Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss
the three judges of the underworld in Greek mythology: Minos, Rhadamanthys,
and Aeacus. These three judges, all of them sons of Zeus, were the arbiters of the afterlife,
giving verdicts to the villainous and virtuous alike. The souls of the wicked were sent to
Tartarus, and the souls of the righteous were sent to the Isles of the Blessed.
Alright, let’s get into it.
The idea of there being a judge of the underworld harkens back to the earliest
works of Ancient Greek literature. In the Odyssey, Odysseus ventures down into the
depths of the underworld to consult a prophetess. He describes what he sees along the way. Among
the spirits he describes are some of the great sinners, rulers, and heroes of old. The great
sinners include Sisyphus and Tantalus, both of them condemned to punishment without end.
The rulers and heroes include Agamemnon, the high chief of the Greek forces that waged war on Troy,
and Achilles, the mightiest hero to wield spear and sword in the Trojan War,
his conquering spirit and battle prowess eclipsing those of any other, foe or friend. Another
king described by Odysseus along his chthonic quest is Minos, who, depending on the version,
either serves as the judge of the dead or as one of the judges of the dead. Here’s the passage:
“I saw Minos the son of Zeus holding a golden scepter and delivering judgments among the dead.
There he sat, and around him the others sat or stood in the ample-gated house of Hades,
seeking from this master of justice the firm sentences of the law.”
In ‘Olympia Ode 2’, penned by the poet Pindar in the 5th century BC, one of 14 such odes,
the idea of people being judged after death and of there being different destinations for
these people is elaborated upon. For good or bad, people earned their place in the afterlife. Where
they ended up was either a punishment incurred by a lifetime of wickedness or a reward accrued
for a lifetime of righteousness and beneficence. In Pindar’s work, what exactly happened to the
wicked isn’t delineated; however, that punishment does await is made clear. Here’s the passage:
“When they [men] die, hearts that were void of mercy pay the due penalty,
and of this world’s sins a judge below the earth holds trial, and of dread necessity
declares the word of doom… the unjust endure pain that no eye can bear to see”
Conversely, what exactly happened to the righteous is described in detail
by Pindar. They travel the road of Zeus to the tower of Cronus, there coming to
the Isles of the Blessed, a heaven-like paradise for those who lived good lives,
honoring the gods and doing right by their fellow man. Here’s the passage:
“These travel along the road of Zeus to Cronus’ tower. There around the Isles of the Blest,
the winds of Oceanus play, and golden blossoms burn, some nursed upon the waters, others on land
on glorious trees; and woven on their hands are wreaths enchained and flowering crowns,
under the just decrees of Rhadamanthys, who has his seat at the right hand of the great
father Cronus, Rhea’s husband, goddess who holds the throne highest of all.”
In Gorgias, penned by Plato in the 4th century BC, the subject of the three judges of the underworld
is delved into more deeply than the works discussed earlier on. In it, questions like,
who the judges are, why they were chosen, and how they judged, among many others, are answered.
Since the dawn of humanity, when the first man and the first woman drew their first breaths,
how people lived their lives dictated where their souls would transcend to after death.
The good were rewarded with everlasting paradise, to live forever in the blissful sublimity of the
Isles of the Blessed. And the bad were condemned to perpetual punishment, to suffer forever in
the dread and doom of abyssal Tartarus, the great chasm from which there was no escape,
the place where the enemies of the gods, such as the Titans and the worst of the mortal sinners,
were cast down into. Though the practice of judging the dead was as old as humanity itself,
years uncounted passed before it was done properly. In Cronus’ time - and even for
a long while in the time of Zeus - the living judged the living instead of the dead judging
the dead. Judges who were themselves alive judged people on the day they were to die.
