Psyche's Journey to the Underworld

Auster held Psyche close to him. "Hold on tightly," he told her as he flew swiftly above the clouds.

"Why are you flying so fast and so high?" Psyche wanted to know, remembering the slow, leisurely flights she had taken with Favonius.

"If I were to fly this fast below the clouds, I would destroy the dwellings and palaces of mortals. And my brothers and I honor the others' realms and use our destructive powers only within our own realms.

"The other reason I must move swiftly is because we have far to go. Taenarus is at the very edge of the southern realm. Beyond it there is only cold and snow and ice."

Psyche remembered that when she was a child, travelers had come to the palace and told stories about other lands. There was one place in particular where it was always cold and the earth was covered with something one traveler had called snow and ice. Psyche had thought the traveler made up the story to gain favor with her father, who had been known to reward handsomely those whose tales he especially enjoyed.

She wanted to ask Auster if he could fly over this landscape where neither dirt nor plant existed, but she did not want to get distracted. Aquilo had given her very detailed instructions as to what she should and should not do, what she should and should not say in the underworld. She would better use the time of the flight to go over everything one more time. There was no room for failure. If a mortal entered the realm of the dead and erred in the slightest, he would remain there forever, a living being among the countless shadows, which was all that remained of the dead. And this time she knew that no one would come to rescue her. She was on her own.

Psyche did not know how long they flew, but she noticed when Auster began descending.

"Are we getting close?"

"Yes."

"I can't see anything. It's like we're flying inside a cloud."

"Taenarus is always shrouded in fog," he told her. "It is from the vapors rising from the entrance hole to Pluto's realm. But hold on tight. I'll see what I can do."

Psyche had barely tightened her grip when Auster began turning in wide circles, faster than he had flown before, so fast that Psyche had to close her eyes to keep from getting dizzy.

"There!" he called out.

Psyche opened her eyes. The fog had not dissipated entirely but was much thinner now, and she saw a long piece of land jutting out into a sea as gray as sorrow.

"Is that it?" she shouted to Auster.

"Yes. That is Taenarus."

"Does anyone live there?"

"No one. The land is very rocky. But even if it were not, who would want to live in this place and, day after day, watch the shadows of those who have just died go into the hole with a sadness only the dead can know?"

Coming from a land where the sunlight seemed to dance with the blue waves of the sea, Psyche never imagined that a place so desolate could exist. The ground was covered with stones and boulders, but at the very edge of the peninsula, where its tip extended into the sea, she made out a large hole out of which smoke came steadily in a quiet, thin stream.

"Is-is that the way to the underworld?" she asked, shuddering as she pointed at the hole.

"It is," Auster replied solemnly.

Psyche turned her head away, not wanting to look, but in doing so she saw a procession of people walking along the rocky shore and toward the peninsula. Slowly she realized that these were not people. They were shadows, long and dark like the shadows cast by the sun, except these shadows were upright, shoulders bowed and bodies slumped.

As Auster flew lower, Psyche heard moans coming from the shadows.

"Are those—?"

"The dead," Auster replied, knowing what she was asking.

"Why are they moaning like that?"

"They moan because they are dead."

"But I thought when you were dead it was like being asleep except you could never wake up."

"No. The dead live but without any of the joys of the living. Death is an eternity of sadness."

Psyche blanched as she thought about the times recently when she had wanted to kill herself.

"You must be careful of the shadows. They are waiting for Mercury to take them to the ferry. He does not like this part of his job, but the shadows do tell him all kinds of interesting gossip. And they will seek to entice you with their words. Do not listen. They want nothing more than to persuade you to change places with them. When someone takes his own life, it is because a shadow persuaded him to change places."
Psyche gulped. "I'll not let that happen."

"I hope not, dear Psyche. All the deities are on your side, you know."

"I didn't know. Juno and Ceres did not act like it when I appealed to them for help."

"That does not mean that you do not have their sympathies. You do."

Auster set her down gently a short distance from the hole that led to the underworld.

"Well, here you are," he said. "Remember all that Aquilo told you. If you do, everything will turn out well. You have the two pieces of bread soaked in honey water?"

"Yes."

"And the two coins?"

She pulled them from her pocket.

"Put them in your mouth. That is where Charon will take them from."

Psyche smiled at Auster's concern. "Do not fear. I remember everything

I was told. I will be all right."

"Well, then, I will let you go. I will be waiting to return you to Olympus. In fact, all four of us will accompany you in a triumphal return."

"Thank you, Auster."

Psyche felt rather than saw Auster leave. Then she took a deep breath and turned toward the gaping hole from which wispy smoke came. As she made her way slowly over the sharp stones, she realized that she was not afraid, because she knew what was going to happen. She would bring Venus her box of beauty, and then, if the goddess would not relent, Jupiter would make her

And with that thought, Psyche saw that she had arrived at the hole, and without hesitating, she entered the underworld.

Chapter end