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The term "Hades" in modern terms is now considered to be the ancient Greek equivalent to hell, this though is a misconception, as Hades was in fact the domain of the afterlife, and would include what we now consider to be both heaven and hell.

As you would expect from ancient Greece there is no one definitive description of just what Hades is like, or the geography of it, and although I have tried to provide a logical progression through the domain of Greek god Hades, it is not something that is always possible.

The ancient Greeks recognised that everyone would eventually die and would progress to the Underworld, or Hades. The entrance to Hades though is not a defined place, unlike the Roman equivalent that placed an entrance near to Naples. In Homer's Odyssey, the entrance is placed across the water, beyond the Oceanus River, and through the adamantine gates of the setting sun. The tales of Theseus though also point to there being six land based entrances around the coast of the Saronic Gulf, each entrance guarded by a bandit, Orpheus entered through one of these entrances. Heracles and Dionysus also entered by a different path, the Alcyonian Lake.

Once past the gates everyone would then enter into a cold and misty environment. Newly deceased would then need to cross the rivers of Hades. Most people will have heard of the River Styx, this though is only one of five rivers, and was not even the first river to cross. The first river was the river of sorrow, the Acheron. This is the river that the ferryman, Charon, transfers the dead. Charon would take a fee for his work his two coins that had been placed on the eyes of the deceased, or a single obolus placed under the tongue. Not all people though were buried with the proper fee, and these became the lost souls who would crowd the banks of the Acheron for a hundred years.

Four further rivers were also to be crossed. These were the River Cocytus, the river of lamentation; the River Phlegethon, the river of fire; the River Lethe, or pool, which was the river of forgetfulness; and the most famous River Styx, the river of hate.

Charon though would take people backwards and forwards as long as they could pay the fee, it was therefore necessary to have an additional guard in place to prevent people from escaping from Hades. This guard was Cerberus, a three or more headed dog, assigned with the task of allowing no one to leave.

Entering passed Cerberus though was no problem and the deceased would then enter the Asphodel

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