Wikipedia Trail-Week 6

Yaggdrasil
Underworld

Wikipedia Trails: From Ogre to the Underworld

Ogre

Orcus

Dis Pater

The Underworld

Image Yggdrasil

Having read a story in class referencing a water-ogre (The Wise Monkey - Jataka Tales), I wanted to learn more about an ogre and what they truly are. I also must admit that when I come across the word ogre, I am immediately transported to the Disney movies starring the infamous ogres Shrek and Fiona. As noted on Wikipedia, Shrek and Fiona are ogres, but retain very few of the stereotypical traits of an ogre and live basically as humans with the exception of eating insects and washing in the mud. Real ogres apparently like to eat human beings, especially infants and children.

Hades is the name commonly used to refer to the underworld. However, another name for the underworld is Orcus, an Etruscan god who fed on human flesh. The latin derivation of the word, Orcus also refers to a god of the underworld who is known as the punisher of broken oaths.

This journey went from beloved Disney characters to associations with death really quickly. Dis Pater is a Roman god of the underworld. Associated with fertile agricultural land and mineral wealth, given that these things come from the ground, the name was then linked to Orcus. The Dis Pater name was shortened to simply Dis and an alternative name for the underworld or part of the underworld.

References to the world of the dead, literally, those living beneath the living, is the underworld. Apparently, the concept of the underworld can be found in almost every civilization. As we have witnessed through readings in this class, living people often make journeys to the underworld for heroic or other reasons, the perfect example of this was in the story of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche visited the underworld to get the jar of beauty.