Greek underworld#Rivers

The deceased could enter the underworld through various routes, but perhaps the most common depiction is that of the ferryman Charon to take them across the river. This was a particularly common motif on Athenian white ground lekythoi (funerary vases) of fifth century BCE and it is difficult to date this figure much earlier than the 6th century BCE (perhaps the latest of Hades' inhabitants to 'appear'). While Charon doesn't feature in the earliest mythical sources, there was still a superstition that the unburied couldn't cross over until they receive a proper burial (the most famous examples being Patroclus and Hector in the Iliad). Alternatively, Hermes Psychopompos could also be relied upon to lead the deceased to the underworld and appears first in Homer's Odyssey book 24 (also a common motif on white ground lekythoi). Hades was well known for its gates (the πύλαι Ἀίδαο: Hom. Il. 5.646, 9.312, 23.71, Od. 14.156), with one of Hades's (the god) epithets being the "gate fastener" (πυλάρτης: Hom. Il. 8.367, 13.415, Od. 11.277).

Rivers are a fundamental part of the topography of the underworld and are found in the earliest source materials:{{Cite book |last=Sourvinou-Inwood |first=Christiane |title='Reading Greek death': To the end of the Classical period |publisher=Clarendon |year=1995 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=61}} In Homer's Iliad, the "ghost" of Patroclus makes specific mention of gates and a river (unnamed) in Hades;Hom. Il. 23.71, 23.74 in Homer's Odyssey, the "ghost" of Odysseus's mother, Anticlea, describes there being many "great rivers and appalling streams", and reference is made to at least four specific rivers.Homer Odyssey 11.157 H. A. Guerber assumed that the rivers where Charon sailed mirrored the sky in Greco-Roman thought.{{Cite book |last=Guerber |first=H. A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27174481 |title=The Myths of Greece & Rome |publisher=Dover |year=1993 |isbn=0-486-27584-1 |edition=Dover |location=New York |pages=362 |oclc=27174481 |author-link=H. A. Guerber}} In the wider mythological tradition, however, there are multiple bodies of water that are associated with the underworld (varying in number and combination depending on the source), the names of which can be understood to reflect specific associations with death.{{cite book |last1=Mirto |first1=Maria Serena |last2=Osborne |first2=A. M. |year=2012 |title=Death in the Greek World: From Homer to the Classical Age |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |page=16}}Heraclitus' Homeric Problems (All.) 74.1-5)

