Hades (underworld)

**Hades** is the name of the underworld in Greek mythology, and is named after it's king, Hades.

## **Characteristics and Appearance**

In Greek mythology, the **Hades** is an otherworld where souls go after death. The original Greek afterlife is that, at the moment of death, the soul is separated from the corpse, taking on the shape of the former person, and is transported to the entrance of the underworld. The underworld itself—known as Hades, after its patron god—is described as being either at the outer bounds of the ocean or beneath the depths or ends of the earth. It is considered the dark counterpart to the brightness of Mount Olympus with the kingdom of the dead corresponding to the kingdom of the gods. Hades is a realm invisible to the living, made solely for the dead.

## **Locations**

### Rivers

There are six main rivers that are visible both in the living world and the underworld. Their names were meant to reflect the emotions associated with death.

* **The Styx** is generally considered to be one of the most prominent and central rivers of the underworld and is also the most widely known out of all the rivers. It's known as the river of hatred and is named after the goddess Styx. This river circles the underworld seven times.
* **The Acheron** is the river of pain. It's the one that Charon, also known as the Ferryman, rows the dead over according to many mythological accounts, though sometimes it is the river Styx or both.
* **The Lethe** is the river of forgetfulness. It is associated with the goddess 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.
* **The Phlegethon** is the river of fire. According to Plato, this river leads to the depths of Tartarus.
* **The Cocytus** is the river of wailing.
* **Oceanus** is the river that encircles the world, and it marks the east edge of the underworld, as Erebos is west of the mortal world.

### Realms

* **Asphodel Meadows** - The Asphodel Meadows was a place for ordinary or indifferent souls who did not commit any significant crimes, but who also did not achieve any greatness or recognition that would warrant them being admitted to the Elysian Fields. It was where mortals who did not belong anywhere else in the underworld were sent.
* **Elysium Fields** - Elysium Fields was a place for the especially distinguished, and the souls that dwelled there had an easy afterlife and had no labors. Usually, those who had proximity to the gods were granted admission, rather than those who were especially righteous or had ethical merit. Most accepted to Elysium were demigods or heroes. Heroes such as Cadmus, Peleus, and Achilles also were transported here after their deaths. Normal people who lived righteous and virtuous lives could also gain entrance such as Socrates who proved his worth sufficiently through philosophy.
* **Tartarus** - While Tartarus is not considered to be directly a part of the underworld, it is described as being as far beneath the underworld as the earth is beneath the sky. It 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." Tartarus is the place that Zeus cast the Titans along with his father Cronus after defeating them. While Odysseus does not see them himself, he mentions some of the people within the underworld who are experiencing punishment for their sins.

## **Inhabitants**

* Greek Gods
* Souls
* Hellhound
* Other Supernatural Beings