Mortui

The Elysian Fields

The Woods of the Fortunate are the home of all those who possessed moral conviction and were good in life. This is a pleasant place with a sky, sun, stars, clothing, exercise, sports, and song. Essentially, Elysium is a pastoral paradise created by and for the early pastoral Greeks and Romans. Conveniently included in Elysium are two gates to the Outer World through which spirits may pass for reincarnation without having to endure the less pleasant parts of Hades.

Cronos
The god of the harvest, Cronos was the son of Uranus and Gaia (Ge) and the youngest of the Titans. He was incited by his mother to end the tyrannous rule of his father, and he did so by castrating Uranus with an adamantine sickle. During his reign, mankind experienced a golden age without war, crime, or death, but Cronos also became a tyrant himself and swallowed the first five of his children. The youngest, Zeus, was hidden away and grew up only to overthrow Cronos. Zeus threw Cronos into Tartarus as a punishment, but eventually he acceded to the good times experienced by mankind under Cronos' rule and set him as lord over Elysium.
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Lethe
Lethe is the name of the River of Forgetfulness, the last river in Hades. After a soul has resided in the Elysian Fields for a thousand years, it may cross the Lethe, thus wiping its memory of past lives, and be reborn into the Outer World.
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Eridanus
Eridanus is the river which received the body of Phaeton when he fell from his father Helios' chariot to his death. It is also a river which flows through Elysium.

Orpheus
Orpheus, the son of Apollo and Calliope--Muse of Epic Poetry--was the greatest of Greek poets and lyrists. His poetry soothed beasts and nature to the point of taming flung rocks and soaring arrows. He loved and married the maiden Eurydice who was promptly bitten by a snake and died. After her death, he braved the Underworld and tamed all of Hades with his music including the infernal rulers. Hades returned Eurydice to Orpheus under the condition that Orpheus not look back as he lead Eurydice back to the Outer World. Predictably, Orpheus looked back and lost her. As he pined away for love of Eurydice, he refrained from loving women, and so some Maenads (raving female worshippers of Bacchus) took umbrage and tore Orpheus to pieces. His mother and the other Muses burried his body, but his head continued to sing and prophecy until eventually Apollo ordered it silent.
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Musaeus
The son and pupil of Orpheus, Musaeus inherited the elder poet's skills and knowledge.
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Anchises
Aphrodite fell in love with the mortal Anchises, heir to the throne of Troy, and so she came to him as the daughter of Otreus--a Phrygian king--and laid with him. They conceived the child Aeneas. Aphrodite--out of embarrassment--commanded Anchises not to tell of their tryst, but Anchises let loose the truth when drunk one night, and so Zeus crippled him with a thunderbolt. Anchises served well in the Trojan house for years, and when Troy fell to the Greeks, he acted as a counselor for his son Aeneas during his wanderings. Anchises finally died near the island of Trinacria and was burried there. He then descended to Elysium where later Aeneas, as he journeyed through Hades, met him. Anchises then prophesied the future of the Roman empire to spur Aeneas on to greater glory.
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Marcellus the Elder
Marcellus the Elder won the Spoilia Opima for himself by conquering a rival general in hand to hand combat. He is one of only three Romans to ever win the Spoilia Opima, and so he gained entrance to Elysium. Vergil includes him in the Aeneid as a support for the glory of the younger Marcellus.
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Marcellus the Younger
Marcellus the Younger was the son of Octavia, Agustus' sister. He was also the heir-apparent of the Emperor Augustus until his mysterious and quick death at a very young age (perhaps by poison). He was a virtuous young Roman beloved by most. It is said that when Vergil read from Book VI of the Aeneid to Augustus, Octavia fainted when he reached the mention of her dead son.
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Teucer
The son of the river god Scamander, Teucer was king of the area called Troad. Dardanus married the daughter of Teucer and ruled after his death renaming the land Dardania. Thus, Teucer is one of the fathers of the Trojan (and eventually the Roman) race.
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Assaracus
One of the many kings of Troy, Assaracus joined his brethren in the Elysian Fields.
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Dardanus
Dardanus was the founder of the Trojan race, and the son of both Zeus and the Pleiad Electra. The Trojans and Troy itself take a name from him (Dardani, Dardania respectively).
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Gate of Horn
One of the twin gates of Sleep in Elysium that gives exit from Hades to the Outerworld, the Gate of Horn gives an easy exit to true shades.
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Gate of Ivory
One of the twin gates of Sleep in Elysium that gives exit from Hades to the Outerworld, the Gate of Ivory sends up false dreams. It is through the Gate of Ivory that Aeneas reascends to the Outerworld after his visit to Hades.
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