Tartarus

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Tartarus

In classic Roman mythology, below Heaven

Heaven

Heaven may refer to the physical heavens, the atmosphere or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English, however since at least AD 1000, it is typically also used to refer to an afterlife plane of existence in various religions and spirituality philosophy, often descri...
, Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
, and Pontus

Pontus (mythology)

File:ConstantaPontos.JPGIn Greek mythology, Pontus was an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god, one of the protogenoi, the "first-born". Pontos was the son of Gaia , the Earth: Hesiod says that Gaia brought forth Pontos out of herself, without coupling....
is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
???ta???, deep place). It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld

Hades

Hades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive case , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"....
. In the Gorgias
Gorgias (dialogue)

Gorgias is an important Socratic Dialogue in which Plato sets the rhetoric, whose specialty is persuasion, in opposition to the philosopher, whose specialty is dissuasion, or refutation....
, Plato (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus. As a place of punishment, it can be considered a hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear Divinity history often depict Hell as endless ....
.

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Encyclopedia

In classic Roman mythology, below Heaven

Heaven

Earth

Pontus (mythology)

Ancient Greek

Hades

Hell

In many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear Divinity history often depict Hell as endless ....
. The classic Hades

Hades

Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
Sheol

Sheol

Sheol , in Hebrew ???? , is the "abode of the dead", the "underworld", or "pit". Sheol is the common destination of both the righteous and the unrighteous dead, as recounted in Ecclesiastes and Book of Job....
.

Like other primal entities (such as the earth and time), Tartarus is also a primordial force or deity.

Tartarus in Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Tartarus is both a deity and a place in the underworld

Greek underworld

The Greek underworld is a general term used to describe the various realms of Greek mythology which were believed to lie beneath the earth or beyond the horizon....
even lower than Hades

Hades

Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
's Theogony
Theogony

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogy of the polytheism of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC....
, c. 700 BC, the deity Tartarus was the third force to manifest in the yawning void of Chaos.

As for the place, the Greek poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
Hesiod asserts that a bronze anvil falling from heaven

Heaven

Earth

ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
(c. 700), Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
asserts that Tartarus is "as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth." As a place so far from the sun and so deep in the earth, Tartarus is hemmed in by three layers of night. It is a dank and wretched pit engulfed in murky gloom. It is one of the primordial objects that sprung from Chaos

Chaos (mythology)

In Greek myth, Chaos or Khaos is the original state of existence from which the first gods appeared. In other words, the dark void of space....
(along with Gaia

Gaia (mythology)

Gaia Gaia is a Greek primordial gods and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess....
(Earth) and Eros

Eros (love)

Eros is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word "erotas" means " love". The term erotic is derived from eros....
(Love)).

While, according to Greek mythology

Mythology

The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that often use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity....
, The Realm of Hades is the place of the dead, Tartarus also has a number of inhabitants. When Cronus

Cronus

Cronus or Kronos, , was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titan , divine descendants of Gaia , the earth, and Uranus , the sky....
, the ruling Titan

Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
, came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes

Cyclops

In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops , is a member of a primordial race of giant , each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead....
in Tartarus. Some myths also say he imprisoned the three Hecatonchires

Hecatonchires

The Hecatonchires, or Hekatonkheires, were three gargantuan figures of an archaic stage of Greek mythology. According to Hesiod they were children of Gaia and Uranus , simply the issue of Earth and Sky, or of Earth and Sea thus part of the very beginning of things in the submerged prehistory of Greek myth, though they played no part...
(giants with fifty heads and one hundred arms). Zeus released them, and defeated Kampe

Campe

A chthonic female monster in Greek mythology Kamp? was set by Kronos to guard the Hecatonchires and Cyclops in Tartarus after Kronos imprisoned them there; she was killed by Zeus when he rescued the Cyclopes for help in the Titanomachy Campe was a she-dragon with a woman's head and torso and a scorpion-like tail....
, to aid in his conflict with the Titan giants. The gods of Olympus eventually defeated the Titans. Many, but not all of the Titans, were cast into Tartarus. Epimetheus

Epimetheus

Epimetheus may mean one of several things:*Epimetheus the Titan .*Epimetheus the natural satellite of Saturn .*1810 Epimetheus is an asteroid....
, Metis

Metis

Metis meant "cunningness" or "craft, skill" in Ancient Greek.Metis may also refer to:* Metis , a Titaness and the first wife of Zeus...
, and Prometheus

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to human beings for their use....
are some Titans who were not banished to Tartarus. Cronus

Cronus

Cronus or Kronos, , was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titan , divine descendants of Gaia , the earth, and Uranus , the sky....
was imprisoned in Tartarus. In Tartarus, the Hecatonchires guarded prisoners. Later, when Zeus overcame the monster Typhon

Typhon

In Greek mythology, Typhon , also Typheus/Typhoeus , Typhaon or Typhos is the final son of Gaia , fathered by Tartarus, and is the god of wind....
, the offspring of Tartarus and Gaia

Gaia (mythology)

Gaia Gaia is a Greek primordial gods and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess....
, he threw the monster into the same pit.