• The Styx can be considered the most prominent and familiar of the underworld rivers. It is the only named underworld river mentioned in Homer's IliadHom. Il. 2.755, 8.369, 14.271, 15.37 – our earliest mythological text – and three of the Homeric Hymns.Demeter 259, 423; Apollo 84-86; Hermes 519 Not only is it an underworld riverOd. 10.514 = Il. 2.755; Il. 8.369 but is also, more generally, the inviolable waters upon which the gods swear oathsOd. 5.184-6 = Il. 15.36; cf. Il. 14.271 and a goddess in her own right (the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys).Hes. Theog. 361, 389-403, 775-776, 782-806 In later traditions it often serves as the entrance to the underworld over which Charon (the ferryman of the dead) rows the deceased in order for them to enter the underworld. It is also known as the river of hatred.{{cite journal|last=Leeming|first=David|title=Styx|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-1497?rskey=rTReql&result=1320&q=|journal=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 December 2012|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001|year=2005|isbn=9780195156690|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal |last=Mackie |first=C. J. |date=1999 |title=Scamander and the Rivers of Hades in Homer |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1561802 |journal=American Journal of Philology |volume=120 |issue=4 |pages=487|doi=10.1353/ajp.1999.0049 |jstor=1561802 |s2cid=162381456 |url-access=subscription }} There are several Styx-es in the real world: according to Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny it was in Arcadia;Hdt 6.74, Strabo 8.8.4, Pliny HN 2.231 while Pausanias locates one in Nonacris.Paus. 8.17.6
• The Acheron is the river of misery or river of woe.{{Cite book |last=Paipetis |first=Stephanos |title=The Unknown Technology in Homer |publisher=Springer |year=2010 |location=The Netherlands |pages=46}} It is mentioned in many early sources of archaic poetry but is less prominent and early than the Styx.e.g., Alc. 38A, Sapph. 95, Pind. Pyth. 11.21, Nem. 4.85, fr. 143, Soph. fr. 523 In some mythological accounts, Charon rows the dead over the Acheron rather than the Styx.{{cite book|last=Buxton|first=R.G.A|title=The Complete World of Greek Mythology|url=https://archive.org/details/completeworldofg00rich|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/completeworldofg00rich/page/209 209]|isbn=9780500251218 }}e.g., Aesch. Sept. 856 In some alternative sources Acheron is a lake (rather than/as well as the river)e.g., Eur. fr. 868 and also functions as a synonym for the underworld.Aesch. Ag. 1160; Pind. Pyth. 11,21 Pausanias describes a river named Acheron in Epirus, Thesprotia, which flows into a swampy-lake and converges with a river Cocytus (like its Homeric counterpart) which Pausanias attributes as the inspiration for Homer's description of the underworld.Paus. 1.17.5 This site is also associated with specific instances of necromantic ritual and/or catabases from the mythic-past.{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Joel |title=A quest for remembrance: The underworld in classical and modern literature |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |editor-last=M. Scherer & R. Falconer |location=New York, NY |pages=46–50 |chapter=Remembering in the real world: Katabasis and natural deathscapes}} Likewise, later traditions note an Acheron river in Cumae, Italy, which was also identified specifically with Odysseus' necromantic/catabatic activity.Lucr. 6.760-764. Sometimes called the Acherusian lake (from the Latin tradition), see Strabo 5.4.4-6
• The Pyriphlegethon/Phlegethon is the river of blazing-fire (Pyriphlegéthōn being from the phrase puri phlegethonti, 'blazing like fire'). It has a single mention in Homer's Odyssey (Pyriphlegéthōn) where it is described as flowing into the river Acheron,Hom. Od. 10.513 and then does not appear again in sources until Plato.Plato Phaedo 113a-b According to Plato, this river leads to the depths of Tartarus and is associated with punishment (in particular, people who hit their fathers and mothers). There was a river/field of this name near Cumae – maintaining its association with 'burning' due to the local hot springsStr. 5.4.5-6; Lucr. 747-748; Diod. Sic. 4.22.1-2; Plin. HN 3.61; Dio Cass. 48.50-51 – which Strabo explicitly associated with the Homeric underworld.Strabo 1.2.18 and 5.4.5 (likely following this earlier Greek historian Ephorus)
• The Cocytus is the river of wailing (from kōkuein, 'to weep, lament'). It too has only a single mention in Homer's Odyssey where it is described as a branch of the Styx that flows into the Acheron. According to Plato, the Cocytus is circular and empties into Tartarus and is associated with the punishment of murderers.Pl. Phd. 113b-c, 114a It is also the name of a river in Thesprotia and Cumae which merges with the Acheron (see above).
• The Lethe is the river of forgetfulness, taking its name from Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion. In later accounts, a poplar branch dripping with water of the Lethe became the symbol of Hypnos, the god of sleep.{{cite web|title=Theoi Project: Lethe|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/PotamosLethe.html|access-date=September 30, 2012}} Some sources reference a plain of Lethe, rather than a river.Plato Republic
• Oceanus is the river that encircles the world,The Iliad and it marks the border of the land of the living and the underworld.The Odyssey

