Tartarus
The deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the prison of the Titans and the ultimate place of punishment.
The Story of Tartarus
Tartarus was both a primordial deity and a place — the lowest region of the cosmos. It was described as being so deep that an anvil dropped from the surface would fall for nine days before reaching it. Bronze walls surrounded it, and a triple layer of night hung over its entrance.
After the Titanomachy, Zeus imprisoned the defeated Titans in Tartarus, setting the Hundred-Handed Ones as guards. It also became the place of punishment for the greatest offenders against the gods. Tantalus stood in a pool of water beneath fruit trees, forever hungry and thirsty as both receded from his reach. Sisyphus rolled a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down, for eternity.
Ixion was bound to a flaming wheel that spun forever. The Danaids, who had murdered their husbands, were condemned to fill a bottomless basin with water carried in leaky jars. Tartarus represented the Greeks' vision of ultimate, eternal punishment — justice carried to its most extreme conclusion.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The myth of Tantalus's punishment — reaching for food and water that always recedes — gave English the word "tantalize."
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Tartarus
🌀 primordialThe deepest abyss beneath the earth
Tartarus was both a primordial deity and the deepest pit of the cosmos — as far below Hades as earth is below heaven, the prison of the Titans and place of ultimate punishment.
Hades
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The vast underground kingdom of the dead ruled by the god Hades and his queen Persephone
Underworld
🏛 placeRealm of the dead
The Underworld was the vast subterranean realm where all mortal souls went after death — a geography of rivers, fields, and judges more detailed than any other mythological afterlife.
Taenarum
🏛 placeSacred geography
A promontory at the southern tip of the Peloponnese believed to contain an entrance to the underworld
Lerna
🏛 placeSwamp of the Hydra
Lerna was a marshy region near Argos, famed as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra and believed to contain one of the entrances to the underworld.
Elysium
🏛 placeParadise for the blessed dead
The paradise at the edge of the world where heroes and the virtuous spent eternity in perfect happiness. Also called the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed.
Cape Taenarum
🏛 placeEntrance to the underworld
Cape Taenarum (modern Cape Matapan) at the southern tip of the Peloponnese was one of the most famous entrances to the underworld.
Tartarus
🏔 titanthe deep abyss, primal darkness below
A primordial deity personifying the deep abyss below Hades, one of the first beings to emerge from Chaos.
Olympus
🏛 placeHome of the gods
The highest mountain in Greece and the mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods. Olympus was imagined as a paradise above the clouds.
Styx
🏛 placeThe river of the underworld
The great river that formed the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. Oaths sworn on the Styx were absolutely binding, even for gods.
Acheron River
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The river of woe in the Greek underworld across which the dead were ferried by Charon
Asphodel Fields
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The vast grey meadow in the underworld where the majority of ordinary souls wandered after death