katabasis

Katabasis, from the Greek katabasis meaning "descent," is a narrative and mythological pattern in which a protagonist travels from the ordinary world into a lower, liminal realm—often the underworld—and returns. The term is used chiefly in classical Greek literature and is frequently paired with anabasis, the ascent from the underworld or exile. Katabasis can function as a rite of passage, a test of the hero, and a source of prophetic knowledge or transformation.

Classical examples include Odysseus’ descent to Hades in the Nekuia (Book 11) of the Odyssey, where he consults the shades for warnings and guidance; Aeneas’s journey to the Underworld in Virgil’s Aeneid (Book VI) to speak with Anchises; and Orpheus’s attempt to recover Eurydice. In Greek myth, Heracles also performs a descent as part of his labors. These narratives often end with the hero’s return and the acquisition of crucial knowledge.

Common features include crossing a boundary or threshold, encounters with beings in the underworld, the assistance of guides or magical aid, and a revelation that alters the hero’s understanding of life, death, or fate. The experience is frequently described with vivid, otherworldly imagery and may serve as a formal turning point in a larger heroic cycle.

In modern criticism and theory, katabasis is used more broadly to describe any descent into a hidden or repressed space, including psychological interpretation of a character’s journey into the unconscious. The term also appears in arts and media as a motif signaling risk, transformation, and the recovery of lost knowledge.