Elysium is, in Greek mythology, part of the underworld in the kingdom of the dead, where the god Hades ruled . This place was inhabited by various spirits and blessed souls of those who during life were a hero and committed virtuous deeds.
Elysium and Tartarus
The souls of mortals who led good lives were sent to Elysium, to the Champs Elysees, where golden flowers blossomed in beautiful meadows. Virtuous spirits enjoyed peace and happiness there. The underworld as a whole was ruled by Hades and other gods and goddesses associated with death, disease, sleep, ghosts, witchcraft and spells.
This ominous kingdom consisted of various regions. The souls of mortals, who have proven themselves well in life, went to Elysium, and those who did evil on earth and did evil deeds were sent to Tartarus and forever imprisoned in the dark depths, in the bowels of the earth, where no ray of sun had ever appeared, and this torture lasted forever.
Elysium: meaning of the word
Elysium - it was an ancient Greek paradise, originally intended for the heroes of Greek mythology, to whom the gods granted immortality. According to ancient Greek mythology, this place delighted its inhabitants with eternal spring and shady groves, there was its own sun and its stars. Elysium is a land of perfect happiness also for those who have lived righteous lives.
In this blissful place, the Leta River flowed, whose waters betrayed all previous events into oblivion. In the Champs Elysees, the air was always soft and fragrant, and in a golden meadow thousands of brilliant flowers shone and beautiful birdsong sounded. Residents were freed from all sorts of duties and troubles, they were amusing themselves and doing their favorite things.
Eternal happiness
Elysium - what is it? This is a place that was intended for godly souls, illuminated by its stars and the sun, where eternal happiness reigned. However, before getting there, one had to appear before the court of the underworld. After that, the good souls of the dead should have been drunk from the Leta River, which made them forget all the suffering and everything that they had ever done on the living earth.
Paradise in the Underworld
Elysium is the final resting place of heroic, blessed, and virtuous souls. This golden city, in which euphoria reigned constantly. The ancient Greeks generally believed that after death, human souls continued their sad existence, but in the afterlife. But, for example, the poets and writers of that time, Homer and Hesiod, mentioned in their works another place - some heavenly fields where blessed heroes live, including Diomedes, Achilles, Menelaus and others. These were all those whom the gods had chosen worthy of eternal happiness.
The concept of Elysium was also associated with pre-Greek religious forms. There was an idea that this place was indeed located on the Blessed Islands on Earth. However, literary traditions, this paradise was moved to the world of the dead. In Homer's work "Aeneid," the hero Aeneas meets his father there. A similar idea of eternal paradise is taken as a basis in many afterlife promises of various religions and mystical cults.