What did ancient Greeks think about the afterlife?

Answer 1

They were either buried or cremated.

Their mythology has them taken by the god of death Thanatos, and consigned their shade to the Underworld, ruled by the god Hades, which they accessed by being rowed across the River Styx by the ferryman Chiron. The Underworld was a morbid place, with the shades moping around aimlessly doing nothing (similar to the Jewish Sheol - a piece of blotting paper - resurrection was a concept brought back from the captivity in Babylon, and still in dispute between the Sadducees and Pharisees in the time of Paul).

As people feared such extinction, various alternatives were proposed to have an afterlife. From this mystery cults arose - in the cults, initiates engaged personally with the god of the cult through rituals, and the god gave them the keys to an afterlife, variously in the skies (now morphed into the word heaven - 'Our Father who is in the Sky/Heaven ...') or the Elysian Fields part of the Underworld, or the Isles of the Blest in the Atlantic.

So during their life those who could afford the time and money to go to the cult centres (Dordona, Samothrace, Tarsus, Eleusis etc) and pay the fees would get an option for an afterlife. As their popularity increased, some cults expanded and were willing to go to the customer and reduce the price, so the mystery cults of Mithras, Christianity, Serapis, Isis etc spread rapidly to meet the market demand, establishing cult centres through the Greek cities around the Mediterranean and eventually further afield in non-Greek peoples.

Answer 2

You went to Hades which was like a piece of blotting paper - the shades of dead humans moping around doing nothing. Unless of course you were an initiate of a mystery cult, in which your personal engagement with the god of the cult gained you the keys to an afterlife. Early mystery cults were at Dordona, Samothrace, Eleusis to name a few. They were expensive to travel to and pay the fees. Later mystery cults such as Mithraism, Christianity and Isis were free and moved to the potential customers, and so became very popular and spread around the Greek world, then the Mediterranean and further afield.

Answer 3

Your soul would find its way to the entrance to the underworld and make its way down to the River Styx. There it would wait for the ferryman, Charon, to pick them up. The Greeks would place a gold coin on the tongue of the dead so that they could pay. If you did not have the fare, Charon would make you wait. Eventually, after 100 years, Charon would relent and let the departed cross.

Once on the "other side", the dead would be judged and if they led good lives, they would be taken to the Elyssian Fields, a place of neverending joy and unfettered happiness. They would forget all about their mortal existence (and thus any pain or sorrow) and live out eternally in bliss. The wicked, however, were taken to Tartarus to be punished for eternity. This is where our image of heaven and hell come from.

Answer 4

Greeks believed that the shade crossed the River Styx to be judged by Hades. They might be rewarded by being sent to the Elysian Fields, or they may be given some sort of eternal punishment like Tantalus or Sisyphus, or sent to Tartaros.

Answer 5

The Greeks thought their spirits went to a gloomy world ruled by Hades

Answer 6

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