Elysium

/i lizh"ee euhm, i lee"zhee-, i liz"-, i lee"zee-, i lizh"euhm/, n.

1. Also called Elysian Fields. Class. Myth. the abode of the blessed after death.

2. any similarly conceived abode or state of the dead.

3. any place or state of perfect happiness; paradise.

4. an area in the northern hemisphere of Mars, appearing as a light region when viewed telescopically from the earth.

[1590-1600; < L < Gk Elýsion (pedíon) the Elysian (plain)]

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or Elysian Fields

Ancient Greek paradise reserved for heroes to whom the gods had granted immortality.

Homer described it as a land of perfect happiness at the end of the earth, on the banks of the Oceanus River. From the time of Pindar (с 500 BC) on, Elysium was imagined as a dwelling place for those who had lived a righteous life.

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▪ Greek mythology

also called  Elysian Fields  or  Elysian Plain 

      in Greek mythology, originally the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods conferred immortality were sent. It probably was retained from Minoan religion. In Homer's writings the Elysian Plain was a land of perfect happiness at the end of the earth, on the banks of the Oceanus River. A similar description was given by Hesiod of the Isles of the Blessed. In the earlier authors, only those specially favoured by the gods entered Elysium and were made immortal. By the time of Hesiod, however, Elysium was a place for the blessed dead, and, from Pindar on, entrance was gained by a righteous life. Later writers made it a particular part of Hades, as in Virgil, Aeneid, Book VI.

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