Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion: Death and Reciprocity

by Ellie Mackin Roberts

This volume presents a case for how and why people in archaic and classical Greece worshipped Underworld gods.

These gods are often portrayed as malevolent and transgressive, giving an impression that ancient worshippers derived little or no benefit from developing ongoing relationships with them. In this book, the first book-length study that focuses on Underworld gods as an integral part of the religious landscape of the period, Mackin Roberts challenges this view and shows that Underworld gods are, in many cases, approached and ‘befriended’ in the same way as any other kind of god.

Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion provides a fascinating insight into the worship of these deities, and will be of interest to anyone working on ancient Greek religion and cult.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, History, Spirituality, Greek Mythology, Occult

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2020

Reviews

[Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in Ancient Greek religion and culture this is the book for it. The only warning I have is that the language is very academic and can be quite difficult to understand sometimes. Besides that I highly recommend it

[Marina Kozareva · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion: Death and Reciprocity by Ellie Mackin Roberts was a fantastic read!

This book is an impressive work of historiography, offering valuable insights into the cultic practices surrounding underworld deities. I was struck by how much information it contained and how carefully the evidence was presented. I loved the level of detail and the way the author pulled together different sources, from inscriptions to literary references, to show how underworld gods were worshiped and understood in practice. I feel like I came away with a much deeper understanding of the everyday realities of Greek religion, not just the myths we usually hear about. I learned a lot from this book.

That said, while it excels on the historical and cultic side, it falls a little short when it comes to the theological and metaphysical aspects of Greek religion. For example, the author sometimes treats divine names like Hades and Pluton as completely distinct beings, rather than as roles or aspects of a unified essence. This diverges from ancient theological perspectives, especially from the Platonic tradition. That fragmented approach risks misrepresenting how the ancients may have truly understood their gods.

Another gap I noticed was the neglect of the cult of Serapis, which played a key role in the syncretic blending of Greek and Egyptian theology. Including it might have challenged or expanded some of the book’s central ideas.

Still, despite these critiques, it’s a five star read for me. I loved it, I appreciated the depth of research, and I found it incredibly rewarding. If you’re interested in Greek religion, underworld deities, or the intersection of cult and history, this book is well worth reading.

[Shub · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is an impressive work of historiography, offering valuable insights into the cultic practices surrounding underworld deities, it falls short in addressing the theological and metaphysical aspects of Greek religion. The author have a tendency to treat divine names, like Hades and Pluton as distinct entities, rather than roles or aspects of a unified essence, which diverges from ancient theological perspectives, specially from the platonic tradition. This fragmented approach risks misrepresenting how the ancients understood their gods. Additionally, the neglect of the cult of Serapis overlooks the syncretic nature of Greek theology and would challenge some ideas of the book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A veces tengo la teoría que los libros nos escogen en vez de nosotros a ellos. Exquisito, bien explicado, te hace ver que todos los dioses ctónicos no son tan ctónicos como nos hicieron creer.