Greek underworld

Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and riches and the King of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated, overthrew, and replaced their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint sovereignty over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, which was long the domain of Gaia, available to all

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards, fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greeks (a name later adopted by the Romans) for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia. His wine, music, and ecstatic dance were considered to free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His thyrsus, a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wan

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: Dēmḗtēr ; Doric: Dāmā́tēr) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo ( Dēṓ).

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore () or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who later took her into marriage. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her cyclical return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, remain hidden for a period, sprout from the earth, a

thumb|right|Heracles, wearing his characteristic lion-skin, club in right hand, leash in left, presenting a three-headed Cerberus, snakes coiling from his snouts, necks and front paws, to a frightened [[Eurystheus hiding in a giant pot. Caeretan hydria (c. 530 BC) from Caere (Louvre E701)]]

250 px|thumb|Gustave Doré's illustration of King Minos for [[Dante Alighieri's Inferno]] thumb|Mural of Minos at the National and Kapodistrain University of Athens

In Greek mythology, Nyx (; ) is the goddess and personification of the night. In Hesiod's Theogony, she is the offspring of Chaos, and the mother of Aether (Upper Sky) and Hemera (Day) by Erebus (Darkness). By herself, she produces a brood of children which are mainly personifications of primarily negative forces. She features in a number of early cosmogonies, which place her as one of the first deities to exist. In the works of poets and playwrights, she lives at the ends of the Earth, and is often described as a black-robed goddess who drives through the sky in a chariot pulled by horses. In

thumb|right|250px|alt=Sisyphus depicted on a black-figure amphora vase |Persephone supervising [[Sisyphus in the Underworld, Attic black-figure amphora, ]]

Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associated with crossroads, night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon. Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. She had popular followings among the witches of Thessaly, and an important sanctuary among the Carians of Asia Minor in Lagina. The earlies

Greek mythical siblings

thumb|right|Attic red-figure [[lekythos attributed to the Tymbos painter showing Charon welcoming a soul into his boat, c. 500–450 BC]]

In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the mother of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia. She sided with Zeus in his war against the Titans, and because of this, to honor her, Zeus decreed that the solemn oaths of the gods be sworn by the water of Styx.

thumb|upright=1.2|Clytemnestra tries to awaken the sleeping Erinyes. Detail from an [[Apulian red-figure bell-krater, 380–370 BC.]]

In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; , Thánatos, pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω thnēskō "(I) die, am dying") was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person.

In Greek mythology, Erebus (; ), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness. In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the offspring of Chaos, and the father of Aether and Hemera (Day) by Nyx (Night); in other Greek cosmogonies, he is the father of Aether, Eros, and Metis, or the first ruler of the gods. In genealogies given by Roman authors, he begets a large progeny of personifications upon Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx), while in an Orphic theogony, he is the offspring of Chronos (Time).

The Acheron ( or ; Acheron or Ἀχερούσιος Acherousios; Acherontas) is a river in the Epirus region of northwest Greece.

thumb|315x315px|Depiction of Rhadamanthys in the Tomb of Judgement, Lefkadia, c.300–250 BC

Aeacus (; also spelled Eacus; Ancient Greek: Αἰακός) was a king of the island of Aegina in Greek mythology. He was a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, and the father of the heroes Peleus and Telamon. According to legend, he was famous for his justice, and after he died he became one of the three judges in the underworld alongside Minos and Rhadamanthus. In another story, he assisted Poseidon and Apollo in building the walls of Troy.

In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: , 'sleep'), also spelled Hypnus, is the personification of sleep. The Roman equivalent is Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was the dearest friend of the Muses.

Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of the Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in a temple atop Rome's Aventine Hill, which she shared with the grain-goddess Ceres and the wine god Liber (Liber Pater).

In Greek mythology, Lethe (; Ancient Greek: Lḗthē; , ) was one of the rivers of the underworld of Hades. In Classical Greek, the word lethe (λήθη) literally means "forgetting", "forgetfulness". The river is also known as Amelēs Potamos, or the "river of unmindfulness".

thumb|Eurydice with Orpheus and [[Hermes, 1st-century Roman marble relief in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy.]] Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music.

location in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon () or Pyriphlegethon (, ) is one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of the underworld, along with the rivers Styx, Lethe, Cocytus, and Acheron.

thumb|upright=1.34|Odysseus consults the soul of the prophet [[Tiresias in his katabasis during Book 11 of The Odyssey.]]

allusive term for a coin placed in the mouth of the dead to pay Charon to ferry them to the underworld

Greek mythological spirit of the underworld

in cosmogony, the primordial state of the universe or cosmos

aspect of religion

thumb|Ploutonion at Hierapolis|Pluto's Gate ("Old Plutonion" adjacent to the Temple of Apollo) at [[Hierapolis]] A ploutonion (, lit. "Place of Plouton") is a sanctuary specially dedicated to the ancient Greek god Plouton (i.e., Hades). Only a few such shrines are known from classical sources, usually at locations that produce poisonous emissions and were considered to represent an entrance to the underworld.

In Greek mythology, the Arae (; ) were female spirits of curses, particularly of the curses placed by the dead upon those guilty of their death; they were associated with the underworld. They can also curse men such that the cattle of the sun god Helios would have done if they were harmed by any man, as in Homer's Odyssey.

legendary entrances to the underworld

In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Enodia, also spelled Ennodia and Einodia (; ) is a distinctly Thessalian goddess, identified in certain areas or by certain ancient writers with Artemis, Hecate or Persephone. She was paired with Zeus in cult and sometimes shared sanctuaries with him. Enodia was primarily worshipped in Ancient Thessaly and was well known in Hellenistic Macedonia.