Underworld goddesses

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: Dēmḗtēr ; Doric: Dāmā́tēr) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo ( Dēṓ).

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore () or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who later took her into marriage. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her cyclical return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, remain hidden for a period, sprout from the earth, a

, often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () and the (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings (the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm-god Susanoo) she ranks as one of the "Three Precious Children" (, ), the three most important offspring of

In Greek mythology, Nyx (; ) is the goddess and personification of the night. In Hesiod's Theogony, she is the offspring of Chaos, and the mother of Aether (Upper Sky) and Hemera (Day) by Erebus (Darkness). By herself, she produces a brood of children which are mainly personifications of primarily negative forces. She features in a number of early cosmogonies, which place her as one of the first deities to exist. In the works of poets and playwrights, she lives at the ends of the Earth, and is often described as a black-robed goddess who drives through the sky in a chariot pulled by horses. In

Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associated with crossroads, night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon. Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. She had popular followings among the witches of Thessaly, and an important sanctuary among the Carians of Asia Minor in Lagina. The earlies

In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the mother of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia. She sided with Zeus in his war against the Titans, and because of this, to honor her, Zeus decreed that the solemn oaths of the gods be sworn by the water of Styx.

thumb|upright=1.2|Clytemnestra tries to awaken the sleeping Erinyes. Detail from an [[Apulian red-figure bell-krater, 380–370 BC.]]

goddess of the underworld in Norse mythology

Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of the Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in a temple atop Rome's Aventine Hill, which she shared with the grain-goddess Ceres and the wine god Liber (Liber Pater).

Ammit (; , "Devourer of the Dead"; also rendered Ammut or Ahemait) was an ancient Egyptian goddess with the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the head of a crocodile—the three largest "man-eating" animals known to ancient Egyptians. In ancient Egyptian religion, Ammit played an important role during the funerary ritual, the Judgment of the Dead.

In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲 [EREŠ.KI.GAL]), lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian mythology. In later myths, she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal. Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to the way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler, and sometimes it is given as Ninkigal, lit. "Lady of the Great Earth”.

, formally referred to with the honorific , is the creator of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanami and Izanagi are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the storm god Susanoo. In mythology, she is the direct ancestor of the Japanese imperial family. In Shinto and Japane

River goddess of life in Hinduism

babylonian goddess

Inuit goddess

Mexican cult image, female deity, and folk saint

Geshtinanna was a Mesopotamian goddess best known due to her role in myths about the death of Dumuzi, her brother. It is not certain what functions she fulfilled in the Mesopotamian pantheon, though her association with the scribal arts and dream interpretation is well attested. She could serve as a scribe in the underworld, where according to the myth ''Inanna's Descent'' she had to reside for a half of each year in place of her brother.

In Roman mythology, Laverna was a goddess of gain or profit and the underworld, who became associated with the protection of lower classes, refugees, and plans developed by thieves. She was propitiated by libations poured with the left hand. The poet Horace and the playwright Plautus called her a goddess of thieves. In Rome, her sanctuary was near the Porta Lavernalis, the gate on the northern summit of the Aventine Hill.

thumb|Vanth in a fresco in an Etruscan tomb in Tarquinia Vanth is a chthonic figure in Etruscan mythology shown in a variety of forms of funerary art, such as in tomb paintings and on sarcophagi.

thumb|Bronze tablet (3rd century AD) from Pergamon invoking Melinoë along with Persephone and Leucophryne; the three goddesses pictured are labeled as Dione, Phoebe, and Nyche

Mictēcacihuātl (, meaning "Lady of the Dead"), in Aztec mythology, is a death deity and consort of Mictlāntēcutli, god of the dead and ruler of Mictlān, the lowest level of the underworld.

Etruscan goddess of the dead

right|thumb|220px|Map showing the location of inscriptions to this goddess, under various spellings. thumb|Figurine dating from the 2nd or 3rd century A. D. found in Stuttgart, Germany Erecura or Aerecura (also found as Herecura or Eracura) was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be Celtic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of Proserpina and associated with the Roman underworld god Dis Pater, as on an altar from Sulzbach. She appears with Dis Pater in a statue found at Oberseebach, Switzerland, and in several magical texts from Austria, once in the company of

Tuonetar () is the Queen of the Underworld in Finnish mythology.

thumb|upright|Illustration of Clíodhna in R.D. Joyce's Ballads of Irish Chivalry (1872) In Irish mythology, Clíodhna (Clídna, Clionadh, Clíodna, Clíona, transliterated to Cleena in English) is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Clíodna of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sióga (fairies) of South Munster, or Desmond.

