Tartarus (Primordial)
primordialTartarus 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.
The Myth
Hesiod describes Tartarus as so deep that a bronze anvil dropped from earth would fall nine days before reaching it. It was both a being and a place. As a deity, Tartarus fathered Typhon with Gaia. As a place, it served as the prison of the defeated Titans, guarded by the Hecatoncheires, and the site of the worst punishments: Sisyphus's boulder, Tantalus's torment, Ixion's wheel. It was surrounded by a bronze fence and triple night.
Parents
Born from Chaos
Symbols
Fun Fact
Dante modelled the deepest circles of his Inferno on Tartarus — the Greek concept directly shaped the Western imagining of Hell.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Chaos
conceptThe first thing to exist — a vast, formless void from which all of creation emerged. Chaos was not...
Gaia
primordialGaia was the primordial Earth goddess, the first being to emerge after Chaos — mother of the...
Hecatoncheires
creatureThe Hecatoncheires were three giants, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads — the most powerful...
Ixion
heroIxion was the first human to murder a kinsman and the first to attempt seduction of a goddess —...
Sisyphus
heroThe cunning king of Corinth who cheated death twice, only to be condemned to an eternity of futile...
Tantalus
heroA king who offended the gods by serving them his own son as a meal. His punishment in Tartarus —...
Tartarus
placeThe deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the...
Typhon
creatureThe most fearsome monster in Greek mythology, who challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos....
Aether
primordialAether was the primordial god of the bright upper air that the gods breathed — distinct from the...