o mundo das sombras na poesia latina

The supposltion that the life of the soul goes after the death of the body gives origins to myths trying to outline the abode of splrits. As it occurs in all civilizations, we aiso flnd the myth of hell among the anclent Romans. In spite of being an aiien myth it was extensively used in the wrltlngs of Latin authors. We compare the chlef texts whlch present the  myth of hel and emphaslze the description found in the sixth book of the Aeneid. We attempt to detect orlglnallty of Vlrgll, maklng a comparison between the Klngdom of the dead in the Aeneld and its maln source: the Homeric hell, found in the eleventh book of the Odyssey. The exlstence of so many dlfferent descriptions of hell in Latin poetry makes us believe that Roman wrlters used such a theme as a stylistic element rather than a true rellglous belief.