Editing Tartarus (section)

== Greek mythology ==
{{Greek underworld}}
In Greek mythology, Tartarus is both a deity and a place in the [[Greek underworld|underworld]].

=== As a deity ===
In the [[Hellenic civilization|Greek]] poet [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' ({{circa}}&nbsp;late 8th century BC), Tartarus was the third of the [[Greek primordial deities|primordial deities]], following after [[Chaos (cosmogony)|Chaos]] and [[Gaia]] (Earth), and preceding [[Eros]],<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+116 116–119]; Gantz p.&nbsp;3; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA23 p.&nbsp;23].</ref> and was the father, by Gaia, of the monster [[Typhon]].<ref>Hesiod. ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+820 820–822]; Tripp, s.v. Tartarus; Grimal, s.v. Tartarus.</ref> According to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], Tartarus was the offspring of [[Aether (mythology)|Aether]] and Gaia.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#0.2 Preface]; Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DT%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dtartarus-bio-1 s.v. Tartarus].</ref>

=== As a location ===
Hesiod asserts that a bronze [[anvil]] falling from [[heaven]] would fall nine days before it reached the earth. The anvil would take nine more days to fall from earth to Tartarus.<ref>Hesiod. ''Theogony'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+720 720–725]</ref> In the ''[[Iliad]]'' ({{circa}}&nbsp;8th century BC), [[Zeus]] asserts that Tartarus is "as far beneath [[Hades]] as heaven is above earth."<ref>[[Homer]]. ''[[Iliad]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.1-8.40 8.17]''</ref> Similarly the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], describes Tartarus as "a gloomy place in Hades as far distant from earth as earth is distant from the sky."<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.2 1.1.2].</ref>

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 [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]], he imprisoned the three ancient one-eyed [[Cyclopes]] and only the hundred-armed [[Hekatonkheires|Hecatonchires]] in Tartarus and set the monster [[Campe]] as its guard. Campe was part scorpion and had a ring of animal heads around her waist, snapping at anyone who dared to get near. She also carried a whip to torture the [[Cyclopes]] and the hundred-armed ones. Zeus killed Campe and released these imprisoned giants to aid in his conflict with the Titans. The gods of [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]] eventually triumphed. Cronus and many of the other Titans were banished to Tartarus, though [[Prometheus]], [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]], and female Titans such as [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]] were spared. Other gods could be sentenced to Tartarus as well. In the Homeric hymn to Hermes, [[Apollo]] threatens to throw Hermes into Tartarus. Apollo himself was almost condemned to Tartarus by Zeus for the act of killing the Cyclops. The Hecatonchires became guards of Tartarus's prisoners. Later, when Zeus overcame the monster [[Typhon]], he threw him into "wide Tartarus".<ref>Hesiod. ''Theogony'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+868 868]</ref>

====Residents====
Originally, ''Tartarus'' was used only to confine dangers to the gods of Olympus and their predecessors. In later mythologies, Tartarus became a space dedicated to the imprisonment and torment of mortals who had sinned against the gods, and each punishment was unique to the condemned. For example:

