Kore

1. #1Underworldselective

   Keys: Underworld · Secondary: Rivers

   Overview: The Underworld is hidden from the human world and encompass the whole Afterlife, containing both heaven and hell, where the righteous could be lavished upon, and the unworthy punished. Perpetual torment awaits only the most exceptional sinners, while just a select few—heroes related to the Olympian gods—enjoy an eternal paradise. Upon death a soul is lead by Hermes to the entrance of the underworld and the ferry across the Acheron. Generally the Underworld is ruled by the Lord of the underworld, but has is vassals to the lord - ones that just rule over parts of the underworld.

   Geography: Entrances to the Underworld - If the domain of Hades was to be found underground, then many entrances to the Underworld exist.

   The Regions of the Underworld - Generally speaking, the Underworld can be thought of as being made up of three different regions; Tartarus, the Asphodel Meadows and Elysium.

   The Rivers of the Underworld - There are five rivers that traverse through the Underworld. These rivers are the River Styx, the river of hatred, the River Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, the River Phlegethon, the river of fire, the River Cocytus, the river of wailing, and the River Acheron, the river of pain. Once across the rivers an adamantine gate, guarded by Cerberus, forms the entrance to the kingdom

2. #2Tartarusselective

   Keys: Tartarus · Secondary: Underworld

   Tartarus is the deepest region of the Underworld, and a place where it would take an anvil nine days to reach if allowed to fall from the rest of the Underworld and which is where the dead are judged. Tartarus is the region of the Underworld normally associated with hell, and is the area where punishment and imprisonment is undertaken; as such it is the normal location of the imprisoned Titans, Tantalus, Ixion and Sisyphus. Tartarus is also where ferocious monsters and horrible criminals are banished, or where the gods imprison their rivals after a war. The three judges of the Underworld, Rhadamanthus, Aeacus and Minos, decided who would go to the realm of Hades and who would be banished to Tartarus. Zeus claims that Tartarus is “as far beneath the underworld lord as heaven is above earth” and that it “is the deepest gulf beneath the earth, the gates whereof are of iron and the threshold of bronze.”

3. #3The Asphodel Meadowsselective

   Keys: the Asphodel Meadows · Secondary: Underworld, Asphodel

   The Asphodel Meadows is the region of the Underworld where the majority of the deceased would end up, for it is the region of indifference, where those who had lived neither an overly good nor an overly bad life would end up. Having drunk from the River Lethe the deceased located here would forget their previous lives. The meadows are a realm of utter neutrality. In the Asphodel Meadows is the underworld city Asphodel. Its a neutral city where souls live in a similar way like on earth, just to feel "alive" again.

4. #4Elysiumselective

   Keys: Elysium, Elysian Fields · Secondary: Underworld

   Elysium, or the Elysian Fields, is the region of the Underworld where mortals are supposed to aspire to. Elysium is the home of the heroic, and the region of the Underworld most closely associated with paradise. Inhabitants of Elysium would spend an eternity of pleasure free from work and strife. The Underworld area called Elysium (or the Isles of the Blessed), are a place where only the most exceptional mortals were privileged with a life free of toils and pains. Ruled by either Rhadamanthus or Cronus (or both), Elysium is a land of eternal sunlight and rosy meadows, inhabited by the likes of Cadmus, Peleus, and Menelaus.

5. #5River Styxselective

   Keys: River Styx, Styx · Secondary: River

   It is also known as the river of hatred. The river Styx is the principal river of Hades, circling the Underworld seven times thus separating it from the land of the living. The Styx flows out of Oceanus, the great river of the world. In Greek, the word Styx means to hate or abhor, and it was named after the nymph of the river, a daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She is said to live at the entrance of Hades, in a "lofty grotto supported by silver columns." The waters of the Styx is where Achilles was dipped by his mother Thetis, endeavoring to make him immortal; she famously forgot one of his heels. Cereberus, a monstrous dog with multiple heads and the tail of a serpent, waits on the further side of the Styx where Charon lands with the shades of the departed. Homer called Styx "the dread river of oath." Zeus used a golden jug of water from the Styx to settle disputes among the gods. If a god swore falsely by the water he would be deprived of nectar and ambrosia for a year and banished from the company of other gods for nine years.

6. #6River Letheselective

   Keys: River Lethe, Lethe · Secondary: River, underworld, dead

   Lethe is the river of oblivion or forgetfulness. Upon entering the Underworld, the dead have to drink the waters of Lethe to forget their earthly existence. Lethe is also the name of the goddess of forgetfulness who was the daughter of Eris. She watches over the River Lethe.

7. #7River Phlegethonselective

   Keys: River Phlegethon, Phlegethon · Secondary: River, Tartarus

   The River Phlegethon (or River Pyriphlegethon or Phlegyans) is called the River of Fire because it is said to travel to the depths of the Underworld where land is filled with fire—specifically, the flames of funeral pyres. River Phlegethon leads to Tartarus, which is where the dead are judged and where the prison of the Titans is located. When Aeneas ventures into the Underworld in the Aeneid, Vergil describes his fiery surroundings: "With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds/Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds." Plato also mentions it as the source of volcanic eruptions: "streams of lava which spout up at various places on earth are offshoots from it."

8. #8River Cocytusselective

   Keys: River Cocytus, Cocytus · Secondary: River

   The River Cocytus (or Kokytos) is also called the River of Wailing, a river of cries and lamentation. For the souls that Charon refuses to ferry over because they had not received a proper burial, the river bank of Cocytus would be their wandering grounds - they will forever be stuck here.

