Tartarus

This article is about the deity and the place in Greek

mythology. For other uses, see Tartarus (disambiguation).
Tartarus (/trtrs/, TAR-t-rs; Greek:

from heaven would fall nine days before it reached the

earth. The anvil would take nine more days to fall from
earth to Tartarus.[4] In The Iliad (c. 700 BC), Zeus asserts
that Tartarus is as far beneath Hades as heaven is high
above the earth.
While, according to Greek mythology, the realm of
Hades is the place of the dead, Tartarus also has a number of inhabitants. When Cronus came to power as the
King of the Titans, he imprisoned the one-eyed Cyclopes
and the hundred-armed Hecatonchires in Tartarus and
set the monster Campe as its guard. Zeus killed Campe
and released the imprisoned giants to aid in his conict
with the Titans. The gods of Olympus eventually triumphed. Cronus and many of the other Titans were banished to Tartarus, though Prometheus, Epimetheus, Metis
and most of the female Titans were spared (according
to Pindar, Cronus somehow later earned Zeus forgiveness and was released from Tartarus to become ruler of
Elysium). Another Titan, Atlas, was sentenced to hold
the sky on his shoulders to prevent it from resuming its
primordial embrace with the Earth. Other gods could be
sentenced to Tartarus as well. Apollo is a prime example, although Zeus freed him. The Hecatonchires became
guards of Tartarus prisoners. Later, when Zeus overcame the monster Typhon, the ospring of Tartarus and
Gaia,[5] he threw him into wide Tartarus.[6]

Persephone supervising Sisyphus in the Underworld, Attic blackgure amphora, c. 530 BC.

Originally, Tartarus was used only to conne dangers to

the gods of Olympus. In later mythologies, Tartarus became the place where the punishment ts the crime. For
example:

Tartaros),[1] in ancient Greek mythology, is the deep

abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suering
for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans.[2] As far
below Hades as the earth is below the heavens,[2] Tartarus
is the place where, according to Plato in Gorgias (c. 400
BC), souls were judged after death and where the wicked
received divine punishment. Like other primal entities
(such as the Earth, Night and Time), Tartarus was also
considered to be a primordial force or deity.

King Sisyphus was sent to Tartarus for killing guests

and travelers to his castle in violation to his hospitality, seducing his niece, and reporting one of Zeus
sexual conquests by telling the river god Asopus of
the whereabouts of his daughter Aegina (who had
been taken away by Zeus). But regardless of the
impropriety of Zeus frequent conquests, Sisyphus
overstepped his bounds by considering himself a
peer of the gods who could rightfully report their indiscretions. When Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain
up Sisyphus in Tartarus, Sisyphus tricked Thanatos
by asking him how the chains worked and ended up
chaining Thanatos; as a result there was no more
death. This caused Ares to free Thanatos and turn
Sisyphus over to him. Sometime later, Sisyphus had
Persephone send him back to the surface to scold
his wife for not burying him properly. Sisyphus was
forcefully dragged back to Tartarus by Hermes when

Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Tartarus is both a deity and a place

in the underworld. In ancient Orphic sources and in the
mystery schools, Tartarus is also the unbounded rstexisting entity from which the Light and the cosmos are
born.
In the Greek poet Hesiod's Theogony, c. 700 BC, Tartarus was the third of the primordial deities, following
after Chaos and Gaia (Earth), and preceding Eros.[3]
As for the place, Hesiod asserts that a bronze anvil falling
1

3
he refused to go back to the Underworld after that.
In Tartarus, Sisyphus would be forced to roll a large
boulder up a mountainside which when he almost
reached the crest, rolled away from Sisyphus and
rolled back down repeatedly. This represented the
punishment of Sisyphus claiming that his cleverness
surpassed that of Zeus, causing the god to make the
boulder roll away from Sisyphus, binding Sisyphus
to an eternity of frustration.
King Tantalus was also in Tartarus after he cut up
his son Pelops, boiled him, and served him as food
when he was invited to dine with the gods. He also
stole the ambrosia from the Gods and told his people its secrets. Another story mentioned that he held
onto a golden dog forged by Hephaestus and stolen
by Tantalus friend Pandareus. Tantalus held onto
the golden dog for safekeeping and later denied to
Pandareus that he had it. Tantaluss punishment for
his actions (now a proverbial term for temptation
without satisfaction) was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever
he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down
to get a drink, the water receded before he could get
any. Over his head towered a threatening stone like
that of Sisyphus.
Ixion was the king of the Lapiths, the most ancient
tribe of Thessaly. Ixion grew to hate his father-inlaw and ended up pushing him onto a bed of coal
and woods committing the rst kin-related murder.
The princes of other lands ordered that Ixion be denied of any sin-cleansing. Zeus took pity on Ixion and invited him to a meal on Olympus. But
when Ixion saw Hera, he fell in love with her and
did some under-the-table caressing until Zeus signaled him to stop. After nding a place for Ixion
to sleep, Zeus created a cloud-clone of Hera named
Nephele to test him to see how much he loved Hera.
Ixion made love to her, which resulted in the birth of
Centaurus, who mated with some Magnesian mares
on Mount Pelion and thus engendered the race of
Centaurs (who are called the Ixionidae from their
descent). Zeus drove Ixion from Mount Olympus
and then struck him with a thunderbolt. He was
punished by being tied to a winged aming wheel
that was always spinning: rst in the sky and then
in Tartarus. Only when Orpheus came down to the
Underworld to rescue Eurydice did it stop spinning
because of the music Orpheus was playing. Ixion
being strapped to the aming wheel represented his
burning lust.

