In Greek mythology, Cocytus was one of the rivers of Hades, the underworld. Cocytus was the most desolate area of Hades: its name means 'river of lamentation' or 'river of tears', and its banks were populated by the wandering souls of the unburied dead.[1]
In Dante's Inferno, Cocytus is a frozen lake at the centre of the earth, which forms the ninth and lowest circle of Hell. Traitors are punished by being frozen in the lake, some contorted into unnatural positions, and Satan himself is trapped at its centre, his constant tears freezing as they add to his icy prison.
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