Cocytus

Cocytus is a name from ancient Greek mythology associated with a river in the underworld. The term comes from the Greek Kokytos, traditionally interpreted as meaning “river of lamentation” or “weeping.” In classical myth, Cocytus is one of the rivers that encircle or border the realm of Hades, conveying the sorrows of the dead.

In various ancient sources, Cocytus is described as the river of lamentation that flows through or around the realm of the dead. Its exact position and relationships to other underworld rivers differ among authors, but it is consistently linked to mourning and the crossing of the boundary between the living and the dead.

In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Cocytus takes on a prominent literary role. It is depicted as a frozen river at the bottom of Hell’s ninth circle, surrounding Satan and the center of the Earth. The ice of Cocytus entrapping traitors is subdivided into four regions—Caina, Antenora, Ptolemaea, and Judecca—punishing different classes of traitors, from kin to benefactors.

Beyond classical and medieval literature, the name Cocytus has been used in modern fiction and media as a fictional river or location, drawing on its associations with the underworld and lamentation. Its continued usage reflects its enduring symbolic resonance with mourning, boundary, and the afterlife.

See also: River Styx, River Lethe, River Acheron, Phlegethon, Hell in classical and literary contexts.