"Persephone and take her as a wife, Demeter became enraged at Zeus and stopped growing harvests for the earth. To soothe her, Zeus sent Hermes to the underworld to return Persephone to her mother. However, she had eaten six pomegranate seeds in the underworld and was thus eternally tied to the underworld, since the pomegranate seed was sacred there. Persephone could then only leave the underworld when the earth was blooming, or every season except the winter. The Homeric Hymns describes the abduction of Persephone by Hades: Persephone herself is considered a fitting other half to Hades because of the"
"Underworld The underworld is the world of the dead in various religious traditions, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization, and ""may be as old as humanity itself"". Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance of souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead Patroclus haunting Achilles until"
"Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; , ""Tartaros"") is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ""Gorgias"" (c. 400 BC), souls are judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment. Like other primal entities (such as the Earth, Night and Time), Tartarus is also considered to be a primordial force or deity. In Greek mythology, Tartarus is both a deity and a place in the underworld. In ancient Orphic sources and in the mystery"
"movement with the same core beliefs that were later associated with the name of Orphism. Orphism (religion) Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; ) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, as well as from the Thracians, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned. Orphics also revered Persephone (who annually descended into the Underworld for a season and then returned) and Dionysus or Bacchus (who also descended into the Underworld and returned). Orpheus was said to have invented the"
"Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; , ""sleep"") is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. In the Greek mythology, Hypnos is the son of Nyx (""The Night"") and Erebus (""The Darkness""). His brother is Thanatos (""Death""). Both siblings live in the underworld (""Hades"") or in Erebus, another valley of the Greek underworld. According to rumors, Hypnos lived in a big cave, which the river Lethe (""Forgetfulness"") comes from and where night and day meet. His bed is made of ebony, on the entrance of the cave grow a number of poppies and other hypnotic plants."
"abduction by the god of the Underworld, her mother Ceres' frantic search for her, and her eventual but temporary restitution to the world above. In Latin literature, several versions are known, all similar in most respects to the myths of Greek Persephone's abduction by the King of the underworld, named variously in Greek sources as Hades or Pluto. ""Hades"" can mean both the hidden Underworld and its king (""The hidden one""), who in early Greek versions of the myth is a dark, unsympathetic figure; Persephone is ""Kore"" (""The Maiden""), taken against her will; in the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries, her captor"
"in various mythology, with links to corresponding articles. This list includes rulers or guardians of the underworld in various mythologies, with links to corresponding articles. Underworld The underworld is the world of the dead in various religious traditions, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization, and ""may be as old as humanity itself"". Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance"
"was reused in a structure in Roman Egypt. The Greek god Hades is known in Greek mythology as the king of the underworld, a place where souls live after death. The Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the gods, would take the dead soul of a person to the underworld (sometimes called Hades or the House of Hades). Hermes would leave the soul on the banks of the River Styx, the river between life and death. Charon, also known as the ferry-man, would take the soul across the river to Hades, if the soul had gold: Upon burial, the family"
"connecting two horizontally stacked décollements and thus ""under the earth"". Chthonic Chthonic (, ; from , ""in, under, or beneath the earth"", from ""earth"") literally means ""subterranean"", but the word in English describes deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in Ancient Greek religion. The Greek word is one of several for ""earth""; it typically refers to that which is under the earth, rather than the living surface of the land (as ""Gaia"" or ""Ge"" does), or the land as territory (as does). Chthonic, a form of ""khthonie"" and ""khthonios"", has a precise meaning in Greek; it refers primarily to"
