Cocytus

Cocytus, meaning "the river of wailing" (from the Greek κωκυτός, "lamentation"), is a river in the underworld in Greek mythology. The recently deceased who could not pay Charon to ferry them across this river were condemned to wander its banks for one hundred years (according to most accounts). Cocytus flowed into the river Acheron, across which dwelled Hades, the mythological abode of the dead.

There are five rivers encircling Hades. The River Styx is perhaps the most famous; the other rivers are Phlegethon, Lethe, and Eridanos.

The Divine Comedy

Dante's Cocytus, as illustrated by Gustave Doré (1832-1883).

Main article: The Divine Comedy

In Inferno, the first cantica of Dante's The Divine Comedy, Cocytus is the ninth and lowest circle of Hell. Cocytus is referred to as a frozen lake rather than a river, although it originates from the same source as the other infernal rivers. The lake is frozen by the flapping wings of Lucifer, or Satan; his tears replenish the lake, and are then frozen by his attempts to escape via the wings. Dante describes it as being the home of traitors and those who committed acts of complex fraud. It is divided into four descending "rounds," or sections:

• Caina, after the Biblical Cain; traitors to blood relatives.
• Antenora, after Antenor from the Iliad; traitors to country.
• Ptolomea, after Ptolemy, governor of Jericho, who murdered his guests (1 Maccabees); traitors to guests.
• Judecca, after Judas Iscariot; traitors to masters and benefactors.

Lucifer is at the center of the circle, his lower body trapped in ice, and is depicted with three mouths. One mouth gnaws on Brutus and another on Cassius, the leading conspirators against Julius Caesar, and both are chewed feet foremost with their heads protruding. The chewed head of Judas is in the center mouth.

In the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow says, "The deepest circle of hell is reserved for traitors and muitineers."