Hidden Depths

"All have numerous perforations, and there are passages broad and narrow in the interior of the earth, connecting them with one another; and there flows out of and into them, as into basins, a vast tide of water, and huge subterranean streams of perennial rivers, and springs hot and cold, and a great fire, and great rivers of fire, and streams of liquid mud, thin or thick. [...] And there is a swinging or see-saw in the interior of the earth which moves all this up and down… There is a chasm which is the vastest of them all, and pierces right through the whole earth; this is that chasm which Homer describes in the words, ‘Far off, where is the inmost depth beneath the earth;’ and which he in other places, and many other poets, have called Tartarus. [...] And the reason why the streams are always flowing in and out, is that the watery element has no bed or bottom, but is swinging and surging up and down, and the surrounding wind and air do the same."

- Plato (c.424 - 348 BC)
Phaedo, translated by Benjamin Jowett

Photographer's note. This was captured at Cenote Taak Bi Ha, an underground cave filled with stalactites and crystal-clear water, not far from Tulum (that I posted a few pictures from in an earlier post). While not large (football field sized total area), it is a fun place to snorkel, dive, and (as in my case) just prowl around the (often slippery footpaths) to get different perspectives on a part of Homer's underworld.