Originally, Tartarus was used only to confine dangers to the gods of Olympus. In later mythologies, Tartarus became the place where the punishment fits the crime. For example Sisyphus

Sisyphus

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus , was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
, who was punished for telling the father of Aegina

Aegina (mythology)

Aegina was a figure of Greek mythology, the nymph of the island that bears her name, Aegina, lying in the Saronic Gulf between Attica and the Peloponnesos....
, a young woman kidnapped by Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
for one of his sexual gratifications, where she was and who had initially taken her. Zeus considered this an ultimate betrayal and saw to it that Sisyphus

Sisyphus

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus , was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
was forced to roll a large boulder up a mountainside, which, when he reached the crest, rolled back down, repeatedly.

Also found there was Ixion

Ixion

In Greek mythology, Ixion was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly, and a son of Ares or Antion or the notorious evildoer Phlegyas, whose name connotes "fiery"....
began to lust after Zeus' wife, Hera, and began to caress her under the table, but soon ceased at Zeus' warning. Later that night, having given Ixion a place to sleep, Zeus felt the need to test the guest's tolerance and willpower. Constructing a cloud-woman to mirror Hera

Hera

In the Twelve Olympians of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage....
in appearance, Zeus sent her, known as Nephele

Nephele

In Greek mythology, Nephele was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle .Greek myth also has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion, since he tried to rape the goddess....
, to Ixion's bed. He promptly slept with and impregnated the false Hera. As his punishment, he was banished to Tartarus to forever roll strapped to a wheel of flames, which represented his burning lust.

Tantalus

Tantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" ....
who was also graciously invited to dine with the gods, felt he should repay them for their kindness and hospitality, but in his pride, decided to see if he could deceive the gods. Tantalus

Tantalus

Pelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops , king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus, was venerated at Olympia, Greece, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Ancient Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the Peloponnesus, "land of Pelops", but for all Hellenes....
as a feast for the gods. Demeter, one of the goddesses who preferred to walk with the mortals, graciously accepted the food, but was immediately repulsed when she bit into the left shoulder. The gods all became violently ill and immediately left for Mt. Olympus. As his punishment for such a heinous act, Tantalus

Tantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" ....
was chained to a rock in the middle of a river in Tartarus with a berry bush hanging just out of reach above his head. Cursed with unquenchable thirst and unending hunger, Tantalus

Tantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" ....
constantly tried to reach the water or food, but each time, the water and berries would recede out of his reach for eternity. It is from Tantalus

Tantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" ....
's name and torment that we derive the English word 'Tantalise'.

According to Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
(c. 400), Rhadamanthus

Rhadamanthus

In Greek myths, Rhadamanthus was a wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa . Later accounts even make him out to be one of judges of the dead. His brothers were Sarpedon and Minos ....
, Aeacus

Aeacus

Aeacus was a Greek mythology king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.He was son of Zeus and Aegina , a daughter of the river-god Asopus....
and Minos

Minos

In Greek mythology, Minos was a mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa . After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Greek Underworld....
were the judges of the dead and chose who went to Tartarus. Rhadamanthus judged Asian souls; Aeacus judged European souls and Minos was the deciding vote and judge of the Greek.

Plato also proposes the concept that sinners were cast under the ground to be punished in accordance with their sins in the Myth of Er

Myth of Er

The Myth of Er is an eschatology legend that concludes Plato's dialogue known as Plato's Republic . The story begins as a man named Er dies in battle....
. Cronus (the god of Titans) was thrown down into the pits of Tartarus by his children.

New uses of Tartarus

Tartarus is used in the game Persona 3
Persona 3

is the third video game in the Persona console role-playing game series. The game was developed and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2 console system....
. It is a large labyrinth that the protagonist has to venture into to discover the secret of Persona.
Tartarus is also the name of the Chieftain of the Brutes in the Halo series, namely Halo 2
Halo 2

Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second video game title in the Halo and the sequel to 2001's critically-acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved....
.
In the MMORPG
MMORPG

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a large number of player interact with one another in a virtual world....
City of Villains
City of Villains

City of Villains is a MMORPG based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. Released on 2005-10-31 , the game is integrated with their previous release, City of Heroes....
, the archvillain Lord Recluse
Lord Recluse

Lord Recluse is a fictional super-villain and archnemesis of the super-hero The Statesman , from the PC videogames City of Heroes and City of Villains, created by Sean Michael Fish....
derives his power from Tartarus.
Tartarus is again used in the game Rise of the Argonauts
Rise of the Argonauts

Rise of the Argonauts is a 2008 third-person action adventure video-game developed by Liquid Entertainment and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360....
. It is used as the place Jason must travel to get back the Golden fleece.
The tartarus is a land dreadnaught used in the video game Tales of the Abyss and is used to stop the vibration in the planets core.

