What is the name of the underworld plain for ordinary souls?

The underworld plain for ordinary souls is the Asphodel Meadows, also called the Asphodel Fields.

In Greek mythology, most deceased souls were sent to the Asphodel Meadows after death. They were neither the specially rewarded nor the especially wicked: Elysium was associated with blessed or heroic souls, while Tartarus was the place of severe punishment. The meadows therefore represent the broad, ordinary destination in many later descriptions of the Greek afterlife.

The name reaches back to Homer’s Odyssey, where Odysseus encounters the field of asphodel during his survey of the dead. Ancient writers and modern scholars have debated whether the name refers to the pale asphodel plant or to a possible association with ashes. That uncertainty reflects how differently Greek authors imagined the landscape.

The Asphodel Meadows are sometimes depicted as a gloomy, colorless region inhabited by insubstantial shades. Other later interpretations make them more like a quiet meadow. The variation matters: Greek ideas about the afterlife changed over time, so no single map of Hades fits every ancient source. Lethe, by contrast, is a river of forgetfulness, not the ordinary soul’s dwelling place.