S7E5 - Gods of the Underworld

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features one scary mother, sleeping on the job, dad jokes, eternal torment, and the first family of the underworld.

The underworld.

It could be a bit of a scary place.

It's got a river filled with dead souls, dangerous villains trapped in creepy prisons, and a massive three-headed dog.

Also, home to some of the most memorable gods and goddesses ever.

Today's story is all about the underworld and the beings who live there.

Chthonic beings.

Excuse me?

The word you are looking for is chthonic.

Oh.

C-H-T-H-O-N-I-C.

It means something that is of or related to the underworld.

Oh, well, yeah, okay, then that's exactly what I'm talking about.

The gods, goddesses, and creatures who lived in the ancient Greek underworld.

Because it's more than just Hades, the god of the underworld, and his wife Persephone.

There's a whole slew of...

What was that word again?

Chthonic beings.

Right, there's a whole slew of

Chthonic beings hanging around.

And today, we're going to meet a few of them.

And while you might think that this episode is going to be filled with very scary stories, the truth is that not everyone who lives in the underworld is a ferocious demon or an evil spirit.

Chthonic beings, like snakes, were very scary to the ancient Greeks.

But maybe not so much to us.

Very true.

Take Nyx, for example.

She's the perfect being to start with because she's kind of the unofficial leader of the underworld.

And while you might not have heard of her, she's been around a long time, way longer than Zeus or any of the other Olympians.

Nyx is the goddess of night and the daughter of chaos.

She is considered to be a primordial god.

the first generation of gods and goddesses.

Nix was married to Erebus, the god of darkness.

The two were very compatible, obviously, because, well, you know, it gets dark at night, so there you have it.

And Nix and Erebus lived in Tartarus, the prison deep inside the underworld.

Although she lived in Tartarus, she wasn't imprisoned.

She had her own home there, reportedly called the Mansion of Darkness.

And unlike the other inhabitants of Tartarus, she was free to come and go as she pleased.

And she did.

Every evening, in fact, Nyx and Erebus would emerge from the underworld hand in hand, blocking out the day's light and bringing night and darkness to the world above.

But despite her shadowy appearance and mysterious reputation, Nyx kept a pretty low profile in Greek mythology.

While she's known for being one of the leaders of the underworld and giving directions to the other Chthonic deities, there are not many myths or stories about her.

She kept to herself most of the time.

I guess she just wasn't a fan of the lime light.

That is an example of a dad joke, an obvious or unfunny joke told by middle-aged men who tend to be fathers.

Yeah, I have a lot of those, but I'm not the only parent in this story.

Nyx also had a lot of children that inhabited the underworld, including a pair of twins, Hypnos and Thanatos.

Hypnos is said to be the personification of sleep, while Thanatos is the Greek god of peaceful death.

She was also the mother of Charon, the ferryman.

Now you've heard about him in previous episodes.

He's the guy with the boat on the river Styx.

It is said that Charon charged a coin for transporting souls into the underworld.

When someone in the family died, ancient Greeks would place a coin under the deceased's tongue as a form of payment.

Nyx was also the mother to Eris, the goddess of strife and discord.

Listeners may remember her from our season about the Trojan War.

She's the one who brought the golden apple to the wedding, causing the fight among the goddesses as to who was the most beautiful and indirectly starting the whole Trojan War thing.

So yeah, Nyx and Erebus and their offspring were quite the family in the underworld.

They drew the attention of many people and sometimes they were even summoned by the Olympians themselves.

Hera, in particular, was very drawn to the powers of Hypnos Hypnos and would often ask him for help.

And while this was definitely flattering for Hypnos, it was also a bit risky because usually Hera would ask Hypnos to use his power against Zeus, her husband and the king of the gods.

And if you've been listening to the show for a while now, you know that Zeus really doesn't like being tricked.

But when Hera asks you to do something, it's really hard to say no.

She can be a little intimidating.

The first time Hera asked Hypnos to cause Zeus to fall asleep, she wanted to use the opportunity to attack Heracles, Zeus' son and one of Hera's biggest enemies.