The Asphodel Meadows is the location in the underworld where the majority of the deceased dwell. The name appears as far back as Homer's Odyssey (11.359), where it features in Odysseus' survey of the underworld (technically referred to here as the field of asphodel: ἀσφοδελὸς λειμών). It is unclear exactly what the ancients understood this "field" to be, with scholars divided between either associating it with the flower asphodel (genus, Asphodelus L.) or with a field of ash (basing this on the etymological construction of σφοδελὸς > σποδός, "ash").{{Cite journal |last=Amigues |first=S |date=2002 |title=La "Prairie d'Asphodèle" de l'Odyssée et de l'Hymne homérique à Hermès |journal=Revue de philologie, de littérature et d'histoire anciennes |volume=76 |pages=7–14|doi=10.3917/phil.761.0007 }}{{Cite book |last=Jouanna |first=D |title=Les Grecs aux enfers: d'Homère à Épicure |publisher=Les Belles Lettres |year=2015 |location=Paris, France |pages=50–51}}{{Cite journal |last=Phillips |first=J |date=2012 |title=Asphodel and the Spectral Places |journal=Derrida Today |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=164|doi=10.3366/drt.2012.0037 }}

The Elysium (also referred to as the Elysian Fields) was a utopian, paradisiacal afterlife reserved for specially distinguished individuals. The Elysian Fields are first referenced in Homer's Odyssey Book 4 where Menelaus is promised that he will go there instead of dying (and so distinguishing it from the afterlife proper): it is described as being located at the edges of the earth (the peirata) and is where life is "easiest for men". However, Menelaus does not achieve this fate due to anything he has done during his lifetime but rather because he is Zeus' son-in-law (being married to Helen).Hom. Od. 4.569 In Hesiod's Work and Days, however, this is a paradise that heroes could attain. Eventually, as concepts of the afterlife broadened and became more "democratic", the generally righteous could be sent to the Elysian Fields after being judged by the underworld judges, Rhadamanthus and Minos.Albinus pg.86

By Hesiod's time, the Elysium would also be known as the Fortunate Isles or the Isles of the Blessed.{{Cite book |last=Westmoreland |first=Perry L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8AvHMepO8wC |title=Ancient Greek Beliefs |date=2007 |publisher=Lee And Vance Publishing Co |isbn=978-0-9793248-1-9 |language=en}} The isles, which were sometimes treated as a geographical location on Earth, would become known as a place of reward in the underworld for those who were judged exceptionally pure.{{Cite book |last=Peck |first=Harry Thurston |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RacKAAAAIAAJ |title=Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities |date=1897 |publisher=Harper & brothers |language=en}}Pindar, Olympian Ode 2. 57 ff

In some Greek sources Tartarus is another name for the underworld (serving as a metonym for Hades), while in others it is a completely distinct realm separate from the underworld. Hesiod most famously describes Tartarus as being as far beneath the underworld as the earth is beneath the sky.Buxton pg.213 Like Hades, it too is so dark that the "night is poured around it in three rows like a collar round the neck, while above it grows the roots of the earth and of the unharvested sea."Garland pg.51 The most famous inhabitants of Tartarus are the Titans; Zeus cast the Titans along with his father Cronus into Tartarus after defeating them.Garland pg.50 Homer wrote that Cronus then became the king of Tartarus.Albinus pg.87 According to Plato's Gorgias (c. 400 BC), souls are judged after death and Tartarus is where the wicked received divine punishment. Tartarus is also considered to be a primordial force or deity alongside entities such as the Earth, Night, and Time.

Hades (Aides, Aidoneus, or Haidês), the eldest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea; brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia, is the Greek god of the underworld.{{cite web|title=Theoi Project: Haides|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Haides.html|access-date=December 2, 2012}} When the three brothers divided the world between themselves, Zeus received the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld; the earth itself was divided between the three. Therefore, while Hades' responsibility was in the underworld, he was allowed to have power on earth as well.{{cite book|last=O'Cleirigh|first=Padraig|title=An Introduction to Greek mythology : story, symbols, and culture|year=2000|publisher=Edwin Mellen Press|location=Lewiston, New York|page=190}} However, Hades himself is rarely seen outside his domain, and to those on earth his intentions and personality are a mystery.Mirto pg.21 In art and literature Hades is depicted as stern and dignified, but not as a fierce torturer or devil-like. However, Hades was considered the enemy to all life and was hated by both the gods and men; sacrifices and prayers did not appease him so mortals rarely tried.{{cite book|last=Peck|first=Harry Thurston|title=Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities|year=1897|publisher=Harper|page=761}} He was also not a tormenter of the dead, and sometimes considered the "Zeus of the dead" because he was hospitable to them.Garland pg.52 Due to his role as lord of the underworld and ruler of the dead, he was also known as Zeus Khthonios ("the infernal Zeus" or "Zeus of the lower world"). Those who received punishment in Tartarus were assigned by the other gods seeking vengeance. In Greek society, many viewed Hades as the least liked god and many gods even had an aversion towards him, and when people would sacrifice to Hades, it would be if they wanted revenge on an enemy or something terrible to happen to them.{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/religion/hades.htm |title=Hades |access-date=2012-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924030501/http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/religion/hades.htm |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}

