962 archaeological expedition had actually discovered the entrance in Italy.This is the amazing story of what he found when he was finally allowed to make his own descent into the Underworld – the River Styx, false doors, a snake pit and carved invocations to the Goddess of the Underworld, all revealed for the first time since ancient times.
We tend to think of ancient stories of visits to the Underworld by Odysseus, Orpheus and Aeneas as being poetic fictions, but Robert Temple shows here that in fact, the Ancients believed the Underworld to be a place that actually existed. It was maintained by a college of priests who would prepare, through ritual fasting, prayer, animal sacrifice, bathing and solitude, whoever wished to meet the shades of the dead. The candidate would then be led through the entrance to the Underworld, a dark, terrifying place, far underground, where after a series of ordeals and apparitions, they would finally meet with the ghosts of the dead. All these features recur in the ancient stories.
Recently Robert Temple heard that a 1962 archaeological expedition had actually discovered the entrance in Italy.This is the amazing story of what he found when he was finally allowed to make his own descent into the Underworld – the River Styx, false doors, a snake pit and carved invocations to the Goddess of the Underworld, all revealed for the first time since ancient times.
476 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 15, 2015
This is a book that I had a long time suspended hold on, so I wasn't sure why I wanted it originally. After looking at it I recalled that I had found a book at a used book store that didn't seem quite my style, but had really interesting illustrations of an apparently real underground complex that mimicked the Classical underworld. I remain uncertain if that book was this one, or if it were another work, such as that of Paget, the original discoverer of this complex, but this is the one I managed to find in the library system. I only read the first two chapters because that contained the information I was most interested in. The book is classified as New Age/Divination on the back, which isn't really my style. And though I found the chapters on the Baian oracle interesting, they didn't do anything to boost the author's credibility in my estimation. Though Temple presents a very vivid, believable, and perhaps even probable description of the likely rites and events that would have occurred at this oracular site, his writing lacks all scholarly rigor; he cites only literary sources that have no proven connection to the site in question, or else the writings of Paget whose work was equally founded in conjecture. And I find it hard to reconcile how he can talk about the oracular proceedings as being naked theatrics, a carefully designed production to trick petitioners into believing they had a supernatural experience, and then talks about "real mediums" as though psychic abilities can just be taken as a matter of fact. Since he has shown himself untrustworthy in marshaling supporting evidence, I find little need to read more of the book than the section that had first caught my interest.
Despite my complaints, I find his description of the (probable) Baian Oracle site to be compelling and generally plausible. I'm sure that while alternate explanations of the space are possible, the likely difficulty of its excavation implies that it must have been something important. But the assumption that the site was the inspiration for scenes in ancient literary works such as the Odyssey, or the Aeneid really requires archaeological proof of the age of the construction, especially as the opposite could be the truth, that some group constructed the site in imitation of literature. And to my understanding the Aeneid wasn't even based on any tradition but was instead essentially propaganda, mimicking the works of Homer to give legitimacy to Roman rule. I also think that the proposed route of the supplicant through the oracle complex doesn't quite make sense. Isn't it strange if descending to the underworld to ascend mid-way through the journey? And the idea of smoke ascending to through the ceiling immediately after the "Dividing of the Ways" indicating Tartarus doesn't really make sense, since then Tartarus would be above them. It seems a more likely route would be the reverse of what is proposed: staying level at the division, which is the more straight forward route anyway, there would be a passage with a narrow floor and a cleft which is now covered in tiles through which smoke would be pouring, and that would be a more convincing Tartarus. And then after making an offering at the sanctuary, the path would descend lower, the river Styx would be crossed, and a sacrifice would be made on the "bank", which is my impression of how events unfolded in the epics, though I admit to not having read them, but only heard descriptions. I enjoy the idea that inquirers who seemed doubtful or dissatisfied with the experience may have been done away with the maintain the secrets, but Temple's proposal that this is what happened to Eurydice is absurd. Assuming that the story of Orpehus or imitations of it played out in any way at this location, whether story imitating reality or vice versa, Eurydice was already dead. The woman encountered would have been an actress and had she reached the surface the gig would have been up. That he even proposes the possibility demonstrates the author's unreliability due to wild, unsubstantiated speculation.
One final thought: the elaborate theatricality of the rituals speculated to occur at this location remind me of descriptions of likely rituals that took place in temples on the ancient Peruvian coast that would involve manipulations like water running through channels in the walls to convince attendants of the presence of divine magic.
Overall, there are some interesting ideas in this work, and I love the maps of the complex, but I don't really regard it as trustworthy.
