Texts in Conversation
In Plato’s Phaedo, the souls of the dead travel to the Acherusian Lake for purification. The Apocalypse of Peter borrows this Greek topography, locating the salvation of the elect in the field of Akrosja, the Acherusian Lake.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Plato Phaedo 1:1
The Last Hours Of Socrates
Classical
Now these rivers are many, and mighty, and diverse, and there are four principal ones, of which the greatest and outermost is that called Oceanus, which flows round the earth in a circle; and in the opposite direction flows Acheron, which passes under the earth through desert places into the Acherusian lake: this is the lake to the shores of which the souls of the many go when they are dead, and after waiting an appointed time, which is to some a longer and to some a shorter time, they are sent back to be born again as animals. The third river passes out between the two, and near the place of outlet pours into a vast region of fire, and forms a lake larger than the Mediterranean Sea, boiling with water and mud; and proceeding muddy and turbid, and winding about the earth, comes, among other places, to the extremities of the Acherusian Lake, but mingles not with the waters of the lake, and after making many coils about the earth plunges into Tartarus at a deeper level. This is that Pyriphlegethon, as the stream is called, which throws up jets of fire in different parts of the earth. The fourth river goes out on the opposite side, and falls first of all into a wild and savage region, which is all of a dark-blue colour, like lapis lazuli; and this is that river which is called the Stygian river, and falls into and forms the Lake Styx, and after falling into the lake and receiving strange powers in the waters, passes under the earth, winding round in the opposite direction, and comes near the Acherusian lake from the opposite side to Pyriphlegethon. And the water of this river too mingles with no other, but flows round in a circle and falls into Tartarus over against Pyriphlegethon; and the name of the river, as the poets say, is Cocytus.
Date: 400 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Apocalypse of Peter 1:47
Revelation of Peter
Early Christian
46 And all those who are in torment will say with one voice: Have mercy on us, for now we know the judgment of God, which he declared to us beforehand, and we did not believe. And the angel Tatirokos will come and chastise them with yet greater torment, and say to them: Now you repent, when it is no longer the time for repentance, and nothing of life remains. And they will say: The judgment of God is righteous, for we have heard and perceived that his judgment is good; for we are repaid according to our deeds. 47 Then I will give my elect and righteous the washing and the salvation for which they have asked me, in the field of Akrosja, which is called Aneslasleja. They will adorn with flowers the portion of the righteous, and I will go and rejoice with them. I will cause the peoples to enter into my everlasting kingdom, and show them the eternal life on which I have made them set their hope — even I and my Father who is in heaven. 48 I have spoken this to you, Peter, and declared it to you. Go forth therefore and go to the city of the west, and enter into the vineyard which I will tell you of, so that by the sufferings of the Son who is without sin the deeds of corruption may be sanctified. As for you, you are chosen according to the promise I have given you. Spread my gospel therefore throughout all the world in peace. Truly people will rejoice: my words will be the source of hope and of life, and suddenly the world will be carried away.
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Notes and References
... Those for whom the intercessions are made are granted forgiveness and subsequent baptism for redemption in the Acherusian Lake. At this point, the Greek ideas about the afterlife are adapted in Christian eschatology. Baptism in a lake in the underworld is mentioned for the first time in Christian literature. The river Acheron flows under the earth into the Acherusian Lake, where, according to the Platonic Phaedo, the souls of most of the deceased go. In this lake, souls are purified and punished for their wrongs. The punished souls can escape the lake if they receive forgiveness from those they have wronged. In the Apocalypse of Peter, the Elysian Field is located near the Acherusian Lake, as confirmed by the second book of the Oracula Sibyllina, which takes this idea from our apocalypse. The Apocalypse of Peter adopts the motif of the Elysian Fields to illustrate the hope of a blissful afterlife for the redeemed. ...
Kiel, Nikolai
The Apocalypse of Peter as the Origin of the Christian Hell. Sense and Purpose of the Afterlife Punishment in Fire
(pp. 53-55) De Gruyter, 2024
* 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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