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Article: Hell on Earth! Could the discovery of a macabre complex of tunnels suggest that the Old World's vision of an Underworld of darkness and torture was true?
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- February 11, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: PETER LEWIS
THE ancient Greeks did not believe in Heaven, but they did believe in the Underworld, or Hades, the region beneath the Earth's surface where the spirits descended after death.
Hades was a fearsome realm of darkness ruled by the god Pluto and his unhappy Queen Persephone.
Anyone approaching it had first to cross the black river Styx in a boat steered by the aged ferryman Charon.
The farther bank was guarded by a three-headed dog, Cerberus.
Beyond lay the parting of the ways.
One way led to Tartarus, where the guilty were punished with lashes and chains, eternally rolling huge rocks or spread- eagled ...