"Orphism (religion) Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; ) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, as well as from the Thracians, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned. Orphics also revered Persephone (who annually descended into the Underworld for a season and then returned) and Dionysus or Bacchus (who also descended into the Underworld and returned). Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus. Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to the 6th"
"Chthonic Chthonic (, ; from , ""in, under, or beneath the earth"", from ""earth"") literally means ""subterranean"", but the word in English describes deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in Ancient Greek religion. The Greek word is one of several for ""earth""; it typically refers to that which is under the earth, rather than the living surface of the land (as ""Gaia"" or ""Ge"" does), or the land as territory (as does). Chthonic, a form of ""khthonie"" and ""khthonios"", has a precise meaning in Greek; it refers primarily to the manner and method of offering sacrifices to a specific"
"underworld, and Nix (a respelling of Nyx), mother of Charon, is the goddess of darkness and the night. Kerberos is a giant three-headed dog who guards the entrance to the underworld. The fifth moon is named for the river Styx that forms the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. The name of Eris's moon Dysnomia was suggested by its discoverer Michael E. Brown, who also suggested the name of the dwarf planet. The name has two meanings: in mythology Dysnomia (lawlessness) is the daughter of Eris (chaos). However, the name is also an intentional reference to"
"Dīs Pater Dīs Pater (pronounced ) was a Roman god of the underworld. Dis was originally associated with fertile agricultural land and mineral wealth, and since those minerals came from underground, he was later equated with the chthonic deities Pluto (Hades) and Orcus. ""Dīs Pater"" was commonly shortened to simply Dīs and this name has since become an alternative name for the underworld or a part of the underworld, such as the City of Dis of Dante's ""The Divine Comedy"", which comprises Lower Hell. It is often thought that Dīs Pater was also a Celtic god. This confusion arises from"
"consort was Nut, otherwise known as the sky. Greek mythology likewise has female deities associated with the sky, such as Dike, goddess of justice, who sits on the right side of Zeus as his advisor, and Eos, goddess of dawnand Hades (a male) as god of the underworld. The term allochthon in structural geology is used to describe a large block of rock that has been moved from its original site of formation, usually by low angle thrust faulting. From the Greek ""allo"", meaning other, and ""chthon"", designating the process of the land mass being moved under the earth and"
"Charun In Etruscan mythology, Charun (also spelled Charu, or Karun) acted as one of the psychopompoi of the underworld (not to be confused with the lord of the underworld, known to the Etruscans as Aita). He is often portrayed with Vanth, a winged goddess also associated with the underworld. His name was imported from Greek Charon, although it is uncertain whether Etruscans had a native name for a god of the underworld before this. As suggested by alternations in the Etruscan language such as ""θu"" ""one"" changing to ""θunśna"" ""first"", ""lev"" ""lion"" (from Greek leōn) and ""Apulu"" (from Greek ""Apóllōn""),"
"underworld. These two constellations, along with the eagle Aquila and the fish Piscis Austrinus, were introduced to the Greeks around 500 BCE; they marked the winter and summer solstices respectively. Furthermore, Hydra had been a landmark as it had straddled the celestial equator in antiquity. Corvus and Crater also featured in the iconography of Mithraism, which is thought to have been of middle-eastern origin before spreading into Ancient Greece and Rome. Crater is identified with a story from Greek mythology in which a crow or raven serves Apollo, and is sent to fetch water, but it rests lazily on the"
"Nyx: Erebus features little in Greek mythological tradition and literature, but is said to have fathered several other deities with Nyx; depending on the source of the mythology, this union includes Aether, Hemera, the Hesperides, Hypnos, the Moirai, Geras, Styx, Charon, Nemesis and Thanatos. In Greek literature, the name Erebus is also used as a region of the Greek underworld where the dead pass immediately after dying, and is sometimes used interchangeably with Tartarus. Erebus In Greek mythology, Erebus , also Erebos (, ""Érebos"", ""deep darkness, shadow"" or ""covered""), was often conceived as a primordial deity, representing the personification of"
