The Underworld. better known as Hades after the God who ruled it. was a dark and drab topographic point where the sunglassess. or souls. of those who died lived. In the following few proceedingss. I will state you about how one came to decease. the topography of the Underworld. and the existences whom dwelled at that place. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; Your whole life was planned and plotted by the Fates. The Fates were the three goddesses who controlled the fate of everyone from the clip they were born to the clip they died.

They were: Clotho. the spinster. who spun the yarn of a person’s life. Lachesis. the apporitioner. who decided how much times was to be allowed each individual. and Atropos. the inevitable. who cut the yarn when you were supposed to decease. When Atropos cut your yarn you were dead and so you made your journey to Hades. Upon decease. the shadiness is lead by Hermes to the entryway of the Underworld and to the Bankss of the Acheron. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; There were five rivers that made up the Underworld.

They were the Acheron ( the river of suffering ) . Cocytus ( the river of plaint ) . Phlegethon ( river of fire ) . Lethe ( river of forgetfulness ) . and the Styx ( river of hatred ) . This verse form. written by an anon. author. was written about the rivers in the Underworld. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; ”Abhorred Styx. the inundation of deathly hatred. & lt ; br & gt ; Sad Acheron of sorrow black and deep ; & lt ; br & gt ; Cocytus named of plaint loud & lt ; br & gt ; Heard on the contrite watercourse ; fierce Phlegethon & lt ; br & gt ; Whose moving ridges of torrent fire inflame with fury. & lt ; br & gt ; Far off from these a slow and soundless watercourse. & lt ; br & gt ; Lethe. the river of limbo. axial rotations & lt ; br & gt ;

Her watery maze. whereof who drinks & lt ; br & gt ; Forthwith his former province and being forgets. & lt ; br & gt ; Forgets both joy and heartache. pleasance and hurting. ” & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; When one would decease. the household would put one obol. or a coin. under the deceased’s lingua. This coin would pay as menu to Charon who would ferry the dead over the Acheron River. Charon is the ferryman who is frequently depicted as an old sulky adult male. or as a winged devil transporting a dual cock. Those who can non afford to pay Charon were doomed to inquire the Bankss of the Acheron River for one hundred old ages. Guarding the Underworld was the three-headed Canis familiaris Cerberus.

He permitted new liquors to come in. but ne’er one to go forth. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; When you arrived at the Underworld. three Judgess determined your sentence. They were Rhadamanthus. Minos the first. and Aeacus. Rhadamanthus. the boy of Zeus and Europa. was rewarded to be justice because of the justness he showed on Earth. Minos the First. the boy of Zeus and Europa. was another justice who. before he died. was the swayer of Crete. and most know him from the narrative of Theseus and the Minotaur. The 3rd justice is Aeacus. the boy of Zeus and the nymph Aegina. assisted Poseidon and Apollo build the walls of the metropolis Troy.

After his decease Zeus rewarded him the place of justice. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; You could travel to three different topographic points in the Underworld. depending on your life on Earth and what you had done. Most shades went to the Asphodel Fields. but before you entered you drank from the Lethe River. doing you to bury everything that had happened in your past life. Asphodel was an ugly. grey. ghostly weed that covered the Fields. This topographic point was for the normal. mundane individual. who did nil special in his or her life. The 2nd topographic point they could travel was the Elysian Fields or Elysium.

Elysium was reserved for the heroes. or people the Gods favored. Regular banquets. feasts. and Hunts were held at that place. The 3rd and concluding topographic point you could travel to was the lowest part of the universe. called Tartarus. It was surrounded by a wall of bronze and beyond that treble bed of dark. Tartarus. presided over by Kronos. was where the souls went who had defied the Gods in some manner. The Hundred-headed Giants guarded it. Around Tartarus is Phlegethon. with its fires and colliding stones. One of the Furies. Tisiphone. sits upon the Fe tower. with her bloody robe. and insomniac twenty-four hours and dark. guards the entryway.

& lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; Few people dwell in the Underworld. because of its glumness and darkness. Hades. the King of the Dead. regulations over the full Underworld. The God was a awful figure to the life. who were rather careful how they swore curses to his name. To many people. to express his name was scaring. so they used another word in its topographic point. Since all cherished minerals came from under the Earth. the people idea of Hades as really affluent. He was was sometimes referred to as Ploutos. intending wealth. This accounts for the name given him by the Romans. who called him Pluto.

Hades sits on a throne of coal black and carries a sceptre. He besides has a helmet that makes him unseeable. given to him by the Cyclopes. Persephone. Hades’s married woman. besides lives with him in his castle. Along with Charon. the ferryman. the Furies live down at that place besides. The rages are the three girls of Mother Earth. conceived from the blood of Uranus. They were powerful goddesses that personified scruples and punish people for their offenses. They were Megaera ( green-eyed monster ) . Tisiphone ( blood retaliator ) . and Alecto ( unceasing in chase ) .

They were normally depicted as winged adult females with serpent hair. When called upon they would hunt their victims till they died in a fury of lunacy or self-destruction. & lt ; br & gt ; & lt ; br & gt ; The Underworld is what the Greeks and Romans believed you went after you died. It was where everything atrocious. immorality. and sad lived. If you weren’t a hero or a favourite of the Gods you were sent to that atrocious topographic point. What a awful thing to look frontward to after your life was completed on Earth. I hope you enjoyed larning about the Underworld and the beliefs of the Greek and Roman peoples afterlife. Thank You.