Tartarus

American  

[tahr-ter-uhs] / ˈtɑr tər əs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a sunless abyss, below Hades, in which Zeus imprisoned the Titans.

2. a place in Hades for the punishment of the wicked.

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Tartarus British  

/ ˈtɑːtərəs /

noun

1. an abyss under Hades where the Titans were imprisoned

2. a part of Hades reserved for evildoers

3. the underworld; Hades

4. a primordial god who became the father of the monster Typhon

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Etymology

Origin of Tartarus

C16: from Latin, from Greek Tartaros, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

Exoplanet hunters have caught sight of a multitude of Earth- and Venus-size worlds far from our galactic backwater, each of them an Elysium or a Tartarus.

From Scientific American • Jun. 2, 2021

They were defeated, captured, bound and imprisoned in Tartarus by the gods we all learned about in grade school: Zeus and his rapacious clan of divine grifters.

From Washington Post • Jul. 4, 2020

Both these handsome volumes — from Tartarus Press — are suffused with that air of mystery, transgression and foreboding one associates with continental literature and film during the 1920s and ’30s.

From Washington Post • Aug. 14, 2019

And so to Jackson, whose wingnut fans believe is currently riding the great ferris wheel in the sky, while his detractors hope he’s strapped to a flaming wheel in Tartarus instead.

From The Guardian • Jan. 31, 2019

“Of course. All of Tartarus flows down to one place: his heart. The Doors of Death are there. But you cannot make it there alive with only Iapetus.”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan