Greek underworld

The earliest idea of afterlife in Greek myth is that, at the moment of death, an individual's essence (psyche) is separated from the corpse and transported to the underworld.

[1] In early mythology (e.g., Homer's Iliad and Odyssey) the dead were indiscriminately grouped together and led a shadowy post-existence; however, in later mythology (e.g., Platonic philosophy) elements of post-mortem judgment began to emerge with good and bad people being separated (both spatially and with regards to treatment).

[7][8] The underworld is also considered to be an invisible realm,[9] which is understood both in relation to the permanent state of darkness but also a potential etymological link with Hades as the 'unseen place'.

[10] The underworld is made solely for the dead and so mortals do not enter it – with only a few heroic exceptions (who undertook a mythical catabasis: Heracles, Theseus, Orpheus, possibly also Odysseus, and in later Roman depictions Aeneas).

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).

[45] 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.

[48] According to Plato's Gorgias (c. 400 BC), souls are judged after death and Tartarus is where the wicked received divine punishment.

[49] 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).

[50][51][52] 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".

[55][49] 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.

[55][56] 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.

[58] 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.

[62] 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.

[58] Hecate was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, dogs, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery.

[69] 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.

[76] To the Etruscans, Charon was considered a fearsome being – he wielded a hammer and was hook-nosed, bearded, and had animalistic ears with teeth.

[45] In other early Greek depictions, Charon was considered merely an ugly bearded man with a conical hat and tunic.

Cerberus (Kerberos), or the "Hell-Hound", is Hades' massive multi-headed (usually three-headed)[78][79][80] dog with some descriptions stating that it also has a snake-headed tail and snake heads on its back and as its mane.

His cave was described as impenetrable by the light of sun and moon alike; it was surrounded by poppies and other soporific plants.

Melinoe is a chthonic nymph, daughter of Persephone, invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns and propitiated as a bringer of nightmares and madness.

[84] 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.

A deep abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans,[87] Tartarus was also considered to be a primordial deity.

[75] The idea of progress did not exist in the Greek underworld – at the moment of death, the psyche was frozen, in experience and appearance.

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.

[75] This is shown in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus had to offer 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 from objects found in tombs such as dice and game-boards.

Homer depicted the dead as unable to eat or drink unless they had been summoned; however, some reliefs portray the underworld as having many elaborate feasts.

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.

[100] 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.