Zum Hades und darüber hinaus Mythische griechische Vorstellungen zum Weg des Menschen über den Tod ins Jenseits von Homer bis Platon Abstract: Where does a human end up when he dies and how does he do it? Is he at the mercy of his postmortal fate, or is he able to do something to influence this fate, if possible, in a positive way for himself? To these questions, Greek religion and mythology have developed a series of various answers from the first extant texts up to classical times (i.e. the

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... h and 4th centuries BCE). These answers are partly based on ideas from different, older cultures; they become, on the one hand, more elaborate through time and, on the other, they develop the concept of differentiated -meaning: more agreeable and less agreeableareas of the Netherworld. Especially the criteria for the attainment of the more agreeable ones change remarkably throughout this development. This contribution begins with the ideas that are recognisable in the epics of Homer and ends with the imaginative myths about the underworld created by Plato.