Legendary Journeys
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The Elysian Fields is part of the Underworld. It is here that the dead of Greece and Rome who have lived righteous and good lives are sent (members of other cultures will find their way to the appropriate afterlife). All the inhabitants of the Elysian Fields have their painful memories of their lives taken from them and are given hope that the loved ones they left behind will arrive the very next day. They live an idyllic never-ending existence in a paradise realm, although some or all of those dwelling there might eventually be reincarnated into new lives.

Very occasionally, Hades will allow heroes and demigods to enter the Elysian Fields to commune with the dead, either for closure or information. Such experiences can prove stressful for both the visitor and the visited, since the visitor can be caught up in Elysium's idyll and the souls within will have an unsettling understanding that the visitor shouldn't be there. To ensure that only the worthy enter, portals to the Elysian Fields can only be opened from other, more severe parts of the Underworld, which in turn can be accessed from the mortal realm with great difficulty.

Until Hercules changed Hades's mind, all Bacchae were barred from the Elysian Fields, regardless of whether they became Bacchae willingly or performed redemptive acts.

High-ranking Olympians have the power to remove souls from the Elysian Fields even after they have been judged worthy, as Hera did when she stole Alcmene's soul to blackmail Zeus. It can be assumed that Hera's rank was the only reason Hades allowed this.

Some souls are so righteous and good that the Elysian Fields are not a good enough reward: these souls are permitted to ascend to Heaven.

Background[]

  • According to Homer, the Elysian Fields, or simply Elysium, is the destination for those mortals fortunate enough to be related to or associated with the Olympians, but were for some reason ineligible to be brought to Olympus itself after their deaths. Most other souls, no matter how righteous or heroic, were sent to the Plains of Asphodel, a grey, drab place. The Greeks of later centuries were uncomfortable with this division and suggested that Asphodel was the home of the unremarkable, while Elysium was the resting place of heroes and the righteous.
  • Almost all of the souls in the Elysian Fields seemed to wear white regardless of what they like to wear in life, although Deianeira wore red.

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