Roman Mythology's Tartarus

In Roman mythology, Tartarus is the place where sinners are sent. Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
describes it in the Aeneid
Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
as a gigantic place, surrounded by the flaming river Phlegethon

Phlegethon

In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon or Pyriphlegethon was one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of Hades, along with the rivers Styx, Lethe, Cocytus, and Acheron....
and triple walls to prevent sinners from escaping from it. It is guarded by a hydra

Lernaean Hydra

In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra The Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna , noisome offspring of the earth goddess, Gaia. It was said to be the sibling of the Nemean Lion, the Stymphalian birds, the Chimera ,and Cerberus....
with fifty black gaping jaws, which sits at a screeching gate protected by columns of solid adamantine

Adamant

Adamantand similar words are used to refer to any especially hardness substance, whether composed of diamond, some other gemstone, or some type of metal....
, a substance akin to diamond - so hard that nothing will cut through it. Inside, there is a castle with wide walls, and a tall iron turret. Tisiphone

Tisiphone

Tisiphone is the name of two figures in Greek mythology....
, one of the Erinyes

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes or Eumenides or Furies in Roman mythology were female, chthonic deities of revenge or supernatural personifications of the anger of the dead....
who represents revenge, stands guard sleepless at the top of this turret lashing a whip. There is a pit inside which is said to extend down into the earth twice as far as the distance from the lands of the living to Olympus

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 metres high . Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, the relative altitude from base to top....
. At the bottom of this pit lie the Titans

Titan (mythology)

Aloeus

In Greek mythology, Aloeus was the son of Poseidon and Canace, husband first of Iphimedeia and later of Eeriboea, and father of Salmoneus , Aloadae and Ephialtes , collectively known as the Aloadae....
and many other sinners. Still more sinners are contained inside Tartarus, with punishments similar to those of Greek myth.

New Testament

The term "Tartarus" is found only once in the Bible

Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
, at 2 Peter

Second Epistle of Peter

The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible, traditionally ascribed to Saint Peter, but in modern times widely regarded as Pseudonymity....
2:4: "God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them into pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment." The Book of Enoch

Book of Enoch

The Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphic work ascribed to Enoch, ancestor of Noah, the great-grandfather of Noah and son of Jared .While this book today is Biblical apocrypha in most Christian Churches, it was explicitly quoted in the New Testament and by many of the early Church Fathers....
, chapter XX, verse 2 specifically states that Tartarus is the place in which the angels who cohabited with women in Genesis 6 are to be reserved for judgment. It would seem to be a synonym of the "Abyss". In Luke 8:31, the Legion of demons begs Jesus not to send them to the Abyss. "The Beast" of Revelation, will come up out of the Abyss (Revelation 11:7; 17:8). Satan will be thrown into the Abyss for 1000 years (Revelation 20:3).

The term "Hades" appears in the religious texts of New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
times as a translation of the Old Testament

Old Testament

Sheol

Sheol , in Hebrew ???? , is the "abode of the dead", the "underworld", or "pit". Sheol is the common destination of both the righteous and the unrighteous dead, as recounted in Ecclesiastes and Book of Job....
.

In most English Bibles, the word Tartarus is simply translated as Hell

Hell

Gehenna

Gehenna is equated in Christian theology with the concept of hell. The name is derived from a geographical site in Jerusalem known as the Valley of Hinnom, one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City ....
, the Hinnom Valley, to mean hell. In some sense, this dark place matches the term's traditional meaning, a dark pit in which the Supreme God has cast his spirit enemies. However, it is separate from the Lake of Fire

Lake of Fire

A lake of fire appears, in both Ancient Egyptian and Christian religion, as a place of after-death punishment of the wicked. The phrase is used in four verses of the Book of Revelation....
, which is the place of eternal fiery punishment that most people think of when they think of "Hell". This is evidenced in Revelation 20, where Satan

Satan

Satan is a term that originates from the Abrahamic religions, being traditionally applied to an angel in Judeo-Christian belief, and to a Genie in Islamic belief....
is released from the Abyss (v. 3) and later thrown in the "Lake of Burning Sulfur" (v. 10), where he will be "tormented day and night forever and ever".

Tartarus

Tartarus in Greek Mythology

New uses of Tartarus

Roman Mythology's Tartarus

New Testament

See also