Now at the time, Heracles was busy completing the 12 labors and Hera was starting to get desperate.

She thought that if Zeus was in a deep sleep, she'd be able to harm Heracles in some way and make him unable to complete his tasks.

The story of Heracles and the 12 labors can be found in season 3.

That's right.

And this seemed like a pretty good plan, except for the fact that Hypnos was terrified of angering Zeus.

I can't do anything to upset the king of the gods, but I can't say no to Hera either, Hypnos thought.

What if I came up with some sort of compromise?

Ultimately, Hypnos decided to put Zeus to sleep, but he made sure that the King of the Gods had the ability to wake up whenever he wanted.

So, basically, Hera thought Zeus was like in a coma when he was really just taking a long nap.

A coma is a state of prolonged unconsciousness that can be caused by a variety of problems, including brain injuries, stroke, and tumors.

Or maybe the god Hypnos.

And because he was really just napping, it didn't take long for Zeus to wake up and realize what Hera had done.

He stopped her from harming Heracles, but he was still enraged that Hypnos would dare strike against him in the first place.

How dare he?

Zeus bellowed.

He should know better than to use his powers against me.

Hypnos, terrified of Zeus's anger, ran home to Tartarus.

Hypnos!

Zeus yelled, standing outside the cave.

Come out and face me like a dog.

But someone else came out of the cave instead.

She was a beautiful goddess, cloaked in a shroud of darkness.

It was Hypnos' mother, Nyx.

Can I help you?

She asked coolly.

Now remember, Nyx had been around way longer than Zeus, longer even than Zeus' father, Ranos.

She wasn't scared or intimidated by his status as king of the gods.

To her, he was just another child playing the role of king.

But Zeus was rather intimidated by Nyx.

Maybe it was the whole night thing or her marriage with darkness or the fact that she had been around since the dawn of creation.

Whatever it was, Zeus decided he'd rather not mess with the goddess of the night.

It is said that Nyx is the only god that Zeus is truly afraid of.

Oh, hi, Nyx.

Didn't

see you there, baby.

Is uh Hypnos around?

He asked.

What do you want with my son?

Oh, he's your son.

Oh, okay, well, I just wanted to, you know, tell him to leave me alone and everything.

But you know, why don't we just drop it?

Okay, you have a good day now.

I mean, good night now.

Yeah, so right.

I got a thing.

But that wasn't the only time Hypnos forced Zeus into slumber.

Hera once again needed Hypnos' services, and this time it was during the Trojan War.

You see, Hera was very much team Greek during that war.

She did not want the Trojans or Prince Paris to win since the whole Apple incident that Eris had started.

This is in reference to Paris, Prince of Troy, declaring Aphrodite to be the most beautiful goddess instead of Athena or Hera.

Hera held a grudge ever since.

Right, and the Trojan War was taking forever, mainly because Zeus didn't want any gods to get involved.

Forever is a slight exaggeration.

It took approximately 10 years.

Well, yeah, still a very long time.

But not nearly as long as forever.

Got it.

Anyway, Hera thought it was time for the gods to intervene.

She knew Poseidon was passionate about helping the Greeks and that he would gladly participate if it wasn't for his brother Zeus's decree.

So once again, Hera needed Hypnos's help to make Zeus fall into a deep slumber.

But Hypnos wasn't a fool.

He wasn't gonna make the same mistake twice.

Sorry, ma'am.

You're going to have to figure something else out, he said.

What if I make you an offer you can't refuse?

Hera replied.

If you do this for me, I promise you the hand of my daughter, Pasathea.

You can marry her and be happy forever.

Pasathea is one of the three charities, or graces, goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, and goodwill.

Right, so she was a pretty good catch.

And Hypnus agreed to the deal.

Just make sure you do it right this time, Hera ordered.

So Hypnos ensured that Zeus fell into a deep sleep.

And during this time, Poseidon was able to aid the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Many say his presence helped the Greeks achieve victory.

