Talk:Greek underworld

Hades has more info

There's more info about this in Hades. If someone sees this, please copy the relevant info over. I'd do it myself, but I'm a bit busy. Sir Fastolfe 23:37, 5 November 2006 (UTC) wow

three-part division

This page depicts the dead being sorted out and sent to a good place, a middle place, or a bad place. That's not how I read Elysium, Asphodel fields, and Tartarus. Elysium is aboveground near an entrance to Hades. It is reserved for the divine offspring of the gods. Tartarus is far below Hades. It is a place of imprisonment and torment for those sent there individually by the gods. Unless the gods intervene on a case-by-case basis, folks go to Hades, which is basically sad and gloomy. Jonathan Tweet 14:25, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Your description seems like a three-part division. I've never heard that Elysium was reserved for the offspring of the gods, only that it was reserved for the heroic, who often were said to be offspring of the gods. What we have is the especially good (as defined by the mythology of the time) going to Elysium, the especially bad going to Tartarus, with most people going to a middle place, which is not especially good or especially bad, but a pale shadow of this life. The idea of who gets to go to Elysium, or some sort of reward in the afterlife expanded, as the idea of what constituted a meritorious life changes.--RLent (talk) 17:27, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Why does this article list the Underworld as 4 parts? Aren't the Elysium Islands and Elysium Plains one in the same? The offspring of divinity went there as did those especially heroic because for the most part, the heros were mostly part god. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.45.64.176 (talk) 23:18, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Greek Underworld

 While the Aenead was basically Virgil tweaking the Oddessey, he still created his own "Romanized" version of the underworld.

Domus is wrong

Greek word for house is "oikia"; "domus" is Latin. so saying "domos Aidaou" for house of Hades is only correct if readers are told it is the Latin translation of an English language phrase. 108.38.36.17 (talk) 02:09, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

No, δόμος (domos) means "house", like οἰκία (oikía), οἶκος (oîkos), or δῶμα (dôma). Whoever added domos Aidaou (sic) was thinking of the common epic line-end δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω (domon Aïdos eísō), "into the house of Hades". — cardiff | chestnut — 03:38, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Hades is the name, not Underworld?

I thought the name of the realm itself is Hades. You go to Hades when you die, not the Underworld. The Underworld is a section in Hades where Hades himself rules on his throne, and it's guarded by Cerberus. You don't go to the Underworld when you die. bhegeta 13:52, 30 August 2013 (UTC) wow — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.67.40.249 (talk) 17:52, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Linking within subject headings

Hello - We shouldn't be wikilinking subject headings - I am going to remove the ones that are there - Links should be included in the text of each of the subsections. Any concerns, let's discuss. Thanks KConWiki (talk) 11:41, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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"entrance of the underworld"

"Although Charon embarks now one group now another, some souls he grimly turns away." ? this sentence does not make sense.

The Doors of Death

Are (were?) those an actual thing? I've never seen them in any myths – I always thought that was something that Rick Riordan created for Heroes of Olympus. Can someone either provide an "actual" source, or else cut it out?

For reference, it's under the section on Thanatos (which could also use some general enlargement). — Preceding unsigned comment added by HackneyedTrope (talk • contribs) 19:47, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

After a while of searching, I can't find any reference to them in any academic context. They seem to be an invention of Rick Riordan. I will remove the reference to them until any concrete evidence can be found. ViolaCola (talk) 00:30, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks. Paul August ☎ 19:05, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• NAMA Hermès & Myrrhinè.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:51, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

commonly referred to as Hades

Erebus? Xx236 (talk) 11:39, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

The term "Erebus" is sometimes used to refer to the underworld (something which could probably be mentioned), but Hades is used much more commonly, and Erebus is at times instead used to refer to something more specific, such as the darkness of the underworld, or a region between Earth and Hades. – Michael Aurel (talk) 23:20, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Zagreus sourcing

Currently the page only reads "Zagreus was considered by some ancient authors as an underworld god." which is insufficiently specific. 'By whom' notation added. Will come back and flesh it out myself when I have some time to do so. I think it's worth specifying if he's going to be listed here at all, because his status is questionable. Msjuliamir (talk) 21:17, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

The sources on Zagreus I can find all seem to suggest he was primarily involved in the Orphic mysteries and associated with Dyonisus, not Hades. The link between him and Hades doesn't seem to predate the video game he appears in in any strong way. Nathanielhm (talk) 15:47, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

wait, I'm sorry, no. Aeschylus does so. The citation is in Zagreus's own entry Nathanielhm (talk) 15:49, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

He's definitely underworld (the Orphic mysteries are certainly Underworld-related) and Dionysus' identity as a dying-and-rising god is attested in the Orphic tradition as well as the standard Olympian origin story, arguably even more so, but it definitely needs more specific sources. So that link is OK. Zagreus's association with Hades is definitely looser, though. Msjuliamir (talk) 16:08, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Actually, my own turn--no mention of Zagreus in the Orphic hymns at all. The association with Dionysus seems to have come along later. The earliest stuff on him is VERY patchy, incl. the one mention in Aesch., though that mention seems reasonably secure as a reference to him as the son of Hades... assuming the textual emendation by Hermann is correct. Gah. I'll do some more reading... Msjuliamir (talk) 16:16, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Zagreus, most often mentioned in relation to his identification with the Orphic Dionysus, is described in several early fragmentary sources as being associated with the underworld (including seemingly being described as either the child of Hades, or as being identified with Hades). However, it isn't really correct (or at least it lacks nuance) to call Zagreus a "known inhabitant" of the underworld, and probably he doesn't need to be mentioned in the article (or at least not given his own section). – Michael Aurel (talk) 04:29, 20 October 2024 (UTC)