* King [[Sisyphus]] was sent to Tartarus for killing guests and travelers at his castle in violation of 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 (mythology)|Aegina]] (who had been taken away by Zeus).<ref>Hamilton, Edith. "Brief Myths". ''Mythology''.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Death.htm |title=Ancient Greeks: Is death necessary and can death actually harm us? |publisher=Mlahanas.de |access-date=19 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702053105/http://mlahanas.de/Greeks/Death.htm |archive-date=2 July 2014 }}</ref> 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 he refused to go back to the Underworld after that. In Tartarus, Sisyphus was forced forever to try to roll a large boulder to the top of a mountain slope, which, no matter how many times he nearly succeeded in his attempt, would always roll back to the bottom.<ref>[[Homer]]. ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+11.593&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136:book=11:chapter=593&highlight=Sisyphus 11.593–600]''</ref> This constituted the punishment (fitting the crime) of Sisyphus for daring to claim that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus. Zeus's cunning punishment demonstrated quite the opposite to be the case, condemning Sisyphus to a humiliating eternity of futility and frustration.
* King [[Tantalus]] also ended up 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.<ref>[[Pindar]]. ''[[Ode|Olympian Odes]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0162 1.24–38]</ref> He also stole the [[ambrosia]] from the Gods and told his people its secrets.<ref>Pindar. ''Olympian Odes'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0162 1.60 ff]</ref> 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. Tantalus' 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.<ref>Homer. ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+11.589&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136:book=11:chapter=589&highlight=Tantalus 11.582–92]; Tantalus' transgressions are not mentioned; they must already have been well known to Homer's late-8th-century hearers.</ref>
* [[Ixion]] was the king of the [[Lapiths]], the most ancient tribe of [[Thessaly]]. Ixion grew to hate his father-in-law and ended up pushing him onto a bed of coal and wood, committing the first kin-related murder. The princes of other lands ordered that Ixion be denied the cleansing of his sin. 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 finding a place for Ixion to sleep, Zeus created a cloud-clone of Hera named [[Nephele]] to test him to see how far he would go to seduce Hera. Ixion made love to her, which resulted in the birth of [[Centaurus (Greek mythology)|Centaurus]], who mated with some Magnesian mares on Mount Pelion and thus begot 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 flaming wheel that was always spinning: first 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's being strapped to the flaming wheel represented his burning lust.
* In some versions, the [[Danaïdes]] murdered their husbands and were punished in Tartarus by being forced to carry water in a jug to fill a bath which would thereby wash off their sins. But the jugs were filled with cracks, so the water always leaked out.<ref>The Danish government's third world aid agency's name was changed from DANAID to [[DANIDA]] at the last minute when this unfortunate connotation was discovered.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Tripp|first=Edward |title=The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology|date=2007|publisher=Plume|others=Edward Tripp|isbn=978-0-452-00927-1|location=New York |oclc=123131145}}</ref>
* The giant [[Tityos]] attempted to rape [[Leto]] on Hera's orders, but was slain by [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]]. 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 (mythology)|Titan]] [[Prometheus]].
* King [[Salmoneus]] was also mentioned to have been imprisoned in Tartarus after passing himself off as Zeus, causing the real Zeus to smite him with a thunderbolt.<ref>[[Virgil]]. ''[[Aeneid]]'', 6.585–594</ref>
* [[Arke]] is the sister of [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] who sided with the Titans as their messenger goddess. Zeus removed her wings following the gods' victory over the Titans and she was thrown into Tartarus with the Titans.
* [[Ocnus]] was condemned in Tartarus perpetually to weave a rope of straw which, as fast as he weaves it, is just as quickly eaten by a donkey. There is no mention of what he did to deserve this fate.
* When his pregnant daughter [[Coronis (lover of Apollo)|Coronis]] was killed by either Artemis or Apollo, King [[Phlegyas]] set fire to the Apollonian temple at Delphi and was killed by Apollo. He was punished in Tartarus by being entombed in a rock and starved in front of an eternal feast as he shouts to the other inhabitants not to despise the gods.

According to [[Plato]] ({{circa|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.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates">Plato, ''Gorgias'', 523a–527e.</ref> Souls regarded as unjust or perjured would go to Tartarus.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates" /> Those who committed crimes seen as curable would be purified there, while those who committed crimes seen as uncurable would be eternally damned, and demonstrate a warning example for the living.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates" /> In [[Gorgias (dialogue)|Gorgias]], Plato writes about [[Socrates]] telling [[Callicles]], who believes [[might makes right]],<ref name="gorgias-kallikles">Plato, ''Gorgias'', 482d–486e.</ref> that doing injustice to others is worse than suffering injustice, and most uncurable inhabitants of Tartarus were tyrants whose might gave them the opportunity to commit huge crimes.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates" /> [[Archelaus I of Macedon]] is mentioned as a possible example of this, while [[Thersites]] is said to be curable, because of his lack of might.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates" /> According to Plato's [[Phaedo]], the uncurable consisted of temple robbers and murderers, while sons who killed one of their parents during a status of rage but regretted this their whole life, and involuntary manslaughterers, would be taken out of Tartarus after one year, so they could ask their victims for forgiveness.<ref name="phaidon">Platon, ''Phaidon'', ed. and transl. by [[Rudolf Kassner]], Jena 1906, S. 105–106.</ref> If they should be forgiven, they were liberated, but if not, would go back and stay there until they were finally pardoned.<ref name="phaidon" /> In the ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'', Plato mentions the [[Myth of Er]], who is said to have been a fallen soldier who resurrected from the dead, and saw their realm.<ref name="politeia">Plato, ''Der Staat'', ed. and transl. by August Horneffer, Leipzig 1908, pp. 348–351.</ref> According to this, the length of a punishment an adult receives for each crime in Tartarus, who is responsible for a lot of deaths, betrayed states or armies and sold them into slavery or had been involved in similar misdeeds, corresponds to ten times out of a hundred earthly years (while good deeds would be rewarded in equal measure).<ref name="politeia" />

There were a number of entrances to Tartarus in Greek mythology. One was in [[Aornum]].<ref>''[[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..."</ref>