Realm of the dead ruled by Hades and Persephone.
Overview
The Underworld, also called Hades or Hades (realm), is the Greek underworld where the souls of mortals go after death. It lies beneath the earth and is ruled by Hades and Persephone. It is present throughout the mythic age of gods and heroes.
In Greek myth, the Underworld is a basic part of how the universe is imagined. It appears in many major works, including the Homeric epics, the Homeric Hymns, the poems of Hesiod, and various Orphic and later underworld traditions. In these sources, the Underworld is consistently shown as the main destination of the dead and as one of the key regions in the Greek mythic landscape.
Description
The Underworld is shown as a shadowy, sunless realm beneath the earth. It is often described as gloomy, filled with mist, and inhabited by the insubstantial shades of the dead. It is imagined as a vast underground region with several zones. Most souls live in ordinary areas, but there are also special regions of punishment and reward.
Its boundaries are marked by rivers such as Styx and Acheron, which separate it from the world of the living. Entrances are placed at the edges of the earth, in deep caves and chasms, or beyond the encircling Oceanus. These entrances are usually guarded or controlled by chthonic powers.
Important features include the rivers of the underworld—especially Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, and Lethe—the gates or doors of Hades, the palace of Hades and Persephone, meadows or asphodel fields for ordinary souls, regions of punishment such as Tartarus in some accounts, and, in certain traditions, the Isles or regions of the Blessed. The environment is generally dark, cold, and mostly joyless, marked by silence, mist, and the absence of sunlight. Later sources, however, describe some regions of reward as bright or pleasant.
Access to the realm is organized. The souls of the dead are ferried across a boundary river by Charon when they have received proper burial and rites. Heroes and gods may enter through special caves, chasms, or remote ends of the world and, in rare cases, return through divine favor or special conditions.
Inside, the Underworld is divided into several main areas: the general realm of Hades for most of the dead; Tartarus, a deep separate abyss for Titans and great offenders in some traditions; Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed for favored heroes and the righteous in later and Orphic traditions; and meadows or asphodel fields for ordinary shades.
Mythic Role
The main role of the Underworld is to be the place where the souls of the dead go after burial. It offers a form of existence after death that, in many stories, includes judgment and, in some cases, reward or punishment.
In Greek cosmology, it is the chief underworld beneath the earth and stands alongside Olympus, the earth, the sea, and, in some accounts, the deeper abyss of Tartarus as one of the main regions of the universe. It is the usual destination of mortal souls and also serves as a prison for certain divine enemies.
In heroic myths, the Underworld is the goal or testing ground of katabasis journeys. Heroes and seers descend there to consult prophetic shades, retrieve loved ones, or carry out divine commands. The difficulty and danger of the journey underline how unusual it is for anyone to enter and return.
The Underworld is closely linked with many deities and powers. Hades and Persephone rule it. Hermes Psychopompos guides souls. Thanatos personifies death. The Erinyes (Furies), Charon the ferryman, and the Moirai (Fates) in some contexts also belong to this sphere. In later tradition, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus appear as judges of the dead.
The realm is also tied to well-known heroes and figures such as Orpheus, Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus, Pirithous, Aeneas in Greco‑Roman tradition, and the punished sinners Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion. Symbolically, the Underworld stands for death and the separation between living and dead. It shows the inevitability and seeming irreversibility of mortal fate, with only rare heroic exceptions. In later and philosophical traditions, it becomes a place of moral recompense and cosmic justice.
Within the mythic order, the Underworld is a lasting and basic realm. It is ultimately under Zeus’s overall rule but is governed independently by Hades and Persephone. It includes or borders special regions such as Tartarus and Elysium, depending on the source.
Geography and Features
In Greek cosmology, the Underworld lies beneath the earth and sometimes beyond the encircling river Oceanus. It can be reached at the far edges of the world, through deep chasms, or by underground passages.
