Elysium

Elysium (Gr. elysion), a place in the infernal regions of the ancient classical mythology, where the souls of the good dwell after death. In the Odyssey, Homer describes it as a place where the souls of the departed lived in ease and abundance among innocent pleasures, enjoying a mild and wholesome air. In the Iliad, however, he gives a sombre view of the state of the departed souls. Achilles, though in Elysium, is made to envy the life of the meanest hind on earth. By succeeding poets the bliss of Elysium is drawn in much brighter colours. Besides the amenity and various delights of the place, diverse employments are found for the inhabitants, according to the ruling passion of each while on earth. The Elysian plains were supposed by some writers to be in mid-air, by others in the sun, by others in the centre of the earth, next to Tartarus, and by others in the Islands of the Blest. See HADES.