Dialogues of the dead or moral dialogues Lucian’s commentaries and chapter 30 of Pantagruel

If the humanist editions of Lucian and the associated commentaries interpret his writings on the Underworld as an initiation into Christian life and death, Rabelais’s fiction takes a completely different path. In chapter XXX of Pantagruel, Rabelais takes elements from Lucian (such as the exuberant mourning and the absurd torment) but combines them with parodies of the Bible and ecclesiastical speeches that question any moral utility of the Underworld—whether the ancient or Christian version.