The Descent of Ishtar Into Hades
Ishtar was the Babylonian Venus or goddess of love. The story of her descent to Hades and return to the world of the living is found on a tablet now in the British Museum, and is perhaps the most 
poetical legend of the recovered Assyrian literature.
It has been suggested that the story is the text of a religious drama, resembling the miracle-plays of mediaeval Europe. The legend shows no reason for Ishtar’s desire to enter Hades, but it is easy to suppose that she went thither to rescue some beloved person.
This supplies a connection with the familiar story of Venus and Adonis (or Tammuz), which the Greek writers declare to be of Syrian origin. The drama, if such it were, was probably part of the annual celebration of the return of Spring. Ninkigal, the Queen of Hades, corresponds to the Greek Persephone, and Latin Proserpina, the wife of Pluto. In like manner, Hea, the king of the gods, corresponds to Zeus or Jupiter, and the divine messenger to Hermes or Mercury. (more…)
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