"Sky and his other brother Poseidon sovereign over the Sea. His central narrative is the abduction of Persephone to be his wife and the queen of his realm. ""Plouton"" as the name of the ruler of the underworld first appears in Greek literature of the Classical period, in the works of the Athenian playwrights and of the philosopher Plato, who is the major Greek source on its significance. Under the name Pluto, the god appears in other myths in a secondary role, mostly as the possessor of a quest-object, and especially in the descent of Orpheus or other heroes to"
"in a dark forest or garden and that might capture and eat humans, or be indifferent or even benevolent—all depending on the tale. Note that the Italian term ""orco"" is derived directly from the Latin Orcus, and is correctly translated into English as ""ogre"". In early Roman mythology, Orcus was a god of the underworld, and in medieval times, by association with death and the underworld, the term ""orcus"" also began to see use for other monstrous creatures and incorporated into the medieval bestiary. In particular, the Italian ""orco"" implies an anthropomorphic creature with bestial aspects, often demonic, suggestive of"
"between the Upper and Lower worlds because they lived in cracks and holes in the ground. The Gorgons of Greek myth were snake-women (a common hybrid) whose gaze would turn flesh into stone, the most famous of them being Medusa. Nagas, ""the demon cobra"" and naginis were human-headed snakes whose kings and queens who lived in jewel-encrusted underground or underwater paradises and who were perpetually at war with Garuda the Sun-bird.In Egyptian myth, every morning the serpent Aapep (symbolising chaos) attacked the Sunship (symbolising order). Aapep would try to engulf the ship and the sky was drenched red at dawn"
"Persephone In Greek mythology, Persephone ( ; ), also called Kore ( ; ""the maiden""), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Homer describes her as the formidable, venerable majestic queen of the underworld, who carries into effect the curses of men upon the souls of the dead. She becomes the queen of the underworld through her abduction by and subsequent marriage to Hades, the god of the underworld. The myth of her abduction represents her function as the personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest; hence, she is also associated with"
"deities of the underworld. Cthonic Zeus was called Eubuleus, ""the good counselor"", and the ferryman of the river of the underworld Charon, ""glad"". Despoina and ""Hagne"" were probably euphemistic surnames of Persephone, therefore he theorizes that the cult of Persephone was the continuation of the worship of a Minoan Great goddess. The labyrinth was both a winding dance-ground and, in the Greek view, a prison with the dreaded Minotaur at its centre. It is possible that some religious practices, especially the mysteries, were transferred from a Cretan priesthood to Eleusis, where Demeter brought the poppy from Crete. Besides these similarities,"
"as psychological underworld beneath the conscious mind. The Acheron was sometimes referred to as a lake or swamp in Greek literature, as in Aristophanes' ""The Frogs"" and Euripides' ""Alcestis"". In Dante's ""Inferno"", the Acheron river forms the border of Hell. Following Greek mythology, Charon ferries souls across this river to Hell. Those who were neutral in life sit on the banks. The name Acheron was used as a reference within the Alien film series for the planet LV426 (where the crashed alien vessel containing the face-huggers was originally found). Known solely by its alphanumeric designation during the first film, the"
"as psychopomp was stationed. In the Orphic tradition, the Cocytus is one of four underworld rivers. Although some Greek myths deal with themes of incest, in Orphic genealogies lines of kinship, express theological and cosmogonical concepts, not the realities of human family relations. The ancient Greek ""nymphē"" in the first line can mean ""nymph"", but also ""bride"" or ""young woman"". As an underworld ""queen"" ""(Basileia)"", Melinoë is at least partially syncretized with Persephone herself. Melinoë is described in the invocation of the Orphic Hymn as ""krokopeplos,"" ""clad in saffron"" (see ""peplos""), an epithet in ancient Greek poetry for moon goddesses."