Because people weren't being judged properly, souls were ending up in the wrong places:
the wicked in the Isles of the Blessed and the righteous in Tartarus. Hades, as the lord
of the underworld, was most alarmed and aware of what transpired. He brought the problem to Zeus,
and it was decided that something had to be done. As the process was currently structured,
the judges were constantly confounded and thus were regularly amiss in their arbitration. The
reason for this was that there were many ways a living person could belie who they really were,
obfuscating the accounts of their lives with the testimony of witnesses and keeping secret their
fell natures behind the fair façade of beauty and wealth. To remedy this and ameliorate the
dysfunction, it was decreed that the judges themselves had to be dead and that the people
being judged had to be dead. Indeed, not only was it difficult to judge the soul of a person while
they yet lived, it was imperative that the judges themselves were also dead; only then, both parties
thus unencumbered and uncomplicated by body, earthly possessions, and life, could judgment
be passed soul to soul, ensuring the judge could readily perceive and ensuring the judged were laid
bare and utterly unable to hide who they really were. Here’s the passage that describes this:
“ Then spake Zeus… ‘I will put a stop to these proceedings. The cases are now indeed judged ill
and it is because they who are on trial are tried in their clothing, for they are tried
alive…. Now many,’ said he, ‘who have wicked souls are clad in fair bodies and ancestry and wealth,
and at their judgment appear many witnesses to testify that their lives have been just… Now,
the judges are confused not only by their evidence but at the same time
by being clothed themselves while they sit in judgment, having their own soul
muffled in the veil of eyes and ears and the whole body… [Judges] must be naked, dead,
beholding with their very soul the very soul of each immediately upon his death, bereft of all his
kin and having left behind on earth all that fine array, to the end that the judgment may be just.”
Zeus decided that three of his sons (Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus) were to become the
judges of the dead once they themselves had lived out their lives and passed on to the underworld.
Both Minos and Rhadamanthys hailed from Asia Minor, and Aeacus from Europe. Rhadamanthys
judged those from Asia Minor, Aeacus judged those from Europe, and Minos was the final adjudicator,
meaning the onus of judgment passed to him if either of the other two judges were uncertain
about their ruling. Though Minos’ judgments were few when compared with those of the other two,
it was he who ultimately presided over the whole process. He was preeminent,
the golden scepter he held signifying his station and symbolizing his superiority.
Bereft of body, no longer the essence that imbues the corporeal with life,
the souls of the dead could be considered for what they really were - their accolades, appearances,
and accomplishments no longer apparent to misrepresent and mislead towards poor judgment
and undeserving punishment and reward. To clarify, let’s use the judgment of a corrupt king as an
example. Before, when people were still judged on the day of their deaths when they still lived,
it was far more likely that the corrupt king would have benefited from favorable judgment. His crown,
the richness of his clothes, his impressive lineage, a host of sycophants to falsify
glowing testimonials on his behalf, vouching for him as character witnesses and the like:
factors such as these made it difficult to judge someone for who they truly were. Just as you can’t
see the heart of a clothed person, so too is their soul made inscrutable by the furnishings of flesh
and garb. Conversely, when a person was pared down, reduced to only their spiritual essence,
what was once opaque became transparent. The soul of a wicked person had a tortured look,
marred by corruption and injury, manifesting livid and loathsome
details that were readily perceptible. Here’s the passage that describes this:
“When a man’s soul is stripped bare of the body, all its natural gifts, and the
experiences added to that soul as the result of his various pursuits, are manifest in it…
when… [a judge] has laid hold of the Great King or some other prince or potentate, he perceives
the utter unhealthiness of his soul, striped all over with the scourge, and a mass of wounds, the
work of perjuries and injustice; where every act has left its smirch upon his soul, where all is
awry through falsehood and imposture, and nothing straight because of a nature that knew not truth”
When a soul was judged to be wicked, this didn’t necessarily permanently condemn the soul. There
were two things that could happen. The first was a permanent stay in the pit of Tartarus, this
reserved for those who were incurably wicked. The second, though certainly not anyone’s preferred
option if they had any choice in the matter, was infinitely better than the alternative.
It was punishment, but punishment with the aim of correction instead of condemnation. It was
similar to how purgatory became conceptualized in Christianity. Purgatory was a place of punishment,
but the purpose of this was purification rather than suffering, preparing souls for their eventual
ascension to heaven. Such was the case for souls in Greek mythology who were punished
for their betterment. Differing from them, those who were forever condemned to Tartarus
served as examples to deter people in the future from being as depraved and despicable as they
were - the spiritual equivalent of a public beheading or a skeleton hanging in a gibbet.
And that’s it for this video. If you enjoy the content,
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