Phlegethon - Wikipedia Phlegethon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Greek underworld Residents Aeacus Angelos Arae Ascalaphus Cerberus Ceuthonymus Charon Erinyes Eurynomos Hades/Pluto Hecate Hypnos Macaria Melinoë Menoetius Minos Moirai Mormolykeia Persephone Rhadamanthus Thanatos Geography Acheron Asphodel Fields Cocytus Elysium Erebus Lethe Phlegethon Styx Tartarus Famous Tartarus inmates Danaïdes Ixion Salmoneus Sisyphus Tantalus Titans Tityus Visitors Aeneas Dionysus Heracles Hermes Odysseus Orpheus Pirithous Psyche Theseus v t e In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon (Φλεγέθων, English translation: "flaming") or Pyriphlegethon (Πυριφλεγέθων, English translation: "fire-flaming") was one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of the underworld, along with the rivers Styx, Lethe, Cocytus, and Acheron. Plato describes it as "a stream of fire, which coils round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus".[1] It was parallel to the river Styx. It is said that the goddess Styx was in love with Phlegethon, but she was consumed by his flames and sent to Hades. Eventually, when Hades allowed her river to flow through, they reunited.[citation needed] Literary references[edit] In Oedipus by Seneca the Younger, the first singing of the chorus, which mainly describes the plague that has settled in Thebes, includes the line, "Phlegethon has changed his course and mingled Styx with Theban streams." While this is not essential to the plot of the play, the line figuratively serves to suggest Death has become physically present in Thebes. The line also reveals the common preoccupation with death and magic found in Roman tragedy. In Dante's Inferno Phlegethon is described as a river of blood that boils souls. It is in the Seventh Circle of Hell, which punishes those who committed crimes of violence against their fellow men (see Canto XII, 46–48); murderers, tyrants, and the like. By causing hot blood to flow through their violent deeds in life, they are now sunk in the flowing, boiling blood of the Phlegethon. The depth at which each sinner must stand in the river is determined by the level of violence they caused in life; Dante sees Attila the Hun and Alexander the Great up to their eyebrows. Centaurs patrol the circle, firing arrows at those who try to rise above their allotted level in the river. Dante and Virgil cross Phlegethon with help from Nessus. In Spenser's The Faerie Queene the Phlegethon is to be found in hell, and is portrayed as a "fiery flood" where "the damned ghosts in torments fry" (Canto V, 291–291). In Paradise Lost (II, 580) John Milton names the Phlegeton (sic) as one of the rivers of Hell, which bold adventuring demons explore while Satan's flight to Earth begins. Milton also mentions the Rivers Styx, Acheron, and Cocytus. The river Lethe is also counted among the rivers of the underworld. In the seventy-fifth of Ezra Pound's Cantos, Pound asks of Gerhart Münch "Gerhart art thou come forth out of Phlegethon? with Buxtehude and Klages in your satchel, with the Ständebuch of Sachs in yr / luggage".[2] In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Descent into the maelstrom", the narrator, looking down on the whirlpool from a mountain, refers to the water as "the howling Phlegethon below", signifying its danger and coiling effect. In the novel Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Phlegethon is guarded not by centaurs, but by military officers taken from all eras of history (with instructions to shoot anyone who tries to escape). There is also a wooden sailing ship sunk on the other side, which is inhabited by the souls of slave traders. In the first arc of the Curse of the Spawn series, the Spawn's creator Plegethonyarre was named after the mythological river. Track 5 of The Residents' 2008 Digital