The Elysian Fields of Greek Mythology
The Elysian Fields
In Greek mythology Elysium, also referred to as the Elysian Fields, is the idea of an afterlife separate from the Underworld (Hades).
Map of the Underworld. GreekMythology.wikia.org
Elysian is a word from Greek Mythology relating to Elysium, meaning, blissful, blessed, celestial, heavenly and ethereal, an adjective describing something peaceful and perfect; something divinely inspired something beautifully creative.
“Being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods”
Only the righteous and the heroic mortals, chosen by the gods were granted entrance to Elysium where they would remain, after death, in this Utopia, composing poetry, singing and dancing, basically having the time of their life!
Life after Death
The ancient Greeks believed that existence does not end with death; there is no death, only a transition from one state of being to another; every human died only to live again on another level of existence.
After death, Hermes, messenger of the gods, accompanied you to the first stop on your journey where Charon, the ferryman, was awaiting to carry you across the River Styx to the Underworld.
Charon carries souls across the river Styx – Alexander Litovchenko (1835–1890)
Once safely over the river you would walk across the Asphodel Fields, an endless stretch of fields covered with grey and ghostly asphodel flowers.
Fields of Asphodel by Brian Doers.
Once across the fields of asphodel, you came to a fork in the road, here the three judges of the dead awaited you.
The judges were Rhadamanthus, Lord of Elysium, Aeacus; guardian of the Keys of the underworld and and Minos, the judge who had the final vote.
The three judges of death – Aeacus, Minos and Rhadamanthus
These three judges would then decide your fate; good people carried on towards Elysium, the land of milk and honey, however, if you had been bad boy (or girl) and upset the gods, you were sent to Tartarus, a terrible place, deep in the bowls of the Earth, where you would receive appropriate punishment.
Where is this Idyllic Place Called the Elysian Fields?
Elysium or Elysian Fields
Homer liked to think that Elysium could be found on the Western edge of Earth, by the Okeanos, the river that flowed around the Earth, situated at the Equator, in which floated the habitable hemisphere.
Okeanos takes its name from the Greek word; ecumene or oecumene, meaning habitable, this is an ancient Greek term for the known world, later, in Roman times, the civilized world.
Some say Elysium or Elysian fields, which in time would also come to be known as the “Fortunate Isles”, or the “Isles of the Blessed», thought to be two in number, were located in the Atlantic Ocean.
Then again, could the Elysian Fields be the mythical island of Aeolia, ruled over by Aeolus, Keeper of the winds which have come to be associated with one or another of the Lipari Islands (also called the Aeolian Islands), north of eastern Sicily, a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea?
Liparic Islands – Lipari a comune including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy
Others have suggested Elysium may be the Aegadian Islands (meaning the islands of goats, a group of five small mountainous islands in the Mediterranean Sea, off the northwest coast of Sicily, near the cities of Trapani and Marsala).
The list goes on; more locations mentioned in connection with Elysium are Sicily, Canary Islands, Azores, Cape Verde and Bermuda.
For some Elysium truly could be Paris!
The Champs-Élysées – Paris
“Paris” I hear you say, “Why Paris?”
Well, the most famous of all Elysian Fields in the world is right at the heart of Paris!
We all know it but maybe by another name, the French version, The Champs-Élysées, a two-kilometre stretch between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triumph, frequently described as the world’s most beautiful avenue!
Amazing as the city is, this city of light, Paris is not the Elysian Fields mentioned in Greek mythology.
Are Elysium and Atlantis one and the same?
Atlantis? – Elysium?
In Greek mythology, according to Hesiod, the ancient Greek poet, these legendary winter-less, heavenly islands are said to be inhabited only by heroes.
Are we looking for the mythical lost city of Atlantis, the Sea of Atlas, Atlas, who in Greek mythology is the Titan God who held up the sky whilst standing at the ends of the Earth, in the West?
Atlas, a true hero indeed, has been connected with many places but he is mostly associated with the Atlas Mountains, in Northwest Africa, modern day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Is Tenerife Elysium?
Mount Teide Tenerife The highest mountain In Spain.
In his book “Greek Religion”, Walter Burkert, German scholar of Greek mythology and cult and professor of classics, connects Elysium with Mount Teide on Tenerife, called the White Isle by explorers, owing to the mountain’s snow covered peak.
He makes the connection of Elysium to Tenerife and the White Isle as a result of a reference to an Elysium, in a tale set in Mesopotamia (Modern day Iraq), “The Epic of Gilgamesh”.
Dilmun (Sumerian Mythology) the paradise of the Sumerian religion.
Dilmun is mentioned in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” as “A place where the sun rises in the land of the living, where heroes were taken by Gods to live forever” and is also associated with a white isle.
Could this be Elysium?
I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
One thing I do know for sure though is that I certainly want to go there when my time is up!