BIBLICAL PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

The giant Tityos was slain by Apollo and Artemis

after attempting to rape Leto on Heras orders. As
punishment, Tityos was stretched out in Tartarus
and tortured by two vultures who fed on his liver.
This punishment is extremely similar to that of the
Titan Prometheus.
King Salmoneus was also mentioned to have been
imprisoned in Tartarus after passing himself o as
Zeus, causing the real Zeus to smite him with a thunderbolt.
According to Plato (c. 427 BC), Rhadamanthus, Aeacus
and Minos 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. Cronus, the ruler of the Titans,
was thrown down into the pits of Tartarus by his children.
There were a number of entrances to Tartarus in Greek
mythology. One was in Aornum.[8]

2 Roman mythology
In Roman mythology, Tartarus is the place where sinners
are sent. Virgil describes it in the Aeneid as a gigantic
place, surrounded by the aming river Phlegethon and
triple walls to prevent sinners from escaping from it. It
is guarded by a hydra with fty black gaping jaws, which
sits at a screeching gate protected by columns of solid
adamantine, 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, one of the
Erinyes 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.
At the bottom of this pit lie the Titans, the twin sons of
Aloeus, and many other sinners. Still more sinners are
contained inside Tartarus, with punishments similar to
those of Greek myth.

3 Biblical Pseudepigrapha

Tartarus is only known in Hellenistic Jewish literature

from the Greek text of 1 Enoch, dated to 400200 BC.
This states that God placed the archangel Uriel in charge
In some versions, the Danaides murdered their hus- of the world and of Tartarus (20:2). Tartarus is generplace where 200 fallen Watchers
bands and were punished in Tartarus by being forced ally understood to be the[9]
(angels)
are
imprisoned.
to carry water in a jug to ll a bath which would
thereby wash o their sins, but the jugs were actu- Tartarus also appears in sections of the Jewish Sibylline
Oracles. E.g. Sib. Or. 4:186.
ally sieves so the water always leaked out.[7]

New Testament

See also: Christian views on hell

Tartarus is also the name of the nal boss in the video

game Halo 2. He is a Brute chieftain and primary rival of
the Arbiter.

In the 1997 novel Titan by Stephen Baxter, where

In the New Testament, the noun Tartarus does not oc- NASA launches a mission to the Saturnian moon Titan,
cur but tartaroo (, throw to Tartarus), a the astronauts on the crew name their landing site Tarshortened form of the classical Greek verb kata-tartaroo tarus Base.
(throw down to Tartarus), does appear in 2 Peter 2:4. Tartarus is one of the three major Dark Guilds and a
Liddell Scott provides other sources for the shortened member of the Balam Alliance in the manga series Fairy
form of this verb, including Acusilaus (5th century BC), Tail.
Joannes Laurentius Lydus (4th century AD) and the
Tartaros is the last name of the antagonist Lanselot TarScholiast on Aeschylus' Eumenides, who cites Pindar retaros in the video game Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Tolating how the earth tried to tartaro cast down Apollo
gether
[10]
after he overcame the Python.
In classical texts, the
longer form kata-tartaroo is often related to the throwing Justice League In the episode The Balance When Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl must put aside their feud and
of the Titans down to Tartarus.[11]
go to the depths of Tartarus when the sorcerer Felix Faust
The ESV is one of several English versions that gives the
establishes dominion over Hades.
Greek reading Tartarus as a footnote:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic In the two part
episode Twilights Kingdom, in order to save EquesFor if God did not spare angels when they
tria, Twilight Sparkle and her friends must ght the ansinned, but cast them into hell [1] and committagonist Lord Tirek, who escaped from Tartarus when anted them to chains [2] of gloomy darkness to be
other creature from ancient mythology, Cerberus, left his
kept until the judgment;"
post guarding the realm. Tirek sends Celestia, Luna, and
Cadance to Tartarus, but they escape after the ponies imFootnotes [1] 2:4 Greek Tartarus
prison Tirek in Tartarus once more.
Adam Clarke reasoned that Peters use of language
relating to the Titans was an indication that the ancient Greeks had heard of a Biblical punishment of
fallen angels.[12] Some Evangelical Christian commentaries distinguish Tartarus as a place for wicked angels
and Gehenna as a place for wicked humans on the basis
of this verse.[13] Other Evangelical commentaries, in reconciling that some fallen angels are chained in Tartarus,
yet some not, attempt to distinguish between one type of
fallen angel and another.[14]

