Mapping the Afterlife

"Landscapes of the underworld, though imaginary, also stand in definite relation to the real world of the living. This principle - simple in itself, complex in its manifestations - lies at the heart of Emma Gee's fascinating and imaginative Mapping the Afterlife ... The book's title understates its scope and ambition." -- Mark F. McClay, Hillsdale College, ARYS: Antiquity, Religions and Societies "What Gee has done is an impressive and valuable addition to existing scholarship on views of the afterlife. Her effort to map the afterlife in all its complexity and nuance is a valuable model for other scholars, and provides an important guidebook for navigating the foreign terrain of the afterlife." -- Michael Asher Hammett, Columbia University, Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies "This is indeed a fascinating, well-argued study that sheds much light on spaces both well-trod and too rarely interconnected." -- Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "This is an inspiring and unprecedented book. The official topic is the afterlife in the ancient world and beyond, but Emma Gee clearly shows that narratives about the afterlife are ultimately about our self, and the way we perceive and understand the world around us." -- Gabriele Galluzzo, University of Exeter "Gee's exploration of 'the shadowland where science and soul meet' is revelatory, sweeping aside modern myths and explaining ancient ones with erudition and imagination. The precision of her new readings of some of the most studied passages of classical and medieval literature is matched by the extraordinary lucidity of her prose. This is a landmark study." -- Greg Woolf, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London