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I have just read the myth of Orpheus here. The writer used the underworld and the Underworld alternatively - not to mention the upper world and the Upper World - which made me wonder which would be more appropriate to use.

I am editing some texts concerning the myth - the reason I should be consistent - and so wanted to hear from you.

JJJ
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hjjg200
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  • It looks like the writer has simply been lazy. – Mick Dec 26 '16 at 09:09
  • I think it's an inconsistency issue. But like I said in the comment below the first answer to this question, the Underworld is a specific place. Like Mecca or The Holy Land or Hell (which is written as a proper noun in Christian theology). One might talk about the physics of the universe, but then use it as a proper noun when philosophizing, speaking about Universal love. Collective Consciousness. The difference between he, the mortal, and He, the God. – Christopher Issac Apr 28 '18 at 04:48

3 Answers3

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Since it IS a name of a place, it is a proper noun, and therefore should be capitalized.

Ivan Weber
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  • How do you explain the use of the definite article (“the”), then? Why do you say that “the underworld” is a proper noun when “the basement” and “the world” are not? – Scott - Слава Україні Feb 26 '18 at 22:23
  • @Scott - Because the Underworld is a specific place. Like Mecca or The Holy Land or Hell (which is written as a proper noun in Christian theology). – Christopher Issac Apr 28 '18 at 04:44
  • I can’t recall hearing anybody referring to “the Mecca” or “the Hell”. Maybe “the hell”, using it as a generic word (e.g., “We all end in the hell of our own choosing.”) or as an exclamation (“what the hell?”). – Scott - Слава Україні Apr 28 '18 at 05:13
  • @Scott There are plenty of names and proper nouns which are used with definite articles (The Bronx, The Bahamas, the United States, the Ukraine, the Appalachians, the Wild West, the North Pole, etc.). The presence of a definite article says little to nothing about whether something is a proper noun or not. I would disagree that the U/underworld is necessarily the name of a place—it’s a descriptor of a place, not its actual name (that would be Hades or one of the many other names it has)—but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be capitalised either (the Holy Land is also a descriptor). – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jun 16 '18 at 09:39
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I think that this should not be capitalized. If the proper name was “Underworld” (like Hell, or Hades, or Land of the Dead) it would be capitalized, but then you wouldn’t need “the.” So “the underworld” is more of a generic or non-specific term than a proper place name.

EDN
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As far as I can tell, either would be fine.

The Google Ngram Viewer shows the following frequencies for "the underworld" and "the Underworld":

enter image description here

Lowercase is more common overall. Now, that's not taking context into account. I would imagine that "the underworld" would be very strongly preferred in contexts like "the underworld of crime" or "the underworld of the city", but it may be less strongly preferred in other contexts.

Another Ngram Viewer chart that seems relevant:

enter image description here

This should exclude examples where "the underworld of..." is used. It still looks like lowercase ("the underworld") is more common in this context, so I'd say that is an acceptable choice. But I would say that the uppercase variant "the Underworld", although apparently less common, seems frequent enough to also be an acceptable choice.

Related: Shouldn’t “Heaven” and “Hell” be capitalized, as they are the names of places? and Should “Hell” be capitalized?; also more distantly What is the correct capitalization of the words earth and moon? and Capitalization of the word universe

herisson
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