Hades was sometimes referred to as Pluton and was represented in a lighter way – here, he was considered the giver of wealth, since the crops and the blessing of the harvest come from below the earth.Peck pg.761

File:Persephone krater Antikensammlung Berlin 1984.40.jpg: Persephone is abducted by Hades in his chariot. Persephone krater Antikensammlung Berlin 1984.40]]

Persephone (also known as Kore) was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, and Zeus. Persephone was abducted by Hades, who desired a wife. When Persephone was gathering flowers, she was entranced by a narcissus flower planted by Gaia (to lure her to the underworld as a favor to Hades), and when she picked it the earth suddenly opened up.{{cite journal|last=Leeming|first=David|title=Demeter and Persephone|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-407#|journal=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 December 2012|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001|year=2005|isbn=9780195156690|url-access=subscription}} Hades, appearing in a golden chariot, seduced and carried Persephone into the underworld. When Demeter found out that Zeus had given Hades permission to abduct Persephone and take her as a wife, Demeter became enraged at Zeus and stopped growing harvests for the earth. To soothe her, Zeus sent Hermes to the underworld to return Persephone to her mother. However, she had eaten six pomegranate seeds in the underworld and was thus eternally tied to the underworld, since the pomegranate seed was sacred there.{{cite book|last=Pfister|first=F|title=Greek Gods and Heroes|year=1961|publisher=Macgibbon & Kee|location=London|page=86}}

Persephone could then only leave the underworld when the earth was blooming, or every season except the winter. The Homeric Hymns describes the abduction of Persephone by Hades:

{{blockquote|I sing now of the great Demeter

Of the beautiful hair,

And of her daughter Persephone

Of the lovely feet,

Whom Zeus let Hades tear away

From her mother's harvests

And friends and flowers—

Especially the Narcissus,

Grown by Gaia to entice the girl

As a favor to Hades, the gloomy one.

This was the flower that

Left all amazed,

Whose hundred buds made

The sky itself smile.

When the maiden reached out

To pluck such beauty,

The earth opened up

And out burst Hades ...

The son of Kronos,

Who took her by force

On his chariot of gold,

To the place where so many

Long not to go.

Persephone screamed,

She called to her father,

All-powerful and high, ...

But Zeus had allowed this.

He sat in a temple

Hearing nothing at all,

Receiving the sacrifices of

Supplicating men.Leeming, Demeter and Persephone }}

Persephone herself is considered a fitting other half to Hades because of the meaning of her name which bears the Greek root for "killing" and the -phone in her name means "putting to death".

File:Hekate Kharites Glyptothek Munich 60.jpg, Attic, 3rd century BCE (Glyptothek, Munich)]]

Hecate was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, dogs, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery.{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html |title=HECATE : Greek goddess of witchcraft, ghosts & magic; mythology; pictures : HEKATE |publisher=Theoi.com |access-date=2012-09-24}}d'Este, Sorita & Rankine, David, Hekate Liminal Rites, Avalonia, 2009. Hecate is often shown as a tripartite goddess, which allows her to look in multiple directions at once. This emphasizes her role as a protector of the in betweens.{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Hecate |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Hecate/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}

File:Orestes Delphi BM GR1917.12-10.1.jpg at Delphi flanked by Athena and Pylades among the Erinyes and priestesses of the oracle, perhaps including Pythia behind the tripod – Paestan red-figured bell-krater, c. 330 BC]]

The Erinyes (also known as the Furies) were the three goddesses associated with the souls of the dead and the avenged crimes against the natural order of the world. They consist of Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone.