Album Hades is called "Phlegethon River". In H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Other Gods", one of the characters, when discovered by the Outer Gods, makes "a cry as no man else ever heard save in the Phlegethon of unrelatable nightmares", demonstrating that in an instant he has suffered tortures normally reserved for the damned. In "The Hunch Back of Notre Dame" a four year old Quasimodo is left outside the Cathedral. Foundlings were left there in the hope they would be taken care of. A passing official sees the child and says "Foundling – yes, found apparently on the banks of the river Phlegethon." In Charles Wright's poem "Driving to Passalacqua, 1960", he likens driving along and crossing the Adige River in Verona, lit by the morning sun ("Fire on the water,/daylight striking its match"), to the Phlegethon: "Phlegethon/He must have crossed,/Dante, I mean,/His cloak like a net as he glided and stepped over the stones."[3] See also[edit] Greek mythology in popular culture References[edit] ^ Plato. Phaedo. 112b. ^ Oakes, Loisann. “An Explication of ‘Canto LXXV’ by Ezra Pound.” Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, vol. 5, no. 2, 1964, pp. 105–109 ^ Denham, Robert D., The Early Poetry of Charles Wright: A Companion, 1960-1990, McFarland and Co., 2009, p. 124. v t e Dante's Divine Comedy Characters and locations Inferno Acheron Alichino Barbariccia Ciampolo Cocytus Dis Ugolino della Gherardesca Malacoda Paolo Malatesta Malebranche Malebolge Minos Odysseus Phlegethon Francesca da Rimini Satan Scarmiglione Styx Virgil Purgatorio Cato the Younger Forese Donati Eunoe Beatrice Portinari Statius Paradiso Adam Thomas Aquinas Bernard of Clairvaux Bonaventure Cacciaguida Charles Martel of Anjou David Empyrean Justinian I Peter Lombard Piccarda Verses "Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe" "Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi" Adaptations Classical music Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (Liszt, 1849) Dante Symphony (Liszt, 1857) Francesca da Rimini (Tchaikovsky, 1876) Francesca da Rimini (Rachmaninoff, 1904) Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai, 1914) Gianni Schicchi (Puccini, 1918) The Divine Comedy (Smith, 1996) Paintings The Barque of Dante (Delacroix, 1822) The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides (Blake, 1827) Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil (Scheffer, 1835) Dante in Hell (Flandrin, 1835) The Barque of Dante (1850s, Manet) Pia de' Tolomei (Rossetti, 1868) Paolo and Francesca da Rimini (Rossetti, 1885) La barca de Aqueronte (Hidalgo, 1887) La Laguna Estigia (Hidalgo, 1887) Sculptures The Kiss (Rodin, 1882) The Thinker (Rodin, 1904) The Gates of Hell (Rodin, 1917) Architecture Danteum (Terragni, 1938) Modern music Inferno (1973 album) "Dante's Inferno" (1995 song) Dante XXI (2006 album) A Place Where the Sun Is Silent (2011 album) Film L'Inferno (1911) Dante's Inferno (1924) Dante's Inferno (1935) The Dante Quartet (1987) A TV Dante (1989) Dante's Inferno (2007) Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010) Dante's Hell Animated (2013) Literature The Story of Rimini (1816) La Comédie humaine (1830–1850) Earth Inferno (1905) The Cantos (1917–1962) As I Was Going Down Sackville Street (1937) The System of Dante's Hell (1965) Demon Lord Dante (1971) Inferno (1976) The Dante Club (2003) Jimbo's Inferno (2006) Inferno (2013) Video games Devil May Cry series (2001) Bayonetta series (2009) Dante's Inferno (2010) The Lost (cancelled) Related Cultural references in the Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy in popular culture English translations Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli Botticelli Inferno (2016 documentary) Hell in popular culture Category v t e Ancient Greek religion and mythology Classical