Despite my complaints, I find his description of the (probable) Baian Oracle site to be compelling and generally plausible. I'm sure that while alternate explanations of the space are possible, the likely difficulty of its excavation implies that it must have been something important. But the assumption that the site was the inspiration for scenes in ancient literary works such as the Odyssey, or the Aeneid really requires archaeological proof of the age of the construction, especially as the opposite could be the truth, that some group constructed the site in imitation of literature. And to my understanding the Aeneid wasn't even based on any tradition but was instead essentially propaganda, mimicking the works of Homer to give legitimacy to Roman rule. I also think that the proposed route of the supplicant through the oracle complex doesn't quite make sense. Isn't it strange if descending to the underworld to ascend mid-way through the journey? And the idea of smoke ascending to through the ceiling immediately after the "Dividing of the Ways" indicating Tartarus doesn't really make sense, since then Tartarus would be above them. It seems a more likely route would be the reverse of what is proposed: staying level at the division, which is the more straight forward route anyway, there would be a passage with a narrow floor and a cleft which is now covered in tiles through which smoke would be pouring, and that would be a more convincing Tartarus. And then after making an offering at the sanctuary, the path would descend lower, the river Styx would be crossed, and a sacrifice would be made on the "bank", which is my impression of how events unfolded in the epics, though I admit to not having read them, but only heard descriptions. I enjoy the idea that inquirers who seemed doubtful or dissatisfied with the experience may have been done away with the maintain the secrets, but Temple's proposal that this is what happened to Eurydice is absurd. Assuming that the story of Orpehus or imitations of it played out in any way at this location, whether story imitating reality or vice versa, Eurydice was already dead. The woman encountered would have been an actress and had she reached the surface the gig would have been up. That he even proposes the possibility demonstrates the author's unreliability due to wild, unsubstantiated speculation.
One final thought: the elaborate theatricality of the rituals speculated to occur at this location remind me of descriptions of likely rituals that took place in temples on the ancient Peruvian coast that would involve manipulations like water running through channels in the walls to convince attendants of the presence of divine magic.
Overall, there are some interesting ideas in this work, and I love the maps of the complex, but I don't really regard it as trustworthy.
May 27, 2013
I found Temple in the oddest way. He had commented on an article in the online version of the Smithsonian magazine. A few other reader/ commenters gushed at him in response. I looked up his books, was intrigued, and ordered a few paper backs from some used bookstores in the UK (thanks amazon.uk!) I'm hooked. He is a fantastic writer with a gentle wit. The material is fascinating and so exciting. His thought process is far reaching but he carries the reader with him easily. If you love history and can handle some esoteric thought, please read this!
February 10, 2008
I'm not finished with this yet, but there is a vein of research in this about the connections between the I Ching and the Binary number system that is quite interesting. There is some amazing stuff about the Oracle of the Dead installation found at Baia in Southern Italy that had an acoustic system so that moans and cries could be projected through the space. There was an ornamental river styx and a platform for a real Cerberus.
You were given drugs and then lead down into this theatrical 'Tartarus' to meet the Oracle of the Dead. I've always loved Temple. I read one of his books when I was in High School, so this is a treat. The fact that Kekrops and Fu Hsi were both Half Snake beings, and that Fu Hsi is credited with the invention of the I Ching. When I was very young I called myself
"Chang Lang", as just a strange affect I cannot account for. In this text one of the earliest and most intriguing authors about the I Ching is Discussed who is called Chang Liang. It's cheezy, but I start hearing the doors song "I'm a changeling"..
I did not know that Chess was originally part of an I Ching Divination style that vulgarized into the Military Chataranga.
The Black and White Kings and Queens were originally Sun vs. Moon, and each position on the board was a different Hexagram.
Temple is definitely a scholar. He was friends with Joseph Needham, but he feels a little new agey at times. Some people might not get into that, but for me his scholarship is sufficiently cogent as to make it totally excellent. If I learn about people, places, things, then it is a good book.
November 30, 2011
This book I thought would be interesting but reading again and again how Temple just simply dismisses the work of others, with a they really do not know anything at all, annoyed me immensely. What also annoyed me was the continual bragging by Temple through out the book, I have the biggest collection of this, I know more about this that they do, was just uncalled for.
I do not have a problem with people who present a different interpretation on history, I find the books normally quite interesting but this one did not do it for me at all. I had hoped the Chinese part of the book would pick things up but the statement everyone else has got the history of chess wrong did not bode well for the rest of the book.
There are some interesting theories presented but overall Temple just did not inspire me with confidence at all. Read to me more like I have 500 pages to prove my point, not present a sound alternative.
I do not have a problem with people who present a different interpretation on history, I find the books normally quite interesting but this one did not do it for me at all. I had hoped the Chinese part of the book would pick things up but the statement everyone else has got the history of chess wrong did not bode well for the rest of the book.
There are some interesting theories presented but overall Temple just did not inspire me with confidence at all. Read to me more like I have 500 pages to prove my point, not present a sound alternative.
June 18, 2019
When you go into this book, you are hoping to get an expert insight into ancient techniques for predicting the future, both an historical/archaeological account of various traditions, western and eastern, and also a bit of DYI for those techniques that can be done in the modern world. And you do get that in some part. But mostly this books is about a man, the author, trying desperately to sound intelligent, doing loads of name dropping from areas that are not closely related to the main subject of the book, and overall talking about anything but divination.
It does give you a good insight on the Greek and Roman oracle world, with perhaps a semi-exclusive look into an Oracle only recently discovered and very poorly studied, the Oracle at Baia. So maybe for that reading, it is worth looking into the first chapters.
It does give you a good insight on the Greek and Roman oracle world, with perhaps a semi-exclusive look into an Oracle only recently discovered and very poorly studied, the Oracle at Baia. So maybe for that reading, it is worth looking into the first chapters.
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March 19, 2008Very probable theory anout the Mystery religions.
February 11, 2012
Very interesting view of what the underworld meant to various historical periods.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews