This paper seeks to interpret the foundational Modernist novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad through a set of ideas existing in and arguably creating Modernism as it is known: the mythology of water as the fundamental but fickle fluid Other subsisting at the basic level of the world and giving life to it while constantly needing to be controlled and tamed by a superior civilizing force, which is a mesmerizing narrative that lends itself all too easily to colo- nialist abuses. This mythology of water has at its core the story of katabasis/nekyia, a symbolic night journey over water deriving from ancient imaginaries, leading into Hell and back. The journey begins with exile from the rational, stable civilized world, and descent into the irrational, chaotic, watery depths of the unconscious and prime matter. In this underwater Hades or Hell, the hero is confronted with the watery beast that is the basis of carnal life at whose hands he suf- fers a symbolic death, which leads to a rebirth. The beast is often a guardian of precious life-giv- ing treasure, and the victorious hero is allowed to take the spoils with him back to the surface.