15
and good, it would be as light as a feather, and Osiris, god of
the underworld, would welcome the soul to paradise. If the
heart was heavier than a feather, the soul was devoured and
gone forever.
In most forms of Islam, Judaism and Christianity there
is also a kind of weighing of souls after death. People are
judged on things like how good they have been in the prac-
tice of their faith. In some traditions, those who have been
good are rewarded by going to heaven, where they will
forever be with God. The others go to hell, forever separ-
ated from God. Some groups, especially among Christians,
also believe that the dead will eventually be
resurrected
,
or brought back to life.
ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD
In Greek mythology, Orpheus was the greatest of human
musicians. He was given a lyre (a stringed instrument) by
his father, Apollo, god of the arts, and trained by the Muses.
The whole world loved his music.
Orpheus married the nymph Eurydice (pronounced
“yu-
rid
-i-see”), but soon after, she was bitten by a snake and
died. Overcome with grief, Orpheus went to the underworld
to try to get her back. He used his music to charm
Hades
, the
god of the underworld, and his wife, Persephone. They agreed
to let Eurydice followOrpheus back to the land of the living,
as long as he didn’t look back at her until they had both
passed through the gates to the underworld.
Theywere almost at the gates when Orpheus glanced
backward. Eurydice slipped back into the underworld forever.
Orpheus begged to be allowed to try again, but to no avail.
Orpheus finally returned to the world, without Eurydice,
and from then on played only the saddest music.
JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE COROT/WIKICOMMONS
In ancient Egypt, models of boats were
often placed in tombs with the dead to
help them in their journey to the afterlife.
Pharaoh Khufu, who built the Great
Pyramid, was buried with a boat that
was more than 43 meters (140 feet) long.
Many boats were about 6 meters (20 feet)
long, and some were much smaller. But
they all contained oars and people to row
them, carved from wood.
METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART/ROGERS FUND AND EDWARD S.
HARKNESS GIFT, 1920