6 See also
Greek mythology in popular culture
Hades
Gehenna
Tzoah Rotachat
Hell

In popular culture

Tartarus is featured in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and

the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus novel series,
where it serves its mythological role as a location in the
Underworld. It is further noted as the place where the
spirits of defeated monsters travel and undergo regeneration, allowing them to eventually return to Earth. As with
the ancient Greeks, Riordan also personies Tartarus as
a sentient being; in this case as the husband of Gaea and
father of the Giants. The rivers of the Underworld are revealed to be his circulatory system, and his actual form is
the realm from Greek myth. He also displays the ability
to project a humanoid form of considerable power.
Tartarus is one of the major locations in Persona 3 but
instead of an underground place, it is a high tower that
only emerges in the middle of the night, known as the
Dark Hour.

Sheol
The Golden Bough (mythology)
The tartaruchi of the non-canonical Apocalypse of
Paul.

7 Notes
[1] Of uncertain origin (Tartarus. Online Etymological Dictionary).
[2] GeorAutenrieth. "". A Homeric Dictionary.
Retrieved 7 April 2012.
[3] Hesiod, Theogony 116119.
[4] Hesiod, Theogony 720725.
[5] Hesiod, Theogony 820822.

[6] Hesiod, Theogony 868.

[7] The Danish governments third world aid agencys name
was changed from DANAID to DANIDA in the last
minute when this unfortunate connotation was discovered.
[8] The Greek Myths (Volume 1) by Robert Graves (1990),
page 112: "... He used the passage which opens at Aornum in Thesprotis and, on his arrival, not only charmed
the ferryman Charon...
[9] Kelley Coblentz Bautch A Study of the Geography of 1
Enoch 1719: no One Has Seen what I Have Seen p134
[10] A. cast into Tartarus or hell, Acus.8 J., 2 Ep.Pet.2.4,
Lyd.Mens.4.158 (Pass.), Sch.T Il.14.296. Henry George
Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart
Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.
[11] Apollodorus of Athens, in Didymus Scholia on Homer;
Plutarch Concerning rivers
[12] Clarke Commentary The ancient Greeks appear to have
received, by tradition, an account of the punishment of the
'fallen angels,' and of bad men after death; and their poets did, in conformity I presume with that account, make
Tartarus the place where the giants who rebelled against
Jupiter, and the souls of the wicked, were conned. 'Here,'
saith Hesiod, Theogon., lin. 720, 1, 'the rebellious Titans
were bound in penal chains.'"
[13] Paul V. Harrison, Robert E. Picirilli James, 1, 2 Peter,
Jude Randall House Commentaries 1992 p267 We do not
need to say, then, that Peter was reecting or approving the
Book of Enoch (20:2) when it names Tartarus as a place
for wicked angels in distinction from Gehenna as the place
for wicked humans.
[14] Vince Garcia The Resurrection Life Study Bible 2007 p412
If so, we have a problem: Satan and his angels are not
locked up in Tartarus! Satan and his angels were alive and
active in the time of Christ, and still are today! Yet Peter specically (2 Peter 2:4) states that at least one group
of angelic beings have literally been cast down to Tartarus
and bound in chains until the Last Judgment. So if Satan and his angels are not currently bound in Tartarus
who is? The answer goes back~again~to the angels who
interbred with humans. So then is it impossible that
Azazel is somehow another name for Satan? There may
be a chance he is, but there is no way of knowing for sure.
...

References
Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and
Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G.
Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University
Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Homer, Odyssey, XI, 576.
Virgil, Aeneid, VI, 539627.

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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