Literary notes about Netherworld (AI summary)
The word “netherworld” in literature is employed to evoke a hidden, often eerie realm that lies beneath or beyond ordinary human experience. It is used to describe spaces where mythic forces prevail, such as ancient underworlds ruled by deities and judges ([1], [2], [3]), as well as locations steeped in supernatural danger or transformation ([4], [5]). At the same time, authors extend its meaning metaphorically to refer to modern domains—whether a digital frontier or a marginalized societal layer—that mirror the mysterious, shadowy qualities of traditional underworlds ([6], [7], [8]). This dual role, merging the mythological with the metaphorical, enriches narratives by suggesting that the line between light and darkness, reality and fantasy, is both fluid and fraught with hidden power ([9], [10]).
- At length Ea hearkens and intercedes with Nergal, god of the Netherworld, who consents to release the spirit for a little while.
— from An Introduction to Mythology by Lewis Spence - There is first the world-judge, Minos, famous for his justice during life, distributing both penalties and rewards in the Netherworld.
— from Homer's OdysseyA Commentary by Denton Jaques Snider - Thou makest a Nile in the netherworld; Thou bringest it forth at thy pleasure, To give life to the people of Egypt.
— from Tell el Amarna and the Bible by Charles F. Pfeiffer - Because to her understanding, she had been touched by some dark spirit of the Netherworld, or perhaps possessed in some measure by the Stone itself.
— from Highland Ballad by Christopher Leadem - She wrestled with him where the darknesses roll their snake-eyed torrents over between jagged horns of the netherworld.
— from The Amazing Marriage — Complete by George Meredith - This dark electric netherworld has become a vast flowering electronic landscape.
— from The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier by Bruce Sterling - In the strange netherworld between hardware and software, device and product, the answer is often a morally heartfelt "yes!"
— from The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle - and altogether it was very uncomfortable, both in Leafland and Netherworld.
— from Our Young Folks, Vol 1, No. 1An Illustrated Magazine by Various - Achilles, when he meets Odysseus in the netherworld, declares that he would rather be a poor labouring thrall on earth than a king among the dead.
— from Platform Monologues by T. G. (Thomas George) Tucker - Elysium was afterwards placed in the netherworld, as by Virgil.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson
