Talk:Descent to the underworld

Fiction?
If Dante and Milton are being included, why not more modern fiction? Perhaps other works inspired by religion and mythology, such as Gandalf's fall and resurrection in Lord of the Rings, or the underworld journey in His Dark Materials, or Rincewind and Eric in the Underworld, could be seen as Katabasis. Or Er in Plato's Republic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.64.137.106 (talk) 21:39, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Scope of the article
The article currently introduces the topic as:
 * The myth involves the death of a youthful god (a life-death-rebirth deity), mourned and then recovered from the underworld by his or her consort, lover or mother.

If this is used as the definition then what about Nekyia, the 11th book of the Odyssey, which describes the descent of Odysseus to the underworld where he is after knowledge not a person.

Also given the current definition should The Divine Comedy be in the list?

Perhaps the definition needs to be altered to a Katabasis -- a decent into the underworld from which the person making the trip returns. --Philip Baird Shearer 10:05, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

NPV: Mythology vs. Religion
The article's section Mythological characters could be taken as an anti-religious bias by those who strongly believe the literal veracity as well as the overarching "truth" of their sacred scriptures. Although the Myth and the Religion and mythology entries of Wikipedia provide some clarification, this understanding isn't readily apparent or accessible in the current article. Xrysostom (talk) 19:28, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Does Norse Paganism contain Finnish Mythology?
I don't think so. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.91.89.90 (talk) 16:22, 2 October 2008 (UTC)