When Zeus finally did wake up, he didn't even realize what had happened.

He thought he was just, you know, really tired or whatever.

And if he suspected Hypnos, well, he didn't say anything.

He wasn't willing to confront Hypnos or Nyx ever again.

Hypnos and Pasadea had several sons together called the Onoroi, or the Dreams.

An appropriate name for the sons of the god of sleep and the goddess of rest and relaxation.

Excuse me, all that talk about sleep.

Okay,

let's refresh.

We're going to take a quick break.

We'll regroup and be right back.

Hey there.

Do you ever wonder what would happen if Cinderella started her own rock band or if Medusa realized just how cool her hair was?

Well, there's a Webby award-winning show called Girl Tales that takes classic stories and puts a unique twist on them, giving girls the chance to save the day, use their intelligence and bravery, and show that they can be the heroes of their own stories.

If you are ready for an adventure, find Girl Tales wherever you get your podcasts.

Okay, we're back.

Even though it all worked out in the end, Hypnus always felt bad about betraying Zeus.

He got his chance to redeem himself later in the Trojan War when Zeus's mortal son Sarpedon was killed on the battlefield.

Now, as we said, Zeus was very much against the gods intervening in the Trojan War, but his mortal son Sarpedon was one of the Trojans fighting the Greeks.

He was a very talented warrior, trained by the famous Hector himself.

When he was killed, Zeus was devastated.

He wanted to intervene and seek vengeance for his son, but he knew that he couldn't violate his own rule about participating in the war.

So instead, he asked Hypnos and his twin brother Thanatos for help.

Thanatos was the god of non-violent death.

He is said to appear to guide people to the underworld upon their death.

Modern-day culture represents him as a Grim Grim Reaper type figure.

Would it be possible for you two to go into the battlefield and retrieve Sarpedon's body?

I want him laid to rest, Zeus asked.

The two gods immediately obliged.

Hypnos was happy to do a favor for Zeus, and Thanatos was just happy for something to do.

There wasn't much room for non-violent death in war in general.

Hypnos made sure everyone on the battlefield fell into a deep slumber while Thanatos was able to escort Sarpedon to the underworld.

They brought his body back to his mother Europa so she could honor him properly.

Zeus was very grateful for this favor.

So as you can see, not all of the

Chthonic beings are bad.

Some of them were actually kind-hearted, and the majority of them just wanted to be left alone.

But to be fair, some of them were a little more involved with life life outside of the underworld.

Take Nix's daughter Nemesis, for example, the goddess of revenge.

The name Nemesis in Greek generally translates to give what is due.

Exactly.

Nemesis' sole purpose was to punish those who showed arrogance towards the gods or each other, which, as you know by now, happened a lot throughout Greek mythology.

Nemesis was often depicted with a sword and scales, and occasionally a whip or dagger.

Right, so, you know, she was a little intimidating.

And Nemesis had a major role behind the scenes of some major myths.

Remember the story of Echo and Narcissus?

The tale of Echo and Narcissus was discussed way back in season one.

Right, it's one of the most famous Greek myths of all time.

But what we didn't mention in the episode is that Narcissus had seriously angered some folks with his arrogance and vanity before coming into the forest.

He was rude and hurtful to others, and he was constantly complaining that he would never find someone who was a worthy companion.

I mean, I know I'm handsome and everything, but isn't there someone on this earth who's even half as good looking as me?

And since a prophet had told Narcissus's parents that his self-obsession would ultimately result in his death, they tried their best to intervene.

They sent him away to hunt in the woods in hopes that he would become less self-absorbed, but nothing seemed to help.

Nemesis was getting fed up with Narcissus's vanity and disrespect, but when he was dismissive of Echo, the wood nymph who fell in love with him, she realized that he must be punished.

She decided to curse the water, making him fall even further in love with himself to the point of no return.

He eventually wasted away to nothing while pining after his own reflection on the clear glass waters of the pool.

Serves you right, Nemesis said.

