'Underworld' at the Getty Villa

“Underworld: Imagining the Afterlife,” is an exhibit on view at the Getty Villa in Malibu through March 18. One of the masterpieces is a Colossal krater from Altamura, Italy, dated about 350 B.C. The krater is almost 6 feet tall and would have been made for a high status member of society. The exhibit provides a lens into the Underworld during that period of history.

Grave relief fragment with Danaids, Persephone and Hades, Hermes and Herakles, late 4th century B.C. Gold burial offerings were intended to help the deceased navigate the afterlife.

Storage Jar with Sisyphus and the Uninitiated, about 525 BC

Orpheus emerges as a central figure. Orpheus traveled to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice. The quest did not turn out well for Orpheus, but he returned from the Underworld, a feat that made him a hero of the afterlife.

Weeping Siren, about 350 - 325 B.C.