About The Afterlife: Punishments & Tartarus

Since the Original Gods love mankind, they do not seek to issue empty or irrational punishments to human beings, let alone excessive or “eternal” ones.

Any form of disciplinary action by the Gods is always aimed at helping the human soul evolve and rehabilitate itself. In the vast majority of cases, the Gods allow humans full free will; in other words, humanity is free to engage in any action, whether on the side of “good” or “evil.”

The Gods intervene only in the most extreme cases, and when they do, it is done out of love and goodwill to restore order on Earth or between individuals. In these cases, there must have been severe cosmic violations, and only then will the Gods issue any punishments—let alone “heavy” ones.

In contrast to the Abrahamic religions, which strongly emphasize eternal punishment by hellfire, the Temple of Zeus understands how the afterlife truly functions.

In the Ancient Religions, there was little focus on places of “eternal torment,” and any such claims or statements were made only for informative purposes and reserved for the most severe offenses.

Our side, in particular, focuses on the laws of retribution that arise from mankind’s free will: in other words, the extent of any punishment people receive corresponds to the evil and negativity they bring upon themselves through their own actions. These are the natural laws of karmic justice. Our Head God or the Gods do not exist to hunt people down for failing to fast or observe rituals, nor do they send individuals to ultimate punishments for trivial reasons, as the enemy claims.

Seneca, for instance, saw the suffering of the wicked as an internal condition of the soul rather than a physical torment in the afterlife (Seneca, De Vita Beata, 19.4).

We do not rely on fear and threats to force followers to believe in our True Doctrine. Humanity must understand goodness and free will and must be allowed to make choices about its future, whether individually or as a whole.

In this context, when one knows the truth, they understand that eternal hellfire and punishment are inconsistent with the wisdom and understanding of the True Gods, as well as the knowledge of the Ancient Initiates, who were the true sons and daughters of the Gods. It is certainly not consistent with the baseless claims of the enemy, who—despite their history of violence and recurring genocides—falsely claim to be “religions of love.”

Nothing could be further from the truth when one examines the Book of Revelation, where most of humanity is annihilated in retribution by the “Chosen Jews,” or the Old Testament, where the so-called “God of love” commands the massacre of entire nations.

There is also the truth regarding the afterlife and the punishments that take place there. The notion of punishment—even soul extinction—exists for those who commit severe harm against the Gods and humanity, cases of extreme evil that go far beyond any moral or ethical justification.

However, such extreme evil represents only a very small fraction of humanity—approximately 0.01%—as very few have the power or capacity to commit such acts. In the overwhelming majority of cases, humanity simply receives the consequences of its own actions, not irrational hate from the "Divine," as Christianity or Islam erroneously claim.

This stark contrast highlights the false fear-based doctrines of the enemy, whose literal teachings suggest that the vast majority of humanity—99.8%—will be condemned to “Hell” and “punished for all eternity.”

There are examples of severe offenses from Ancient Greek mythology. Mythology is not always meant to be taken literally; as all initiates know, it serves as a guide rather than a strict historical account of events. However, as one studies the examples below, they will understand the stark contrast between what truly warrants divine punishment and mere moral shortcomings.

The concept of the afterlife in ancient Greek philosophy and mythology is deeply intertwined with justice, morality, and divine retribution. Among the many realms of the underworld described in Greek thought, Tartarus stands out as the most fearsome and punishing abyss, where the wicked suffer eternal torment.

The earliest references to Tartarus appear in Hesiod’s Theogony, where it is described as a dark, abyssal prison beneath even Hades itself (Theogony 721–819). Hades, on the other hand, is merely the domain where souls go before reincarnation. It represents an astral dimension where no serious punishment takes place and exists solely for instructional purposes. In Hades, the human soul is actually guided, given insight into how to proceed in its next life, and is then reincarnated.

Unlike the relatively peaceful existence in the Asphodel Meadows or the blissful Elysium, Tartarus is reserved for the most egregious offenders against the Gods and Cosmic Order. The nature of punishment in the true afterlife, and how these ideas were communicated by Demigod philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, along with Homer, Hesiod, and other initiates, is crucial to understanding divine justice.

One such example is Tantalus, who was condemned for committing the heinous act of blood sacrifice—specifically, offering his own son as food to the Gods. The Gods strictly oppose blood sacrifice and will never accept such practices. The enemy, on the other hand, engages in such atrocities, even involving innocent victims. Tantalus, for his crime, was condemned to eternal hunger and thirst (Odyssey 11.582-592). Offenses such as these enrage the Gods, who strictly forbid blood sacrifice of any kind—let alone human sacrifice.

Plato, in his works, elaborates significantly on the concept of an afterlife shaped by moral justice. In the Gorgias dialectic, Plato emphasizes punishment as both retributive and corrective, suggesting that souls may eventually be purified through suffering.

The original ideas of Tartarus were later distorted into extreme and irrational contexts by the rise of Christianity and Islam. These religions weaponized the fear of eternal suffering, threatening people with damnation for the mildest offenses—such as denying, doubting, or even speaking against figures like Mohammed or Jesus. This systematic fear-mongering was used for centuries to emotionally subjugate humanity. Works such as Virgil’s Aeneid and later Dante’s Inferno exaggerated and sensationalized these fears, influenced by the oppressive doctrines of the Christian Church. These interpretations are not based on truth but rather serve as emotionally charged tools designed to instill overwhelming fear in the masses and coerce them into submission.