Afterlife in Greek and Roman mythology

[Questioner]

My limited understanding of Greek and Roman religion is that there were effectively 3 potential "afterlives"

Elysium (Heaven) - A paradise where heroes went when they died

Hades - A "middle place" ordinary people, neither "good or evil' went when they died, something of a dreary, monotonous place. (I'm unsure if the Catholic Purgatory corresponds to this or not)

Tartarus (Hell) - A place of eternal torment where the evil and wicked went when they died, and where the Titans (primordial deities) were imprisoned by the Gods.

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I believe the word "hell" itself is Germanic in its roots - in some translations of the Bible, the Greek word "Tartarus" was allegedly used in regards to hell, "Gehenna" was a word used to refer to hell.

I'm not an expert on Jewish religion, but supposedly "Sheol" was an afterlife which corresponded more to "Hades", while "Gehenna" corresponded more to Tartarus or hell.

 

[luchitociencia]

Actually Sheol and Gehinom can be taken as the same.

However, Gehinom is the physical place "as it is", deep and in the center of the earth.

Sheol is the same place, but because -according to beliefs- souls go over there, then it becomes a grave.

Then, by general deduction you can say that Gehinom became a grave, but not exactly, because Gehinom with or without souls in it, still is Gehinom.

It sounds confused, but when a person died, you don't say, you buried him in hell but you buried him in a grave.

Hope you get it.

 

[DOTR]

My limited understanding of Greek and Roman religion is that there were effectively 3 potential "afterlives"

Elysium (Heaven) - A paradise where heroes went when they died

Hades - A "middle place" ordinary people, neither "good or evil' went when they died, something of a dreary, monotonous place. (I'm unsure if the Catholic Purgatory corresponds to this or not)

Tartarus (Hell) - A place of eternal torment where the evil and wicked went when they died, and where the Titans (primordial deities) were imprisoned by the Gods.

---

I believe the word "hell" itself is Germanic in its roots - in some translations of the Bible, the Greek word "Tartarus" was allegedly used in regards to hell, "Gehenna" was a word used to refer to hell.

I'm not an expert on Jewish religion, but supposedly "Sheol" was an afterlife which corresponded more to "Hades", while "Gehenna" corresponded more to Tartarus or hell.

Plato's Republic Book X epilogue would possibly be of interest to you.