Tartarus

The Realm of the Dead, the Great Pit of Greek Lore, The Stormy Pit of Tataros, the Deepest Realm of Greek Mythology, Tartarus is an entity in itself and its name has been used synonymous with Hades and the Underworld. This is the Greek Hell, or rather, the inspiration for what Hell becomes.

This place is both a location and an entity, it is a realm and a god incarnate. Like Gaia who is a goddess and the earth, Tartarus, her brother is the Pit and a Primordial god. This is where the most cruel and torturous punishments given by the gods are held. Those who greatly have offended the gods. It is in Tartarus that Uranus condemned his first sets of children, the Cyclops, and the Hecatoncherries. Then, after the fall of Uranus. Cronus kept his siblings there. Zeus and the Olympians helped free his uncles, the Cyclops, and Hecatoncherries, to take on the Titans in the Great Titanomachy.

Tartarus is a place of darkness and punishment. It is a realm found deep underneath the earth, below the fabric of chaos, underneath the first layers of the Underworld.

Tartarus had four siblings, according to Hesiod’s Theogony: Gaia, Eros, Erebus, and Nyx. In other myths, it is described as a child of Chaos and Gaia. It was both a deity and a place with a river surrounding and leading into it. This river, the Phlegethon, is called the flaming river, the river of fire to prevent any from escaping. It is described as a labyrinthine cave system underneath all other realms.

Tartarus was the place where the gods banished their enemies and the worst of humanity after death. It was said to be a place of eternal darkness and suffering, where the wicked were punished for their crimes.

The poet Hesiod described Tartarus as a place of “immeasurable” depth, where the punishment of the wicked was “as far beneath the earth as the earth is beneath the sky.” The playwright Aeschylus also referenced Tartarus, describing it as a place of “endless, ever-flowing woe” and “pain unceasing.”

The Imprisoned

Some of the most famous figures in Greek mythology who were said to be imprisoned in Tartarus include:

The Hecatoncherries – imprisoned by Uranus and Cronus, but freed by Zeus calling for aid

The Cyclopes – Imprisoned by Uranus and Cronus, but freed by Zeus calling for aid

The Titans – Only the ones found guilty of aiding Cronus during the war against the Olympians, including Hyperion, Menoetius, and Cronus, amongst others.

The Giants – Banished after rising against the Olympians after the fall of the Titans.

Cronus – though one of the titans, Cronus, being the King of the Titans was cut into pieces and was then spread out throughout the underworld. Some say h put himself back together and lived out his existence as a minor Roman god in Italy, named Saturn.

Prometheus – was punished for giving fire to humanity. In the case of Prometheus, it is also written, that he had been tied up to a mountainside said to be deep to the east in the western Himalayas.

The 4 Punished in the Pit

These are the four most famous beings who are only famous because of how they condemned themselves to the pit.

Sysiphus – attempted to trick Hades and Persephone and cheat his way out of the underworld and back to the world of the living after having died.

Tityos – A giant born of the earth. He tried to rape the mother of Apollo and Artemis, Leto a Titaness daughter of Phoebe and Crius

Ixion – Tried to rape Hera, the Queen of the Gods in the very house of Zeus

Tantalus – Tried to manipulate the gods into cannibalism.

In Literature and Modern Culture

The concept of a place of eternal punishment for the wicked, similar to Tartarus, has been featured in numerous works of literature and pop culture. For example,

Dante’s Inferno – Part of his epic poem The Divine Comedy, is based on the idea of a journey through the circles of Hell, which is similar to Tartarus.

God of War – The player must battle their way through hordes of monsters and demons.

The House of Hades – in their journey across the Underworld, Percy Jackson and Annabeth chase face the worst of the worst down in the depths trying to make an escape.

In conclusion, Tartarus was a significant concept in Greek mythology, representing a place of eternal darkness and punishment for the wicked. Its legacy has endured in literature and pop culture, and it continues to be a source of inspiration for creative works today.