I think that is a very fitting punishment.

Well done, Nemesis.

Yeah, well, it's true, the goddess was very good at her job.

In fact, we still say her name today.

What's the actual definition of Nemesis, Oracle?

A nemesis is an agent of someone or something's downfall.

Can you use it in a sentence, please?

Drinking that extra cup of coffee every morning is your nemesis, as it makes you extra jittery and leads to frequent urination.

Exactly.

Wait, what?

And it gives you coffee breath.

Okay, okay, okay, we get it.

Thank you, Oracle.

Now, these next cathodic,

now these next Chthonic beings aren't children of Nyx, but they share Nemesis' passion for fairness and revenge, and they might even take it to a whole new level.

I'm talking about the Furies, the goddesses of vengeance and some of the most feared beings beings in all of Greek mythology.

The names of the Furies were Electo, said to represent anger, Megara, for jealousy, and Tesiphone, the Avenger.

As a group, they were referred to as the Furies or as the Urinues.

Yeah, and they were a particularly scary bunch.

Like Nyx, they had been around for a long time, dating back to before the War of the Titans.

The Titan-Olympian War is the story of how the Olympians came to power.

It is depicted in season 4, episode 1.

When the Titan Cronus killed his father Uranus, his blood spilled on the earth and from that blood, the Furies were born.

Now, maybe it was just because they were born from a family-related murder, or maybe it was because they had a radical belief in loyalty, but the Furies were obsessed with punishing mortals who broke the rules, especially in the case of murders or family affairs.

If someone broke an oath or committed a crime against a family member, the furies would haunt the perpetrator as a form of punishment.

Sometimes they would inflict terrible diseases upon the person, but most of the time, they made them go temporarily insane by continuously whispering horrible truths about what they had done.

They would become the voices inside the person's head, making it impossible to escape or distract themselves from their crime.

This was the case with Orestes, the son of Agamemnon.

After he killed his mother, he was driven insane by the Furies.

And while the Furies considered themselves to be crusaders of justice, most people simply found them cruel and terrifying.

And their appearance didn't help matters.

They were dressed in black, had huge wings growing out of their backs, and creepy snakes for hair.

Why were they creepy?

Snakes are beautiful.

Yeah, sure, but not when they're in your hair.

Do I need to repeat the value and virtues of snakes?

Yeah, okay, okay, now we talked about this.

Remember, just because snakes come up in basically every myth doesn't mean we have to talk about them every time.

So, now, when the Furies weren't off tormenting individuals on Earth, they worked closely with Hades in the underworld.

Their primary job was to serve as jailers for the souls trapped in Tartarus, the prison of the underworld.

They would sneak inside the prisoners' mind and torment them with thoughts of what they had done.

They were relentless and cruel in their vengeance.

Prisoners quickly went mad because of the constant voices of the Furies.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the Furies had their own special pet to help them get the job done.

The Harpies.

The Harpies were monsters that had the form of a bird with a human female face.

Exactly.

And it was their job to help punish people by torturing them and carrying them to the underworld so the Furies could punish them.

The Harpies were were known for taking people without explanation.

Sometimes they bring their victims to the furies, but also to various other gods for punishment.

They have been called the hounds of Zeus.

Yeah, so as you can see, there's a lot more to chthonic beings than meets the eyes.

These aren't just scary creatures focused on haunting and ruining humanity.

Like all of us, they are a mixture of good and bad, prone to acts of kindness and acts of evil.

And despite its reputation, the underworld is actually a vibrant, complex place, and so are the beings who reside there.

There's also a lot of dead people.

Well, maybe they're not all that lively.

Dad joke.

What can I say?

I got seven kids.

I can't help it.

Dad jokes are a way of life.

That's it for this spooky episode of Greaking Out.

Next week, we're coming back to the Trojan War for a brief visit.

Listen, and you'll see it

National Geographic Kids Creaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis.

With Tori Kerr as the Oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Adria Haluska is our subject matter expert, and Emily Everhart is our producer.