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Enoch’s journey in 1 Enoch is patterned after Greek mythology, where a hero visits the underworld and sees disobedient divine beings punished. In the Odyssey, Odysseus sees Tityos, Tantalus, and Sisyphus punished, and Enoch follows a similar pattern.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Homer, Odyssey 11.576
Classical
575 and in his hands he held a club all of bronze, ever unbroken. “And I saw Tityos, son of glorious Gaea, lying on the ground. Over nine roods he stretched, and two vultures sat, one on either side, and tore his liver, plunging their beaks into his bowels, nor could he beat them off with his hands. 580 For he had offered violence to Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus, as she went toward Pytho through Panopeus with its lovely lawns. “Yes, and I saw Tantalus in violent torment, standing in a pool, and the water came near to his chin. He seemed like one thirsty, but could not take and drink; 585 for as often as that old man stooped down, eager to drink, so often would the water be swallowed up and vanish away, and at his feet the black earth would appear, for some god made all dry. And trees, high and leafy, let their fruits stream above his head, pears, and pomegranates, and apple trees with their bright fruit, 590 and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives. But as often as that old man would reach out toward these, to clutch them with his hands, the wind would toss them to the shadowy clouds. “Yes, and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. 595 Truly he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat 600 flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head. “And after him I marked the mighty Heracles—his phantom; for he himself among the immortal gods takes his joy in the feast, and has as his wife Hebe, of the fair ankles, daughter of great Zeus and of Hera, of the golden sandals.
Date: 725 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Enoch 18:13
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 And I saw a flaming fire. 10 And beyond these mountains is a region at the end of the great earth: there the heavens were completed. 11 And I saw a deep abyss, with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike in height and depth. 12 And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no dome of heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it; there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. 13 I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired about them, 14 The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth; this has become a prison for the stars and the army of heaven. 15 And the stars which roll over the fire are those which have transgressed the command of the Lord at the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Glasson’s reference to the Greek Nekyia appears to offer the best available model for Enoch’s journey. The earliest extant example of such a journey to the underworld occurs in book 11 of the Odyssey. Odysseus’s journey to Hades serves a complex literary function in that book. In any event, after he has arrived in Hades in search of an oracle and has visited with the many dignitaries, he views the punishment being meted out to Tityos, Tantalos, and Sisyphus (11.576–600). In other examples of the Nekyia, a similar vision of postmortem punishments is an essential component. In Plato’s myth of Er, the fallen warrior visits the place of judgment and sees the punishment of the wicked. He is allowed this vision so that he can return to earth and tell what he saw (Resp. 10.614–21). Plato’s description of Tartaros in Phaedo 113D–114C appears to presume a similar vision ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 280.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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