{"id":1367,"date":"2019-10-21T15:34:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T14:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/?post_type=myths&p=1367"},"modified":"2024-03-01T13:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T13:39:54","slug":"the-underworld","status":"publish","type":"myths","link":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/myths\/the-underworld\/","title":{"rendered":"The Underworld – Ancient Greek Places"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Underworld was a place hidden deep underground where the souls of the dead went for eternity. It was ruled by Hades, the Greek god of the dead<\/a>. Hades was said to be a greedy god, and his sole purpose was to collect souls for his kingdom and prevent them from ever leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Underworld was said to be surrounded by five rivers: the Acheron, the Cocytus, the Phlegeton, the Styx<\/a>, and the Lethe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these five rivers, the Styx is perhaps the most well-known. It was the river of unbreakable oath where the gods took their vows. Beyond the five rivers was the entrance to the Underworld itself. It was a diamond gate guarded by Cerberus<\/a>, a three-headed watchdog. Cerberus prevented anyone from leaving the kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Journey To The Underworld<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When a person died, their soul was guided to the shores of the Acheron by Hermes<\/a>, the messenger of the gods. Once a dead soul reached the Acheron, they were required to pay a fare to the ferryman Charon<\/a> if they wanted to actually reach the Underworld. If they were unable to pay this fare, they would be stranded on the shore of the river. Forever trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. This is the reason why the ancient Greeks placed a coin on the lips of the dead during funerals. The dead would use this coin to pay their way into the Underworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once they were in the Underworld, the dead souls would appear before a panel of judges who would sentence them according to their deeds in life. The virtuous and heroic souls were allowed to spend eternity in the paradise of the Elysian Fields<\/a>. The evil souls were sent to a deep dungeon called Tartarus<\/a> where they would be punished for eternity. Tartarus was said to be as far below the rest of the Underworld as the earth is below the heavens. It was also used as a prison for the Titans<\/a>, the predecessors of the Greek gods<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Myths Involving the Ancient Underworld<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Abduction of Persephone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/strong>This is one of the greater myths around some some pretty core themes in ancient Greece. It explains the seasons’ origin and underscores the Underworld’s connection to the cycle of life and death. Persephone’s abduction by Hades and her eventual partial return to the surface world symbolize the emergence of spring and the retreat of winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Journey of Orpheus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orpheus’ descent into the Underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, is another epic, and sad tale. It showcases themes of love and loss while emphasizing the immutable rules of the afterlife. His failure to bring Eurydice back to the living world due to a moment of doubt emphasizes the finality of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Labors of Hercules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Hercules’ twelve labors required him to capture Cerberus, guardian of the gate. Demonstrating the hero’s strength and the permeability of the boundary between the living and the dead for those favored by the gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Odyssey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Underworld also features during part of Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus’ visit to the Underworld in this epic is a pivotal moment that reveals the afterlife’s nature and the fate of various characters from the Trojan War. Offering insights into Greek views on heroism and the afterlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Punishment of Sisyphus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bSisyphus’ eternal punishment in the Underworld for his trickery against the gods highlights the concept of justice in the afterlife and the futility of attempting to escape death’s inevitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Underworld Facts Summarized<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  • \u200b<\/strong>Unlike the common perception of hell in other mythologies, the Greek Underworld was not solely a place of punishment. It also included areas of paradise, like the Elysian Fields, for the virtuous.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Hades is often depicted as the villain in modern interpretations. To the ancient Greeks though, he wasn’t considered evil, but as a necessary and even honorable figure in charge of maintaining balance in the afterlife.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The ancient Greek practice of placing a coin on the lips of the deceased, was to make sure the dead had a coin to pay Charon the ferryman. If they could not pay the fare, they would be stranded on the shore of the river Styx for eternity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the Underworld’s entrance, symbolized the past, present, and future. In some accounts these are interpreted as birth, life, and death.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The five rivers surrounding the Underworld served as natural barriers between the world of the living and the dead. Each with its own symbolic meaning, such as Lethe representing forgetfulness and Styx representing unbreakable oaths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Underworld was a place hidden deep underground where the souls of the dead went for eternity. It was ruled by Hades, the Greek god of the dead. Hades was said to be a greedy god, and his sole purpose was to collect souls for his kingdom and prevent them from ever leaving. The Underworld […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1773,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/myths\/1367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/myths"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/myths"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/myths\/1367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5101,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/myths\/1367\/revisions\/5101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}