A tour of the ancient Greek Underworld - Iseult Gillespie

870,316 views ・ 2023-10-24

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:14
Achilles, welcome!
0
14010
2044
00:16
I’m the Sibyl of Cumae, prophetess and avid reader of leaves.
1
16262
5172
00:21
To clarify, you were just slain in the Trojan War.
2
21851
4963
00:26
Sorry about that.
3
26814
1252
00:28
It’s normal to feel mixed emotions right now.
4
28441
2669
00:31
But you will be immortalized as one of the greatest warriors ever.
5
31360
6674
00:38
And you’ll have endless distractions down here.
6
38659
2420
00:41
So, pros and cons.
7
41079
1668
00:43
It gets a bad rap, but the Underworld is actually a lovely place to “live.”
8
43081
6256
00:50
It boasts historic charm and eccentric neighbors with eternal ties to the area.
9
50004
5881
00:56
The community even has its own guard dog, Cerberus.
10
56302
3629
01:00
Heel, boy! Oh.
11
60223
1501
01:01
Sorry, I know that’s a sensitive spot.
12
61891
2461
01:04
Anyway, with Cerberus, you get three for the price of one!
13
64560
4630
01:09
He’s just not a big fan of anyone leaving.
14
69482
3003
01:13
And who would want to leave anyway?
15
73277
2461
01:15
This is the Styx— it’s like the subterranean riviera.
16
75947
4921
01:21
But you’ve been here before;
17
81119
1543
01:22
it was the source of your almost complete invulnerability, of course!
18
82662
5088
01:29
The Underworld also features four other waterways:
19
89085
3545
01:32
Acheron, the river of woe; Cocytus, river of wailing;
20
92630
4713
01:37
Lethe, river of oblivion;
21
97468
2753
01:40
and Phlegethon, river of fire, a great source of natural light.
22
100221
5088
01:46
Now, on your left, you’ll see the Mourning Fields,
23
106310
2837
01:49
inhabited by souls tormented by love.
24
109147
2627
01:53
Quite an attractive place, really,
25
113442
2169
01:55
when you’re not in the throes of endless heartbreak.
26
115611
2461
01:58
And without further ado:
27
118447
2294
02:00
Elysium, the Underworld’s exclusive VIP section—
28
120992
5088
02:06
and your permanent home.
29
126080
2586
02:09
Here, you'll join the ranks of royalty and heroes.
30
129292
3670
02:13
Cadmus over there once slayed a dragon!
31
133045
2795
02:17
And Patroclus is around here somewhere, along with lots of other friends and foes.
32
137175
5213
02:22
I'll let you two get reacquainted soon,
33
142847
1877
02:24
but our tour wouldn’t be complete without a quick whirl
34
144724
3670
02:28
through the heart of Hades: Tartarus.
35
148394
3754
02:33
Tisiphone here guards the portal.
36
153399
2669
02:36
She's one of the legendary Furies
37
156068
1961
02:38
and is particularly passionate about avenging murder.
38
158029
3587
02:42
She never sleeps.
39
162200
1459
02:43
So, if you need anything, just ask!
40
163659
2211
02:46
Tartarus is reserved for a select few who some might call
41
166162
3962
02:50
the greatest sinners of all time.
42
170124
1919
02:52
Take Ixion.
43
172335
1167
02:53
He was once a king.
44
173669
1752
02:55
When he didn’t pay his wedding dowry,
45
175671
1919
02:57
his father-in-law, Deioneus, stole his horses to get even.
46
177590
3754
03:01
In retaliation, Ixion pitched Deioneus into a pit of fire.
47
181552
4588
03:08
Ixion was banished, but Zeus miraculously took pity on him,
48
188309
4129
03:12
and invited him to a Mount Olympian feast.
49
192438
3045
03:16
There, however, it soon became clear that the disgraced king
50
196817
4338
03:21
was trying to seduce Zeus’s wife, Hera.
51
201155
3003
03:24
So, Zeus contrived a trap:
52
204825
2753
03:27
a fluffy cloud that resembled Hera exactly.
53
207578
3045
03:30
When Zeus had proof of Ixion having his way with the cumulus,
54
210748
4838
03:35
well, you could say it was all nimbus from there.
55
215586
3796
03:40
That landed Ixion on the flaming wheel.
56
220216
2502
03:43
Poor thing.
57
223052
1001
03:44
Oh, and don’t mind Tantalus here.
58
224971
1710
03:46
He was part of the first generation of mortals,
59
226722
2461
03:49
enjoying privileges like dining with the gods.
60
229267
3003
03:52
Some say Tantalus stole ambrosia from Zeus,
61
232687
3753
03:56
others that he doubted the omniscience of the gods
62
236440
2837
03:59
and cooked his own son into a stew to see if they would notice.
63
239277
3962
04:04
Naturally, they did.
64
244365
1710
04:06
And as eternal punishment, when Tantalus reaches for food,
65
246951
3962
04:10
the branches grow taller.
66
250913
2169
04:13
And when he stoops to quench his thirst, the water recedes.
67
253499
4338
04:18
And here we have the Danaids.
68
258879
2253
04:21
At their father’s order, they beheaded their husbands on their wedding night.
69
261215
4254
04:28
They must fill this basin with water.
70
268556
2002
04:31
But, the trick is, their jars are cracked, so it always... just... leaks away.
71
271267
5255
04:37
Oh, but don’t worry! No leaky appliances for you.
72
277189
2795
04:40
Finally, our last stop on the tour is one of our loveliest vistas.
73
280526
5005
04:45
From here, you can see the hill where Sisyphus pushes his boulder
74
285865
4379
04:50
day after day,
75
290244
2795
04:53
only for it to roll back down again—
76
293622
2795
04:57
all for trying to cheat death.
77
297001
1918
04:59
As you can see, Achilles, the Underworld is full of exciting amenities.
78
299712
5172
05:05
Here, you don’t have to worry about brutal wars or painful cycles of revenge.
79
305051
5463
05:10
You can finally just put your feet up and relax.
80
310723
4046
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7