They were particularly concerned with crimes done by children against their parents such as matricide, patricide, and unfilial conduct. They would inflict madness upon the living murderer, or if a nation was harboring such a criminal, the Erinyes would cause starvation and disease to the nation.{{cite web|title=Theoi Project: Erinyes|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Erinyes.html|access-date=October 8, 2012}} The Erinyes were dreaded by the living since they embodied the vengeance of the person who was wronged against the wrongdoer.Fairbanks pg.251 Often the Greeks made "soothing libations" to the Erinyes to appease them so as to not invoke their wrath, and overall the Erinyes received many more libations and sacrifices than other gods of the underworld.Fairbanks pg.255 The Erinyes were depicted as ugly and winged women with their bodies intertwined with serpents.Theoi Project: Erinyes

{{Clear}}

File:NAMA Hermès & Myrrhinè.jpg at Athens: Hermes as psychopomp conducts the deceased, Myrrhine, to Hades, ca 430-420 BCE (National Archaeological Museum of Athens).]]

While Hermes did not primarily reside in the underworld and is not usually associated with the underworld, he was the one who led the souls of the dead to the underworld. In this sense, he was known as Hermes Psychopompos and with his fair golden wand he was able to lead the dead to their new home. He was also called upon by the dying to assist in their death – some called upon him to have painless deaths or be able to die when and where they believed they were meant to die.Garland pgs.54-55

Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus are the judges of the dead. They judged the deeds of the deceased and created the laws that governed the underworld.Long pg.9453

Aeacus was the guardian of the Keys of the underworld and the judge of the men of Europe. Rhadamanthus was Lord of Elysium and judge of the men of Asia. Minos was the judge of the final vote.

Charon is the ferryman who, after receiving a soul from Hermes, would guide them across the rivers Styx and/or Acheron to the underworld. At funerals, the deceased traditionally had an obol placed over their eye or under their tongue, so they could pay Charon to take them across. If not, they were said to fly at the shores for one hundred years, until they were allowed to cross the river.Virgil, Aeneid 6, 324–330. To the Etruscans, Charon was considered a fearsome being – he wielded a hammer and was hook-nosed, bearded, and had animalistic ears with teeth. In other early Greek depictions, Charon was considered merely an ugly bearded man with a conical hat and tunic.{{cite web|title=Theoi Project: Kharon|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Kharon.html|access-date=December 2, 2012}} Later on, in more modern Greek folklore, he was considered more angelic, like the Archangel Michael. Nevertheless, Charon was considered a terrifying being since his duty was to bring these souls to the underworld and no one would persuade him to do otherwise.

File:Hades with cerberus.jpg

Cerberus (Kerberos), or the "Hell-Hound", is Hades' massive multi-headed (usually three-headed){{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cerberus|title= Cerberus|work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2009-07-16}}{{cite web|url=http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/Cerberus|title=Yahoo! Deducation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021055427/http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/Cerberus|archive-date=2012-10-21}}{{cite encyclopedia|title=Cerberus definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/cerberus.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20191222202205/https://www.webcitation.org/5kwQkTyG3?url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/cerberus.html |archive-date=2019-12-22 |url-status=dead }} dog with some descriptions stating that it also has a snake-headed tail and snake heads on its back and as its mane. Born from Echidna and Typhon, Cerberus guards the gate that serves as the entrance of the underworld. Cerberus' duty is to prevent dead people from leaving the underworld.

Heracles once borrowed Cerberus as the final part of the Labours of Heracles. Orpheus once soothed it to sleep with his music.

According to the Suda, the ancient Greeks placed a honeycake (μελιτοῦττα) with the dead in order for the dead to give it to Cerberus.Suda [https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/mu/526 μ 526].

