Underworld
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.
The Story of Underworld
Five rivers defined the underworld: Styx (hatred/oath), Acheron (woe), Lethe (forgetting), Phlegethon (fire), and Cocytus (lamentation). Charon ferried the dead across the Styx for the price of an obol coin. Cerberus guarded the gate. Three judges — Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus — sorted souls. The virtuous went to Elysium (later the Isles of the Blessed), the ordinary to the Asphodel Meadows, and the wicked to Tartarus for punishment. Sisyphus, Tantalus, and the Danaids endured eternal torments.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Greeks placed a coin in the mouth of the dead to pay Charon — a practice archaeologists still find in ancient graves.
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
Hades
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The vast underground kingdom of the dead ruled by the god Hades and his queen Persephone
Acheron River
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The river of woe in the Greek underworld across which the dead were ferried by Charon
Acheron
🏛 placeRiver of Woe in the underworld
The Acheron was the River of Woe in the underworld, which the dead had to cross — in some traditions it was Charon's river rather than the Styx.
Asphodel Fields
🏛 placeUnderworld geography
The vast grey meadow in the underworld where the majority of ordinary souls wandered after death
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.
Oracle of the Dead
🏛 placeunderworld, prophecy
The Oracle of the Dead at Ephyra in Epirus where the living consulted ghosts of the deceased through elaborate underground rituals.
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.
Hades
⚡ godKing of the underworld, god of the dead and riches
Ruler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Despite his fearsome reputation, Hades was not evil — he was stern, just, and rarely left his dark kingdom.
Elysian Fields
🏛 placeafterlife
Paradise reserved for heroes and the virtuous dead, located at the western edge of the world or in the depths of the Underworld.
Stygian
💭 conceptLanguage and the underworld
An English adjective meaning extremely dark, gloomy, or hellish, derived from the River Styx, the boundary between the world of the living and the Greek underworld
Tartarus
🏛 placeThe deepest pit of the underworld
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.
Hades
⚡ godGod of the dead and lord of the underworld
Hades was the lord of the underworld who received the dead — feared but not evil, wealthy from earth's minerals, and far more just than his brothers.