# [[Katabasis]]
![[Katabasis.svg]]
Katabasis is from the Greek κατάβασις and means "descent" (literally "going down"). More than the literal act of descending, though, it represents an internal or spiritual journey into the depths.
As a [[Forms|form]] of story, a katabasis often involves:
- A perilous journey into the underworld
- Coming face to face with one's mortality
- Saving a soul that was prematurely taken from the world of the living
- A confrontation of fears
- Being changed when the hero returns or ascends ([[Anabasis]])
## Similar themes
- A katabasis can involve delving into the depths of one's [[Unconscious]] in the [[Carl Jung|Jungian]] sense, confronting one's [[Shadow|Shadow self]] until [[Shadow integration|integration]] can occur
- [[Orphism]] is a philosophical tradition that emphasises that the body is a prison for the soul, and it's only by journeying into the underworld that we can truly confront metaphysical truths about ourselves.
- In [[Stoicism]], katabasis is similar to the deliberate confrontation of one's fear and impermanence in the world.
- [[Nietzsche]] sees the descent into the abyss as necessary for overcoming the ego.
- [[Nishitani Keiji]]'s concept of [[Nihilism]] involves a state of accepting [[The Great Doubt]] before one can be reforged anew.
## Stories that involve Katabasis
- The book [[readwise/Books/Katabasis|Katabasis]] by [[R F Luang]] has the heroine Magician descending into Hell to retrieve her dead adviser and is based on [[Dante]]'s [[Inferno]], another katabasis story.
- In the video game [[Baldur's Gate 3]], [[Karlach]]'s return to [[Avernus]] requires her to confront her past. The [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]] adventure *Descent into Avernus* is also a related katabasis.
- The video game [[Spiritfarer]] involves the heroine taking the role of [[Charon]] and ferrying spirits across the river [[Styx]] while helping them come to terms with the end of their lives, as well as going through her own personal katabasis.
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