Thanatos is the personification of death. Specifically, he represented non-violent death as contrasted with his sisters the Keres, the spirits of diseases and slaughter.

Hypnos is the personification of sleep and twin brother of Thanatos. His cave was described as impenetrable by the light of sun and moon alike; it was surrounded by poppies and other soporific plants. The river Lethe also flowed through the cave, and here its murmuring would induce drowsiness.

Melinoe is a chthonic nymph, daughter of Persephone, invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns and propitiated as a bringer of nightmares and madness.Orphic Hymn 70 or 71 (numbering varies), as given by Richard Wünsch, Antikes Zaubergerät aus Pergamon (Berlin, 1905), p. 26:
Μηλινόην καλέω, νύμφην χθονίαν, κροκόπεπλον,
ἣν παρὰ Κωκυτοῦ προχοαῖς ἐλοχεύσατο σεμνὴ
Φερσεφόνη λέκτροις ἱεροῖς Ζηνὸς Κρονίοιο
ᾗ ψευσθεὶς Πλούτων᾽ἐμίγη δολίαις ἀπάταισι,
θυμῷ Φερσεφόνης δὲ διδώματον ἔσπασε χροιήν,
ἣ θνητοὺς μαίνει φαντάσμασιν ἠερίοισιν,
ἀλλοκότοις ἰδέαις μορφῆς τὐπον έκκπροφανοῦσα,
ἀλλοτε μὲν προφανής, ποτὲ δὲ σκοτόεσσα, νυχαυγής,
ἀνταίαις ἐφόδοισι κατὰ ζοφοειδέα νύκτα.
ἀλλἀ, θεά, λίτομαί σε, καταχθονίων Βασίλεια,
ψυχῆς ἐκπέμπειν οἶστρον ἐπὶ τέρματα γαίης,
εὐμενὲς εὐίερον μύσταις φαίνουσα πρόσωπον.
She may also be the figure named in a few inscriptions from Anatolia,Jennifer Lynn Larson, Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore (Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 268. and she appears on a bronze tablet in association with Persephone.Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, "Orphic Mythology", in A Companion to Greek Mythology (Blackwell, 2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_XsN0O_BQ0cC&pg=PA100 note 58, p. 100]; Apostolos N. Athanassakis, The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation, and Notes (Scholars Press, 1977), p. viii. The hymns, of uncertain date but probably composed in the 2nd or 3rd century AD, are liturgical texts for the mystery religion known as Orphism. In the hymn, Melinoë has characteristics that seem similar to Hecate and the Erinyes,Edmonds, "Orphic Mythology", pp. 84–85. and the name is sometimes thought to be an epithet of Hecate.Ivana Petrovic, Von den Toren des Hades zu den Hallen des Olymp (Brill, 2007), p. 94; W. Schmid and O. Stählin, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur (C.H. Beck, 1924, 1981), vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 982; W.H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (Leipzig: Teubner, 1890–94), vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 16. The terms in which Melinoë is described are typical of moon goddesses in Greek poetry.

Nyx is the goddess of the Night and the daughter of Chaos.

A deep abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans,{{cite encyclopedia |author=Georg Autenrieth|title=Τάρταρος|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0073%3Aentry%3D*ta%2Frtaros |encyclopedia=A Homeric Dictionary |access-date=7 April 2012}} Tartarus was also considered to be a primordial deity.

Styx is the goddess of the river with the same name. Not much is known about her, but she is an ally of Zeus and lives in the underworld.

Eurynomos is one of the daemons of the underworld, who eats off all the flesh of the corpses, leaving only their bones.

Zagreus was considered by some ancient authors as an underworld god.{{By whom|date=July 2024}}

In the Greek underworld, the souls of the dead still existed, but they were insubstantial and flitted around the underworld with no sense of purpose.{{cite book|last=Mikalson|first=Jon D|title=Ancient Greek Religion|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Chichester, West Sussex|page=177}} The dead within the Homeric underworld lack menos, or strength, and therefore they cannot influence those on earth. They also lack phrenes, or wit, and are heedless of what goes on around them and the earth above them.Garland pg.1 Their lives in the underworld were very neutral, so all social statuses and political positions were eliminated, and no one was able to use their previous lives to their advantage in the underworld.

