Elysium: Did you mean...?

An allegorical illustration of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor's arrival in Elysium, the afterlife, copperplate engraving by Johann Hieronymus Löschenkohl, 1790. Vienna Museum.

In ancient Greece the continued existence of the dead depended on their constant remembrance by the living. It was understood that the soul lived on after bodily death in the realm known as Hades; but that land had...

Menelaus (also Menelaos) is a figure from ancient Greek mythology and literature who was the king of Sparta and the husband of beautiful Helen, whose abduction by the Trojan prince Paris sparked off the legendary Trojan War. The story...

Cerberus (also spelt Kerberos) is a vicious three-headed dog in Greek mythology, who guards the entrance to the underworld. He allowed the souls of the dead to enter Hades but prevented the living (except for a few exceptions) from...

Atalanta is a figure from Greek mythology famed as a huntress, wrestler, and runner. The heroine was a key participant in the Calydonian boar hunt, striking the first wound in this fearsome beast with her bow...

The medieval Church informed the people's religious imagination during the Middle Ages (c. 476-1500) and the world was therefore interpreted - even by heterodox Christians - through the Church's lens. Ghosts – referred...

The Greek God Hades was born to the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and along with his siblings Hestia, Demeter, Hera and Poseidon, they were swallowed by their father (except Zeus). After the battle known...