To Hades, Cronus' eldest son, had been alloted the underworld, a gloomy, though vague concept trying to reconcile conflicting views of the afterlife.
The souls of the - not exist anymore - were ferried across the river Styx by Charon, who demanded the coin laid under their tongue before the burial. Yet why they should be so anxious to enter the underworld, instead of dallying with the penniless souls on the near bank, is hard to understand. The three-headed dog Cerberus guarded the entrance to the Asphodel Fields, a kind of purgatory for minor transgressions. In front of Hades' palace lay the twin pools of Forgetfulness and Memory, from which the souls might drink at their choice.
Though Hades only rarely visited the upperworld, being less amorous than his brothers, he delegated the judgement of the souls to the wise Kings, Minos, Radamanthys and Aeacus; the second was competent for Asiatics, the third for Europeans, while Minos held a court of appeal. The bad -doers were sent to Tartarus to undergo eternal punishment, as for instance Sisyphus, who had to roll a heavy stone up a hill only to see it crash down again.
Virtuous souls were allowed to enter the Elysian Fields, over which Hades had no power, but which formed the domain of old Cronus. In that paradise there was constant feasting, games, music and dancing. Yet one grade superior were the Fortunate Isles, reserved for the privileged though undeserving few, like Achilles and Helen of Troy, who just failed to make Olympus.