The idea of progress did not exist in the Greek underworld—at the moment of death, the psyche was frozen in experience and appearance. The souls in the underworld did not age or really change in any sense. They did not lead any active life in the underworld—they were exactly the same as in life.Albinus pg.27 Therefore, those who had died in battle were eternally blood-spattered in the underworld, and those who had died peacefully were able to remain that way.Garland pg.74

Overall, the Greek dead were considered irritable and unpleasant but not dangerous or malevolent. They grew angry if they felt a hostile presence near their graves, and drink offerings were given in order to appease them so as not to anger the dead.Garland pgs.5-6 Mostly, blood offerings were given because they needed the essence of life to become communicative and conscious again. This is shown in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus had to offer the blood of sheep in order for the souls to interact with him. While in the underworld, the dead passed the time through simple pastimes such as playing games, as shown by objects found in tombs such as dice and game-boards.Garland pg.70 Grave gifts such as clothing, jewelry, and food were left by the living for use in the underworld as well since many viewed these gifts to carry over into the underworld. There was not a general consensus as to whether the dead could consume food. Homer depicted the dead as unable to eat or drink unless summoned; however, some reliefs portray the underworld as having many elaborate feasts. While not completely clear, it is implied that the dead could still have sexual intimacy with another, although no children were produced. The Greeks also believed in the possibility of marriage in the underworld, which, in a sense, implies the Greek underworld was little different from the world of the living.Garland pg.71

Lucian described the people of the underworld as simple skeletons. They are indistinguishable from each other, and it is impossible to tell who was wealthy or important in the living world.O'Cleirigh pg.191 However, this view of the underworld was not universal—Homer depicts the dead keeping their familiar faces.

Hades itself was free from the concept of time. The dead are aware of both the past and the future, and in poems describing Greek heroes, the dead helped move the story's plot by prophesying and telling truths unknown to the hero. The only way for humans to communicate with the dead was to suspend time and their everyday life to reach Hades, the place beyond immediate perception and human time.

The Greeks had a definite belief that there was a journey to the afterlife or another world. They believed that death was not a complete end to life or human existence.{{cite journal|last=Mystakidou|first=Kyriaki|author2=Eleni Tsilika|author3=Efi Parpa|author4=Emmanuel Katsouda|author5=Lambros Vlahos|title=Death and Grief in the Greek Culture|journal=OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying|date=1 December 2004|volume=50|issue=1|page=24|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/YYAU-R4MN-AKKM-T496|access-date=23 June 2022|doi=10.2190/YYAU-R4MN-AKKM-T496|s2cid=144183546|url-access=subscription}} The Greeks hypothesized a soul after death, but saw the afterlife as meaningless.Mikalson pg.178 In the underworld, the identity of a dead person still existed, but it had no strength or true influence. Rather, the continuation of the existence of the soul in the underworld was considered a remembrance of the fact that the dead person had existed, yet while the soul still existed, it was inactive.Mystakidou pg.25 However, the price of death was considered a great one. Homer believed that the best possible existence for humans was to never be born at all, or die soon after birth, because the greatness of life could never balance the price of death.Mystakidou pg.24 However, it was considered very important to the Greeks to honor the dead and was seen as a type of piety. Those who did not respect the dead opened themselves to the punishment of the gods – for example, Odysseus ensured Ajax's burial, or the gods would be angered.Garland pg.8