"would have to follow behind Orpheus and he could not turn around to look at her. Once Orpheus reached the entrance, he turned around, longing to look at his beautiful wife, only to watch as his wife faded back into the underworld. He was forbidden to return to the underworld a second time and he spent his life playing his music to the birds and the mountains. Greek underworld In mythology, the Greek underworld is an otherworld where souls go after death. The original Greek idea of afterlife is that, at the moment of death, the soul is separated from"
"Underworld. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants and flowers, and Persephone's coming to earth from Hades marked the rebirth of nature, a common theme in all these traditions. What remains of the customs today, echoes these traditions of antiquity. A common, until recently, May Day custom involved the annual revival of a youth called Adonis, or alternatively of Dionysus, or of Maios (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the Son of Maia). In a simple theatrical ritual, the significance of which has long been forgotten, a chorus of young girls sang a song over a youth lying on the ground,"
"More elaborate names of the same genre were ""Ploutodótēs"" () or ""Ploutodotḗr"" (), meaning ""giver of wealth"". Epithets of Hades include ""Agesander"" () and ""Agesilaos"" (), both from ""ágō"" (, ""lead"", ""carry"" or ""fetch"") and ""anḗr"" (, ""man"") or ""laos"" (, ""men"" or ""people""), describing Hades as the god who carries away all. Nicander uses the form ""Hegesilaus"" (). He was also referred to as ""Zeus katachthonios"" (Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος), meaning ""the Zeus of the Underworld"", by those avoiding his actual name, as he had complete control over the Underworld. In Greek mythology, Hades, the god of the underworld, was the"
"whose individual identities are obscure. Di inferi The di inferi or dii inferi (Latin, ""the gods below"") were a shadowy collective of ancient Roman deities associated with death and the underworld. The epithet ""inferi"" is also given to the mysterious Manes, a collective of ancestral spirits. The most likely origin of the word ""Manes"" is from ""manus"" or ""manis"" (more often in Latin as its antonym ""immanis""), meaning ""good"" or ""kindly,"" which was a euphemistic way to speak of the ""inferi"" so as to avert their potential to harm or cause fear. Varro (1st century BC) distinguishes among the ""di"
"the underworld. The Greek poet Stasinos (, flourished ca. 800 – 900 BC) mentioned them in the ""Cypria"" (""Κυπρία"") in which he sings of the flowers of the island of Cyprus. The legend of Persephone comes to us primarily in the anonymous seventh century BC Homeric Hymn ""To Demeter"" (""Εἲς Δημήτραν""). In the opening scene, the author describes the narcissus, and its role as a lure to trap the young Persephone. The flower, she later recounts to her mother was the last flower she reached for; """"νάρκισσόν θ᾽, ὃν ἔφυσ᾽ ὥς περ κρόκον εὐρεῖα χθών"""" (""l."" 428) ""and the narcissus"
"is known as Pluto; they form a divine couple who rule the underworld together, and receive Eleusinian initiates into some form of better afterlife. Renamed thus, the king of the underworld is distanced from his consort's violent abduction. In the early 1st century Ovid gives two poetic versions of the myth in Latin; one in Book 5 of his ""Metamorphoses"" (Book 5) and another in Book 4 of his ""Fasti"". An early 5th century Latin version of the same myth is Claudian's ""De raptu Proserpinae""; in most cases, these Latin works identify Proserpina's underworld abductor and later consort by the"
"the underworld because it failed to regenerate when cut back too severely. Athenian households in mourning were garlanded with boughs of cypress. Cypress was used to fumigate the air during cremations. It was among the plants that were suitable for making wreaths to adorn statues of Pluto, the classical ruler of the underworld. The poet Ovid, who wrote during the reign of Augustus, records the best-known myth that explains the association of the cypress with grief. The handsome boy Cyparissus, a favorite of Apollo, accidentally killed a beloved tame stag. His grief and remorse were so inconsolable that he asked"
"to one story from Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there is an ancient city called Shamballa which is located inside the Earth. According to the Ancient Greeks, there were caverns under the surface which were entrances leading to the underworld, some of which were the caverns at Tainaron in Lakonia, at Troezen in Argolis, at Ephya in Thesprotia, at Herakleia in Pontos, and in Ermioni. In Thracian and Dacian legends, it is said that there are underground chambers occupied by an ancient god called Zalmoxis. In Mesopotamian religion there is a story of a man who, after traveling through the darkness of"
"Styx officially became the name of one of Pluto's moons. The other moons of Pluto (Charon, Nix, Hydra, and Kerberos) also have names from Greco-Roman mythology related to the underworld. Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ) is a deity and a river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, often called ""Hades"", which is also the name of its ruler. The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron, Lethe, and Cocytus all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which sometimes is also called the Styx. According to Herodotus, the river Styx originates near Feneos. Styx"