Its landscape is a broad underground expanse, often level or gently varied. It has plains or meadows for the dead, crossed by rivers and containing deeper pits or abysses that lead to more remote regions like Tartarus. The climate is sunless, dim, and cool. It lacks the usual weather and seasonal cycles of the upper world, although Persephone’s presence in the Underworld is symbolically tied to seasonal change on earth.
Natural features include the Stygian waters, which form an unbreakable boundary and serve as an oath‑river for the gods. The Acheron and other rivers flow through or around the realm. Chasms and pits lead down to deeper regions such as Tartarus.
Built structures include the house or palace of Hades and Persephone and the massive, often unyielding gates of Hades, which are sometimes guarded. Later accounts also mention thrones or judgment seats for the underworld judges.
The Underworld is next to or linked with several other locations: Tartarus as a deeper and more distant abyss, Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed as a separate or bordering region of reward, the surface world of mortals, Olympus and the heavens through the overall cosmic order, and the encircling Oceanus at the world’s edge.
Routes and thresholds include the crossing of the Styx or Acheron by Charon’s ferry for the dead, cave and chasm entrances in various Greek places, and mythic passages at the ends of the earth used by heroes and gods.
Rulers and Inhabitants
The Underworld is ruled mainly by Hades and Persephone, who preside over the realm of the dead. In later tradition, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus appear as secondary rulers or magistrates who judge the dead.
Resident deities and spirits include the Erinyes (Furies), Thanatos and other death spirits, Hecate in some of her chthonic forms, and various daimones linked with punishment and oaths. Most inhabitants are the shades of all mortals who have died and received proper burial rites. There are also souls undergoing punishment for serious offenses in certain regions and, in some traditions, favored heroes and righteous souls living in Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed.
Notable mythic residents include Sisyphus, Tantalus, Ixion, the Danaids, and, in some accounts, the Titans and other divine prisoners kept in Tartarus. The population can be grouped into several classes: ordinary shades of the dead; unburied or improperly buried dead, who may wander at the edges of the realm; criminals and oath‑breakers under exemplary punishments; and blessed or heroic dead in special areas.
Visitors differ from residents because they are only there for a time. Typical visitors include gods such as Hermes and, at times, other Olympians, as well as heroes on katabasis journeys, such as Orpheus, Heracles, Odysseus, and Theseus. Residents make up the lasting population of the dead and chthonic powers, while visitors are living or divine figures who enter only under special conditions or divine orders.
Associated Myths
The Underworld is the setting for many important Greek myths. One of the best known is the abduction of Persephone by Hades and the start of her shared rule with him, a story that also explains her periodic return to earth.
Other major stories include Orpheus’s descent to bring back his wife Eurydice, Odysseus’s visit to the dead in the Nekyia episode of the Odyssey, and Heracles’ descent to bring up the hound Cerberus. The eternal punishments of Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion also take place there. Another key tale is the failed attempt by Theseus and Pirithous to abduct Persephone, which leads to their imprisonment.
Important mythic events in the Underworld include Persephone’s seasonal presence, which is linked to the fertility cycle on earth; the judgment and sending of souls to different regions in later traditions; and the ongoing punishments of notorious offenders, which serve as examples of divine justice.
These myths involve many figures, including Persephone, Demeter, Hades, Orpheus, Eurydice, Odysseus, Heracles, Theseus, Pirithous, Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion. Mythic journeys to and from the Underworld include Orpheus’s katabasis and near‑rescue of Eurydice, Odysseus’s journey to consult Teiresias and other shades, Heracles’ descent to capture Cerberus as one of his labors, the descent and imprisonment of Theseus and Pirithous, and various descents of gods or daimones in chthonic episodes.
Main literary sources for these myths are Homer’s Iliad and especially Book 11 of the Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Pindar’s odes that describe afterlife regions, and the works of later tragedians and Roman poets such as Aeschylus, Euripides, and Vergil. Together, these traditions show the Underworld as the backdrop for stories of abduction and seasonal return, heroic descents to consult or rescue the dead, and striking punishments or rewards that display divine justice and the fate of souls after death.