katabasis

[ kuh-tab-uh-sis ]

noun

, plural ka·tab·a·ses [k, uh, -, tab, -, uh, -seez].

1. a march from the interior of a country to the coast, as that of the 10,000 Greeks after their defeat and the death of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa.
2. a retreat, especially a military retreat.

katabasis

/ kəˈtæbəsɪs /

noun

1. the retreat of the Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger, after his death at Cunaxa, from the Euphrates to the Black Sea in 401–400 bc under the leadership of Xenophon: recounted in his Anabasis Compare anabasis
2. literary.
   a retreat

Word History and Origins

Origin of katabasis¹

1830–40; < Greek katábasis a going down, descent, equivalent to kataba- (stem of katabaínein to go down) + -sis -sis. See kata-, basis

Word History and Origins

Origin of katabasis¹

C19: from Greek: a going down, from katabainein to go down

Example Sentences

Crawled and clawed her way out of the Katabasis to embark, from the city of stars no less, on her own hero’s journey.

From Los Angeles Times

This week’s poem begins its difficult katabasis by way of an immunological metaphor.

From The Guardian

In Greek mythology tales of haunting journeys down the rivers of the dead are sufficiently common that they have their own collective noun: katabasis.

From The Guardian

Postponed because of the November wildfires, Four Larks’ “Katabasis” is finally up and running.

From Los Angeles Times

Guided by the ensemble, they will travel through a modern spin on the ancient conception of the afterlife — a “katabasis” is a descent into the underworld — and witness Sisyphus rolling his boulder up a hill, Tantalus and other figures springing to life from the exhibition.

From Los Angeles Times