The Big Lebowski is a story about The Dude as Dante, taking a tour through Hades.

The Stranger is Virgil, narrating the story of Hades and its residents.

Walter is Charon, the ferryman. When the Dude picks up Walter, Walter immediately insists on driving. Walter driving the Dude's car over the wooden bridge represents Charon ferrying a soul across the river Styx. The money-filled briefcase the Dude gives Walter represents the ferryman’s toll. When the briefcase is stolen, Walter leads the efforts and search to retrieve it. Walter also arranges and pays for Donny's cremation, and scatters Donny's ashes at Oceanus: Charon delivers souls from the land of the living to the land of the dead.

Uli and the Nihilists are Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance and exit to Hades. When the Nihilists visit The Dude in the bathtub, the camera shot is angled so they appear to have three heads. After Walter throws the ringer off the bridge and the nihilists speed off on their motorcycles, the revving engines sound like growling, howling dogs. When the briefcase is stolen and the money is revealed to have never existed, Charon has been denied his payment, so Walter escorts the Dude back to the land of the living and is confronted by Cereberus.

Bunny is a Siren. Bunny is repeatedly shown next to water: the Dude first meets Bunny at the pool, and later watches her in Logjammin' with Sherri, another Siren who "just came over to use the shower.” Later, Bunny crashes her car into the fountain after “visiting friends in Palm Springs.”

Maude is Melinoë, the bringer of nightmares and madness. Maude appears in both of The Dude's dreams and hallucinations. In the Dude’s first dream, the Dude chases Maude while flying, but the dream becomes a nighmare about falling. The Dude's second dream also features Maude and ends with a terrifying nightmare. Melinoë is a moon nymph, so Maude always appears at night, in dim light or shade, or in The Dude's dreams.

Jackie Treehorn is Hades; his thugs are Thatanos and Hypnos. The Dude meets Jackie at his beach party with a fire in the background; the beach and crashing waves represent Oceanus, the border between the lands of the living and the dead. Jackie's house is a cave-like dwelling, where Jackie puts The Dude to sleep.

Another possibility is The Big Lebowski is Hades, since Melinoë (Maude) is his daughter. Bunny could be Persephone, the consort of Hades, but… aw hell, I'm ramblin' again. A wiser fella than myself can and should write more about the connections between The Big Lebowski and Greek underworld mythology. But it’s a pretty good theory, don’tcha think? Well, thatabout wraps ‘er up. Catchya later on down the trail.