land of the afterlife, the land of the dead, place of ancestral memory, balance and justice ruled by Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld.
In various religions, it is a region conceived to be below the surface of the Earth and separate from the world of the living where souls go after death; the world of the dead.
The dark, subterranean world of death into which the hero of the monomyth must descend before he may be reborn. Variations of this quintessentially chthonic episode are found in the stories of Gilgamesh, Demeter and Persephone, Kutoyis, and Jesus, among many others.
The world of the dead, inhabitated by the souls of all deceased people, and ruled by the Keeper. The Underworld has various levels for various types of people. Some people, closer to the top, have more influence on the world of the living, and can be spoken to occaisionally. Others, those who served the Keeper dwell in lower places closer to the inner darkness of the Keeper's lair.
the locale where dead gods and celestial spirits go, entrance is normally controlled by powers from the sphere of Death
(religion) the world of the dead; "he didn't want to go to hell when he died"
(Hades) The Romans believed that when they died their spirit was rowed across the River Styx to Hades (the Underworld) by the ferryman, Charon. The family of the dead person would place a coin under the tongue of the deceased in order to pay Charon. The entrance to Hades was guarded by the three-headed dog Cerebrus. In this gloomy place the spirit was judged and either sent to heaven (Elysium) or hell (Tartarus).
the dangerous world through which a boat carrying the sun god and his companions, including the deceased, must travel every night
The realm or domain beneath the earth where it was/is believed that souls first travel to upon death of the physical body.
the spirit realm of the dead
In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go.