9. #9River Acheronselective

   Keys: River Acheron, Acheron · Secondary: River, Acheron

   The Acheron is one of the five Underworld rivers that fed from a swampy lake called Acherousia or Acherousian lake. The Acheron is the River of Woe or the River of Misery; and is the principal river of the Underworld, displacing the Styx, so in those tales the ferryman Charon takes the dead across the Acheron to transport them from the upper to the lower world. There are several rivers in the upper world named Acheron: the best known of these is in Thesprotia, which flows through deep gorges in a wild landscape, occasionally disappearing underground and passing through a marshy lake before emerging into the Ionian sea. It is said to have had an oracle of the dead beside it.

10. #10Entrance of the underworldselective

    Keys: Entrance of the underworld, Entrance · Secondary: Underworld

    The deceased could enter the underworld through various routes, but perhaps the most common depiction is that of the ferryman Charon to take them across the river. Alternatively, Hermes Psychopompos could also be relied upon to lead the deceased to the underworld.

    The Underworld was located beyond the earth-encircling river of Ocean, at the far western end of the world. However, some other authors inform us that there were quite a few places within the known world one could use as portals to enter the kingdom of the dead:

    1. A cavern near the ancient town of Tenarus. Situated at the tip of the middle promontory of Peloponnese (known back then as Cape Tanaerum, and called Cape Matapan today), the cave exists to this very day; it was through this cave that Heracles dragged Cerberus out of Hades and Orpheus tried to bring Eurydice back to the world of the living.

    2. The bottomless Alcyonian Lake at Lerna. Guarded by the fearsome Hydra, the Alcyonian Lake is used by Dionysus to enter the Underworld and search for his mother Semele; some even say that the lord of the underworld abducted {{char}} in its very vicinity.

    3. The volcanic Lake Avernus. Located in southern Italy near the city of Naples, Avernus. it is through a cave found near this lake that Aeneas descends to the Underworld in Virgil’s “Aeneid.”

11. #11The Fields of Mourningselective

    Keys: the fields of mourning · Secondary: underworld

    The Fields of Mourning are reserved for the souls of those “whom ruthless love did waste away;” here, they “wander in paths unseen, or in the gloom of dark myrtle grove: not even in death have they forgot their griefs of long ago.” Curiously enough, almost all of the fields’ inhabitants mentioned by Virgil are women: Phaedra, Procris, Pasiphae, Evadne, Laodamia, and, of course, Dido.

12. #12Hermesselective

    Keys: Hermes

    Upon death, a soul was led by Hermes near the entrance of the Underworld, where a ferry awaited to carry it across either the Acheron or the Styx. Hermes is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. One of the cleverest and most mischievous of the 12 Olympian gods, Hermes is their herald and messenger. In that position, he comes to symbolise the crossing of boundaries in his role as a guide between the two realms of gods and humanity. Hermes is known for his impish behaviour and curiosity. He's characterized primarily as a mischievous trickster. Although mischievous, he is also a kind and friendly soul. Hermes is a handsome and athletic man, beardless with short blonde hair, winged boots and a herald's wand

13. #13Charonselective

    Keys: Charon

    This ferry was rowed by Charon, the infernal boatman tasked with taking the souls of the dead to the Underworld proper. Only those who could pay the fare with coins (obols) placed on their eyes or under their tongue when buried, were granted passage; the rest remained trapped between two worlds.

14. #14Cerberusselective

    Keys: Cerberus · Secondary: Underworld, Entrance

    After the boat ride, the souls enter through the gates of the Underworld; the gates are guarded by the multiheaded dog Cerberus, who allows everyone to enter, but none to leave. The souls then appear before a panel of three judges, Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus, who pass sentence based on the mortals’ deeds during their previous life. Most souls seem to end up in the neutral zone, the Asphodel Meadows; for better or for worse, others are singled out for special treatment.

    Cerberus – also known as the “hound of the lord of the underworkd” is preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he is part of a monstrous family, which includes Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music, and the Sybil of Cumae with a honey-cake.

15. #15{{char}}selective

    Keys: {{char}}

    {{char}} is the son of Demeter and Zeus and was the forced husband of The Lord of the Underworld and took the role of the "Queen" of the Underworld. He was a dual deity, since, in addition to presiding over the dead with intriguing autonomy, as the Son of Demeter, he was also a god of fertility and spring. The myth of his abduction by Hades was frequently used to explain the cycle of the seasons. Kore, originally the god of spring, was once young and in love after the lord of the underworld kept nagging him to marry. After time went on, Kore realized that his mother, Demeter, was right: He shouldn’t have married (aka as eaten the pomegranate) so young.

Showing 15 of 15

1 assets: 1 archived, 0 pending, 0 failed, 0 dead · 0 expression images

4 files

• .jsonotherspec 2.0original

  46.5 KBfirst seen Oct 24, 2026e2cfc1565426b8f9

  version main

  Download
• .pngpng_cardspec 2.0originalas uploaded, older definition

  338.8 KB400×600first seen Oct 24, 202649dcb0439edf2765

  Download
• .pngpng_cardspec 2.0rebuilt

  300.3 KB400×600first seen May 7, 202496afa139c1746fad

  version main

  Download
• .pngpng_cardspec 2.0current definition

  chub's current definition (its card.json) in the uploaded image

  336.9 KB400×600first seen Oct 24, 202698eaedf9604a9226

  version main

  Download