Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by Gabriela Dean. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Gabriela Dean or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

The Journey of the Soul – Afterlife Beliefs in Ancient Greek Mythology

4:24
 
Share
 

Manage episode 513471069 series 3680783
Content provided by Gabriela Dean. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Gabriela Dean or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode of Echoes of Eternity explores how the ancient Greeks imagined the soul’s journey after death. To them, death was not an end but a passage. A spirit properly buried would awaken beside the River Styx, where the ferryman Charon demanded a coin for passage. Those forgotten by the living were doomed to wander the shores for a hundred years.

After crossing the river, the soul faced Cerberus, the three-headed hound who ensured none could return to life. Beyond him stood the Judges of the Dead—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus—who weighed each life not as good or evil, but in balance.

Most souls were sent to the Asphodel Meadows, a grey plain of forgetfulness. The noble or heroic entered Elysium, a realm of eternal peace. The exceptional few reached the Isles of the Blessed, while the arrogant and god-defying were cast into Tartarus, where figures like Sisyphus and Tantalus endured poetic punishments.

The episode also recalls myths of the living who descended into Hades—Orpheus, Heracles, Persephone—revealing that even in death, love, courage, and sorrow endure.

The Greeks believed that the greatest fear was not punishment—but being forgotten. True immortality belonged not to the body, but to memory and legacy.

  continue reading

20 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 513471069 series 3680783
Content provided by Gabriela Dean. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Gabriela Dean or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode of Echoes of Eternity explores how the ancient Greeks imagined the soul’s journey after death. To them, death was not an end but a passage. A spirit properly buried would awaken beside the River Styx, where the ferryman Charon demanded a coin for passage. Those forgotten by the living were doomed to wander the shores for a hundred years.

After crossing the river, the soul faced Cerberus, the three-headed hound who ensured none could return to life. Beyond him stood the Judges of the Dead—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus—who weighed each life not as good or evil, but in balance.

Most souls were sent to the Asphodel Meadows, a grey plain of forgetfulness. The noble or heroic entered Elysium, a realm of eternal peace. The exceptional few reached the Isles of the Blessed, while the arrogant and god-defying were cast into Tartarus, where figures like Sisyphus and Tantalus endured poetic punishments.

The episode also recalls myths of the living who descended into Hades—Orpheus, Heracles, Persephone—revealing that even in death, love, courage, and sorrow endure.

The Greeks believed that the greatest fear was not punishment—but being forgotten. True immortality belonged not to the body, but to memory and legacy.

  continue reading

20 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play