InGreek mythology,Acherusia (Ancient Greek:Ἀχερουσία λίμνη,romanized: Akherousía límnē orἈχερουσίς,Akherousís) was a name given by the ancients to several lakes orswamps, which, like the various rivers calledAcheron, were at some time believed to be connected with theunderworld, until at last the Acherusia came to be considered to be in the lower world itself.
The lake to which this belief seems to have been first attached was the Acherusia inThesprotia, through which the river Acheron flowed.[1] Other lakes or swamps of the same name, and believed to be in connection with the lower world, were nearHermione inArgolis,[2] nearHeraclea in Bithynia,[3] betweenCumae and capeMisenum inCampania,[4] and lastly in Egypt, nearMemphis.[5]
In Greek mythology, it was also the name of acavern through whichHeracles draggedCerberus as one of hisTwelve Labors.
In Plato'sPhaedo, souls are divided into four different categories. Evil souls are sent toTartarus; good souls are sent onward to pure places of the world; but neutral souls as well as repentant people who performed great crimes are not immediately sent to their next realm. Neutral souls are cleansed in the Acherusian Lake before proceeding onward, similar to good souls but slower. People who committed great evil yet were repentant can hope their victims invite them into Acherusia where they can undergo the cleansing process.[6]
Early Christianity adopted various terms and concepts from Greek mythology, especially among Greek pagans who converted toPauline Christianity, including the Acherusian Lake,Elysian Fields, andHades. The early Greek Christian view seem especially influenced by the fate of the 4th group described by Plato, with Acherusia a place for repentant sinners to be cleansed, possibly at the invitation of those whom they wronged. The 2nd centuryApocalypse of Peter describes howprayers for the dead by saints in heaven would move God to give a post-mortembaptism or washing of damned souls in hell in the Acherusian Lake, allowing them intoparadise after a period of cleansing suffering. The account in the Apocalypse of Peter is quoted in theSibylline Oracles and several other works. In the 4th centuryApocalypse of Paul, thearchangel Michael washes souls in the Acherusian Lake before their entry into the City of Christ in Paradise. The 3rd to 5th centuryApocalypse of Moses features a story whereAdam is washed in the Acherusian Lake before being brought to converse with God, presumably to ensure his ritual purity. TheBook of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by Bartholomew the Apostle, an 8th-9th century work, features a tour of the afterlife; after the narrator passes through theriver of fire (which does not actually harm the godly, for whom it seems like a normal river of water), the angelMichael washes him three times in the Acherusian Lake before proceeding deeper into heaven.[6]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Acherusia".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.