Hušbišag or Hushbishag () is a Sumerian netherworld goddess. She is the wife of Namtar and mother of Hemdikug, a daughter.

female divine entity in Zoroastrianism

In Norse mythology, Móðguðr (Old Norse: , "Furious Battler"; also Modgud) refers to the female guardian (tutelary deity) of the bridge over the river Gjöll ("Noisy"), Gjallarbrú. She allowed the newly dead to use the bridge to cross from one side of the river Gjöll to the other if the soul stated their name and business and possibly in turn prevented the dead beyond the river from crossing back over Gjöll into the lands of the living.

thumb|Māui attempting to enter Hine-nui-te-pō. Carving by Tene Waitere in the meeting house Rauru (opened in 1900). thumb|Hinenuitepo meeting house at Te Whaiti in 1930

Ordinani deity

Allani, also known under the Akkadian name Allatu (or Allatum), was the Hurrian goddess of the underworld. She was also associated with the determination of fate. She was closely linked with Išḫara, and they could be invoked or receive offerings together. She also developed connection with other underworld deities from neighboring cultures, such as Mesopotamian Ereshkigal (who eventually came to be equated with her), Anatolian Sun goddess of the Earth and Lelwani, and possibly Ugaritic Arsay. It is presumed she was chiefly worshiped in western areas inhabited by the Hurrians, though the locati

Spandaramet () or Sandaramet (Սանդարամետ) was the Armenian name of the Zoroastrian yazata (angelic divinity) Spenta Armaiti, one of the six Amesha Spentas, and the guardian of the earth.

Belet-Seri was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as a scribe in the court of the underworld goddess Ereshkigal. She could be regarded as the Akkadian counterpart of Sumerian Geshtinanna, but the name could also function as a title of Ašratum, the wife of Amurru, or as a fully independent deity.

goddess in Finnish folklore

Nungal ( dNun-gal, "great princess"), also known as Manungal and possibly Bēlet-balāṭi, was the Mesopotamian goddess of prisons, sometimes also associated with the underworld. She was worshiped especially in the Ur III period in cities such as Nippur, Lagash and Ur.

deity in Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus and Hera

Išḫara was a goddess originally worshipped in Ebla and other nearby settlements in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. The origin of her name is disputed, and due to lack of evidence supporting Hurrian or Semitic etymologies it is sometimes assumed it might have originated in a linguistic substrate. In Ebla, she was considered the tutelary goddess of the royal family. An association between her and the city is preserved in a number of later sources from other sites as well. She was also associated with love, and in that role is attested further east in Mesopotamia as well. M

Lelwani or Leluwani was a Hittite deity of the underworld of Hattic origin. While originally regarded as male and addressed as a "king," due to influence of Hurrian beliefs on the Hittites, Lelwani started to be viewed as female in later periods.

In Etruscan mythology, Persipnei or Phersipnai (later Ferspnai) was the queen of the underworld and equivalent to the Greek goddess Persephone and Roman Proserpina. Persipnei was the consort of the divine ruler of the underworld, Aita. Together, both of these deities ruled the Etruscan underworld, which was guarded by Mantus and Mania. Indeed, her name was borrowed by the Etruscans from the Greeks.

In Greek mythology, the Arae (; ) were female spirits of curses, particularly of the curses placed by the dead upon those guilty of their death; they were associated with the underworld. They can also curse men such that the cattle of the sun god Helios would have done if they were harmed by any man, as in Homer's Odyssey.

Mamitu (Mammitum, Mammitu, Mammi) was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with the underworld. She was regarded as the wife of Nergal, or sometimes of other gods regarded as analogous to him, such as Erra. Her importance in Mesopotamian religion was minor, and she was most likely worshiped primarily in Kutha, though attestations are available from other cities too. It is possible that she was a forerunner of the Mandean Amamit.

In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Enodia, also spelled Ennodia and Einodia (; ) is a distinctly Thessalian goddess, identified in certain areas or by certain ancient writers with Artemis, Hecate or Persephone. She was paired with Zeus in cult and sometimes shared sanctuaries with him. Enodia was primarily worshipped in Ancient Thessaly and was well known in Hellenistic Macedonia.

Dimmeku (also read as Dimpimeku), Dimku or Ḫedimku was a Mesopotamian goddess or demon associated with the underworld. From the Old Babylonian period on she was associated with Namtar, and in the god list An = Anum she appears as his daughter. It has been suggested that the similarly named Ḫedimmeku, who is attested in the same source as a daughter of Enki, was identical with her, though this conclusion is not universally accepted.