P50
We should not overlook, however, one fundamental similarity. In their very different ways both accounts stress that life after death will be extremely unpleasant, if not for everyone (Homer), then for nearly everyone(Virgil). It is not the solution to life's problems. It is not a goal to which one should strive. It is not a price one should be willing to pay. It is not a hope one should harbor, a dream one should trust. It will be awful. The ultimate point of life in this world is not determined by a world to come. Life is itself the goal, its own summum bonum.
I stress the point because the Christian katabaseis will move in the opposite direction. In the Christian vision, the afterlife is indeed the ultimate answer to all the difficulties in life. It alone is worth striving after. Paradise is waiting--not only for those with literal family ties to the gods, as in Homer, or just for a tiny sliver of the human population, the most highly accomplished people ever to have lived, as in Virgil. No, it can come to anybody, regardless of the accidents of birth, relations, or worldly accomplishments. That's the good news for the Christians: eternal bliss is
available to all who want it and do what is necessary to obtain it.
The bad news is that anyone who refuses to do so will be subject to tortures far more graphic than anything portrayed in Homer's Hades or even Virgil's Tartarus. The postmortem punishments in the earliest Christian katabatic traditions do not involve purgations leading to other chances, and they will not be limited to the worst of sinners. They will be retributive punishments that never end, the fate of the vast majority of the human race, with only one way to avoid them. Christians preached
both pearly gates and fiery pits, and, as we will see, their narratives of after life journeys helped fuel their imaginations, guide their lives, and drive their missionary efforts. （引用終わり）
katabasis は、ギリシャ語のkatabaineinから来ている。この場合、kata-は「下に」という意味であり、baineinは「行く」という意味である。つまり、下に行く、下界に行く、冥界に行くということ。katabasisは、「冥界旅行記」というような意味となり、アーマンは最初の章で、ホメロスの「イリアド」とウェルギリウスの「アエネーアス」を取り上げて、ここに出てくるkatabasisを詳しく紹介してくれている。結論は、古代ギリシャ人にとっても古代ローマ人にとっても、死後の世界は苦しみの世界でしかなかったということである。
上に挙げた幾つかの写真は、アテネの博物館に展示されている古代ローマの墓石彫刻である。ローマ帝国に支配されていたギリシャには、ローマ人やローマ文化を受け入れたギリシャ人の墓が多数残っており、保存状態のいいものは博物館に展示されている。
典型的なものは、死者がこの世に残る家族・妻・子供に別れを告げている場面、多くの場合、握手して別れてゆく場面である。
作成途中
