Hades or the Greek Underworld was the place or space where the spirits of the dead ended up in Greek cosmology.. In the sphere that was supposed to be the cosmos, it was situated at the bottom, below the sky and the underworld ruled by Zeus, and the oceans, under the jurisdiction of Poseidon. Curiously, the Greek Underworld was called Hades, which is the same name that the god reigned in it. But what could those who entered Hades expect? What places would those spirits see on the way to their final destination? Join us at to discover five places in the Greek Underworld.
While it is true that Hades and the Greek Underworld are commonly used synonymously, in reality The whole of the Underworld is larger than Hades, since it also encompasses Erebus, which is the area of darkness that precedes the authentic Hades. However, the most common thing is that they refer to the same place. There where the souls of the deceased traveled.
You final destination in the Greek Underworld depended on what your previous life had been like. Whether you were human, demigod, or a Titan, Hades was your final destination if Zeus so decided. Few were saved. Some, like Pegasus, were freed by divine grace and ended up forming constellations in the celestial vault, but practically no one managed to leave the Greek Underworld.
5 Places you would see in the Greek Underworld
1. Erebus or the Eternal Darkness
«Ἔρεβος» means «darkness», «shadow» or «blackness». The same word was used both to talk about a primordial god who embodied the primordial darkness, and to designate an area of Hades; the Eternal Darkness. They were at the entrance to the Greek Underworld. Once deceased, the dead first passed through Erebus. Myths define it as a «place of darkness between earth and Hades.» Walking through the eternal darkness they reached the place where Charon had his boat. Once the obolus was delivered, he helped them cross the Acheron or the Styx and enter the authentic Greek underworld.
2. The Asphodel Fields or Meadows
Those known in Greek mythology as Asphodel Meadows or Asphodel Fields They are one of the three main zones into which Hades is divided. They were going to stop there the souls of ordinary humansthose who had not done anything extraordinary during their existence. The good and evil in their lives had been balanced and their eternal destination was the Prados.
There the dead they fed on asphodels that grew everywhere and lived carrying out their daily tasks in a monotonous manner. Nothing was good or bad, everything took on a neutral tone that gave the place a ghostly appearance. It was believed that before arriving, those destined for the Asphodel Meadows were forced to drink water from the river Lethe. By doing so, they lost their identity and forgot their past life, becoming beings without consciousness. Historians believe that this description was possibly to encourage the Greeks to enlist in the army since the final destination of the majority of soldiers was the Elysian Fields and not that place of eternal routine.
3. The Champs Elysées
The Champs Elysées, the plains reached by rays or the Sun, were the place destined for heroic and virtuous men and women, mainly warriors. It was the paradisiacal section of the Greek Underworld. In them the immortal souls lived an existence full of happiness and joy. There they can coexist with heroes and gods. In Paris, the Avenue des Champs-Elysées was named in honor of the eternal resting place of gods, heroes and brave men.
4. The five rivers that cross the Greek Underworld
The Greek Underworld was crossed by five rivers. He Lete that made him who drank its waters forget who he was. He Phlegethon It is a tributary of the Acheron and a fire ran through it that burned without any type of fuel. He Cocito It was another of the rivers. Those who could not pay Charon wandered along its banks for a hundred years and the river was filled with the tears of sinners. The waters of Styx They were used for the oaths of the gods, who if they broke their promise after drinking the water of this river they received a punishment in the form of muteness for nine years. The Acheron was the river that Charon crossed with his boat to take the deceased to Hades, in the Greek Underworld. Nothing floated in it except the boatman’s ship.
5. Tartarus
As Zeus himself explains in the Iliad, the Tartarus is in the lowest place of the Greek Underworld and it is the place where the wicked receivedivine punishment. It is dark and gloomy, similar to a cold, damp well. This surrounded by three layers of night. The souls of those who have been evil and treacherous in life are condemned to dwell eternally in Tartarus. In that place, very similar to Christian hell, they receive eternal punishments. Sisyphus, Ixion or Tantalus were sentenced to torture in Tartarus. If you want to know more about his punishment, you can find it in the 4 Tortures of the Underworld entry.
If you have been interested in knowing the Greek Underworld and these 5 places you would see in it, perhaps you want to delve into a topic as interesting as Greek mythology. To do this, we propose these entries that will surely interest you, about What Hades is and Who are the gods of Olympus. Do you think the Greek Underworld is similar to the heaven and hell of Christianity? Share your opinion with us, we will be happy to read you!