Heaven and Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition

For thousands of years philosophers theologians and poets have tried to pierce through the veil of death to gaze with wonder fear and awe on the final and eternal state of the soul. Indeed the four great epic poets of the Western tradition (HomerVirgil Dante and Milton) structured their epics in part around a descent into the underworld that is both spiritual and physical both allegorical and geographical. This book not only considers closely these epic journeys to the other side but explores the chain of influences that connects the poets to such writers as Plato Cicero St. John St. Paul Bunyan Blake and C.S. Lewis. Written in a narrative man of letters style and complete with an annotated bibliography a timeline a whos who and an extensive glossary of Jewish Christian and mythological terms this user-friendly book will help readers understand how heaven and hell have been depicted for the last 3000 years.--Page 4 of cover.