religious forms Ancient Greek religion Gnosticism Paleo-Balkan mythology Proto-Indo-European religion Hellenistic religion Alchemy Orphism Pythagoreanism Mycenaean deities Mystery religions and sacred mysteries Delos Mysteries Dionysian Mysteries Eleusinian Mysteries Imbrian Mysteries Mithraism Samotracian Mysteries Main beliefs Ages of Man Apotheosis Euhemerism Eusebeia Greek Heroic Age Interpretatio graeca Monism Mythology Nympholepsy Paganism Paradoxography Polytheism Theism Texts/epic poems/odes Aretalogy Argonautica Bibliotheca Cyranides Derveni papyrus Dionysiaca Ehoiai Greek Magical Papyri Homeric Hymns Iliad Odyssey Interpretation of Dreams (Antiphon) Oneirocritica Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis Sibylline Books Telegony The golden verses of Pythagoras Theogony Works and Days Epic Cycle Theban Cycle Rites and practices Amphidromia Animal sacrifice Apotheosis Baptes Curse tablet Daduchos Delphinion Funeral and burial practices Funeral oration Hymns Hero cult Heroon Hierophany Hierophant Hierophylakes Hieros gamos Hypsistarians Iatromantis Interpretatio graeca Kanephoros Kykeon Libations Mystagogue Nekyia Necromancy Necromanteion Nymphaeum Panegyris Pharmakos Prayers Orgia Sacrifices Temenos Thyia Temples Votive offerings Sacred places Oracles, sanctuaries, Necromanteion Aornum Delphi Didymaion Dodona Oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus at Cyaneae Oracle of Artemis at Ikaros island Oracle of Menestheus Tegyra Mountain Cretea Mount Ida (Crete) Mount Ida (Turkey) Mount Lykaion Olympus Caves Cave of Zeus, Aydın Cave of Zeus, Crete Psychro Cave Vari Cave Islands Achilles island Delos Others Athenian sacred ships Eleusis Hiera Orgas Kanathos Olympia Sacred Way Mythical beings Dragons in Greek mythology Greek mythological creatures Greek mythological figures List of minor Greek mythological figures Deities Primordial deities Aether Aion Ananke Chaos Chronos Erebus Eros Gaia Hemera Nyx Phanes Pontus Thalassa Tartarus Uranus Titans First generation Coeus Crius Cronus Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phoebe Rhea Tethys Theia Themis Second generation Asteria Astraeus Atlas Eos Epimetheus Helios Leto Menoetius Metis Pallas Perses Prometheus Selene Third generation Hecate Hesperus Phosphorus Twelve Olympians Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Dionysus Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Poseidon Zeus Aquatic deities Amphitrite Alpheus Ceto Glaucus Naiads Nereids Nereus Oceanids Phorcys Poseidon Potamoi Potamides Proteus Scamander Thaumas Thetis Triton Love deities Erotes Anteros Eros Hedylogos Hermaphroditus Himeros Hymen/Hymenaeus Pothos Aphrodite Aphroditus Philotes Peitho War deities Adrestia Alala Alke Amphillogiai Androktasiai Ares Athena Bia Deimos Enyalius Enyo Eris Gynaecothoenas Homados Hysminai Ioke Keres Kratos Kydoimos Ma Machai Nike Palioxis Pallas Perses Phobos Phonoi Polemos Proioxis Chthonic deities Psychopomps Hermanubis Hermes Thanatos Achlys Angelos Hades / Pluto Hecate Hypnos Keres Lampad Macaria Melinoë Persephone Health deities Aceso Aegle Artemis Apollo Asclepius Chiron Eileithyia Epione Hebe Hygieia Iaso Paean Panacea Telesphorus Sleep deities Empusa Epiales Hypnos Pasithea Oneiroi Messenger deities Angelia Arke Hermes Iris Trickster deities Apate Dolos Hermes Momus Magic deities Circe Hecate Hermes Trismegistus Other major deities Azone Eileithyia The Erinyes Harmonia The Muses Nemesis Pan Unknown God Zelus Heroes/heroines Abderus Achilles Actaeon Aeneas Argonauts Ajax the Great Ajax the Lesser Akademos Amphiaraus Amphitryon Antilochus Atalanta Autolycus Bellerophon Bouzyges Cadmus Chrysippus Cyamites Daedalus Diomedes Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) Echetlus Eleusis Erechtheus Eunostus Ganymede Hector Heracles Icarus Iolaus Jason Meleager Odysseus Oedipus