Orpheus, a poet and musician that had almost supernatural abilities to move anyone to his music, descended to the underworld as a living mortal to retrieve his dead wife Eurydice after she was bitten by a poisonous snake on their wedding day. With his lyre-playing skills, he was able to put a spell on the guardians of the underworld and move them with his music.Albinus pg.105 With his beautiful voice he was able to convince Hades and Persephone to allow him and his wife to return to the living. The rulers of the underworld agreed, but under one condition – Eurydice would have to follow behind Orpheus and he could not turn around to look at her. Once Orpheus reached the entrance, he turned around, longing to look at his beautiful wife, only to watch as his wife faded back into the underworld. He was forbidden to return to the underworld a second time and he spent his life playing his music to the birds and the mountains.{{cite web|last=Hamilton|first=Edith|title=The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice|url=http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/eurydice/eurydicemyth.html|access-date=December 2, 2012}}

• Hades in Christianity

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|60em}}

• {{cite book |last=Albinus |first=Lars |year=2000 |title=The House of Hades: Studies in Ancient Greek Eschatology |publisher=Aarhus University Press |location=Aarhus}}
• {{cite book |last1=Bärsch |first1=Dominic |title=Mundus ecce nutat et labitur: Weltuntergangskonzepte in der griechischen und lateinischen Literatur |date=2023 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |location=Göttingen |isbn=9783525302217}}
• {{cite book |last=Buxton |first=R. |year=2004 |title=The complete World of Greek Mythology |url=https://archive.org/details/completeworldofg00rich |url-access=registration |publisher=Thames & Hudson Ltd. |location=London |isbn=9780500251218}}
• {{cite journal |last=Fairbanks |first=Arthur |year=1900 |title=The Chthonic Gods of Greek Religion |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=241–259 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |doi=10.2307/287716 |jstor=287716}}
• {{cite book |last=Garland |first=Robert |year=1985 |title=The Greek Way of Death |publisher=Duckworth |location=London}}
• {{cite journal|last=Leeming|first=David|title=Demeter and Persephone|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-407#|journal=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 December 2012|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001|year=2005|isbn=9780195156690|url-access=subscription}}
• {{cite journal|last=Leeming|first=David|title=Styx|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-1497?rskey=rTReql&result=1320&q=|journal=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 December 2012|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001|year=2005|isbn=9780195156690|url-access=subscription}}
• {{cite journal |last=Long |first=J. Bruce |year=2005 |title=Underworld |journal=Encyclopedia of Religion |volume=14 |pages=9451–9458 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA}}
• {{cite book |last=Mirtro |first=Marina Serena |year=2012 |title=Death in the Greek world : from Homer to the classical age. |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman}}
• {{cite book |last=Mikalson |first=Jon D. |year=2010 |title=Ancient Greek Religion |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=West Sussex}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Mystakidou |first1=Kyriaki |last2=Tsilika |first2=Eleni |last3=Parpa |first3=Efi |last4=Katsouda |first4=Elena |last5=Vlahous |first5=Lambros |year=2004–2005 |title=Death and Grief in the Greek Culture |journal=Omega |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=23–34 |publisher=Baywood Publishing Co. |doi=10.2190/yyau-r4mn-akkm-t496 |s2cid= 144183546}}
• {{cite book |last1=O'Cleirigh |first1=Padraig |last2=Barrell |first2=Rex A. |last3=Bell |first3=John M. |year=2000 |title=An introduction to Greek mythology : story, symbols, and culture |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |location=Lewiston, New York}}
• {{cite book |last=Peck |first=Harry Thurston |year=1897 |title=Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924027019482 |publisher=Harper}}
• {{cite book |last=Pfister |first=F. |year=1961 |title=Greek Gods and Heroes |publisher=Macgibbon & Kee |location=London}}
• {{cite web |last=Scarfuto |first=Christine |title=The Greek Underworld |url=http://wiki.uiowa.edu/display/theatre/The+Greek+Underworld |access-date=3 December 2012}}
• {{cite journal |last=Schmiel |first=Robert |year=1987 |title=Achilles in Hades |journal=Classical Philology |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=35–37 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1086/367020 |jstor=270025 |s2cid=161299069}}

{{refend}}

{{Hell}}

Category:Geography of the Odyssey

Category:Locations in the Greek underworld