In ancient Greek mythology, Tartarus is the prison-like region where the defeated Titans were confined.
Tartarus is described in Greek myth as a deep, gloomy region beneath the underworld. In Hesiod’s Theogony, it is both a primordial cosmic place and a place of punishment or imprisonment. Zeus and the Olympian gods cast the Titans into Tartarus after defeating them in the Titanomachy, the great war between the older and younger generations of gods.
Tartarus is often treated as more than simply another name for Hades. Hades can refer to the god who rules the underworld, the underworld itself, or the realm of the dead generally. Tartarus, by contrast, is a remote abyss associated especially with cosmic enemies, severe confinement, and punishment.
Later writers, including Plato and Virgil, expanded or reshaped ideas about underworld punishment. The familiar punishments of figures such as Tantalus and Sisyphus are usually associated with the broader underworld rather than making every dead person a resident of Tartarus.