Orpheus Pandion Peleus Pelops Penthesilea Perseus Theseus Triptolemus Mythical tribes Amazons Anthropophage Atlantians Bebryces Curetes Dactyls Gargareans Halizones Korybantes Lapiths Lotus-eaters Myrmidons Pygmies Telchines Oracles/seers Aesacus Aleuas Amphiaraus Amphilochus Ampyx Anius Asbolus Bakis Branchus Calchas Carnus Carya Cassandra Delphic Sibyl Elatus Ennomus Epimenides Halitherses Helenus Iamus Idmon Manto Melampus Mopsus Munichus Phineus Polyeidos Polypheides Pythia Sibyl Telemus Theiodamas Theoclymenus Tiresias Magic Apotropaic magic Greek Magical Papyri Pella curse tablet Philia Mythical realms Aethiopia Atlantis Erytheia Hyperborea Libya Nysa Ogygia Panchaia Scheria Scythia Themiscyra Underworld Entrances to the underworld Rivers Acheron Cocytus Eridanos Lethe Phlegethon Styx Lakes/swamps Acherusia Avernus Lake Lerna Lake Caves Charoniums Charonium at Aornum Charonium at Acharaca Cave at Cape Matapan Cave at Lake Avernus Cave at Heraclea Pontica Ploutonion Ploutonion at Acharaca Ploutonion at Eleusis Ploutonion at Hierapolis Places Elysium Erebus Fields of Asphodel Fields of Punishment Isles of the Blessed Tartarus Judges Aeacus Minos Rhadamanthus Guards Campe Cerberus Ferryman Charon Charon's obol Symbols/objects Bident Cap of invisibility Animals, daemons and spirits Ascalaphus Ceuthonymus Eurynomos Hade's cattle Mythological wars Amazonomachy Attic War Centauromachy Cranes-Pygmies war Gigantomachy Indian War (it is described at Dionysiaca) Theomachy Titanomachy Trojan War Mythological and religious objects Adamant Aegis Ambrosia Apple of Discord Ara Baetylus Caduceus Cornucopia Dragon's teeth Diipetes Galatea Golden apple Golden Fleece Gorgoneion Greek terracotta figurines Harpe Ichor Lotus tree Minoan seals Moly Necklace of Harmonia Omphalos Orichalcum Palladium Panacea Pandora's box Petasos (Winged helmet) Philosopher's stone Ring of Gyges Rod of Asclepius Sacrificial tripod Sceptre Shield of Achilles Shirt of Nessus Sword of Damocles Talaria Thunderbolt Thymiaterion Thyrsus Trident Trojan Horse Winnowing Oar Wheel of Fortune Wheel of fire Xoanon Symbols Arkalochori Axe Labrys Ouroboros Owl of Athena Mythological powers Divination Eidolon Eternal youth Evocation Fortune-telling Immortality Language of the birds Nympholepsy Magic Ornithomancy Shamanism Shapeshifting Weather modification Storage containers, cups, vases Amphora Calathus Chalice Ciborium Cotyla Hydria Hydriske Kalpis Kantharos Kernos Kylix Lebes Lekythos Loutrophoros Oenochoe Pelike Pithos Skyphos Stamnos Urn Musical Instruments Aulos Barbiton Chelys Cithara Cochilia Crotalum (Castanets) Epigonion Kollops Lyre Pan flute Pandura Phorminx Psaltery Salpinx Sistrum Tambourine Trigonon Tympanum Water organ Games Panhellenic Games Olympic Games Pythian Games Nemean Games Isthmian Games Agon Panathenaic Games Rhieia Festivals/feasts Actia Adonia Agrionia Amphidromia Anthesteria Apellai Apaturia Aphrodisia Arrhephoria Ascolia Bendidia Boedromia Brauronia Buphonia Chalceia Diasia Delphinia Dionysia Ecdysia Elaphebolia Gamelia Haloa Heracleia Hermaea Hieromenia Iolaia Kronia Lenaia Lykaia Metageitnia Munichia Oschophoria Pamboeotia Pandia Plynteria Pyanopsia Skira Synoikia Soteria Tauropolia Thargelia Theseia Thesmophoria Vessels Argo Phaeacian ships Modern offshoot religions Discordianism Gaianism Feraferia Hellenism Modern popular culture Greek mythology in popular culture Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phlegethon&oldid=1001899399" Categories: Rivers of Hades Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2013 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Български Bosanski Català Čeština Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Latina Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 21 January 2021, at 22:08 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement