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Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever.

Grover Underwood, in The Lightning Thief.

The Fields of Asphodel (also known as the Asphodel Meadows) is a section in the Underworld where indifferent or ordinary souls who lived a life of neither good or evil are sent to live after death. The majority of all souls go here once they are judged. It is said that after his death, Daedalus was assigned to create roads and overpasses in the Fields of Asphodel, to ease down the traffic.

Description[]

It is said that all souls that are neutral are to drink from the River Lethe before entering the fields, losing their identities and memories, thus becoming something similar to a machine. Hazel Levesque is the only person known to have not lost her identity and her memories despite entering the meadow, probably because she was a daughter of Pluto. However, the blind prophet Tiresias was also able to retain his old life when speaking to Odysseus.

The fields are a somewhat negative outlook on the afterlife for those who make little impact during their lives.

Neutral souls go there if they choose to go through the "EZ Death" train line at the gates to the Underworld, instead of accepting judgement. It is sometimes said that it was a plain of Asphodel flowers, which were a favorite food of the dead in Greece.

In the Lightning Thief adaptation, the Fields of Asphodel is a long line of souls standing around forever and not a meadow.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]

The Lightning Thief[]

While Percy Jackson was on a quest to rescue his mother, Sally Jackson, and retrieve Zeus' Master Bolt, he sees the Fields of Asphodel. The realm was filled with the souls of the neutral people. It also seems like 'a never ending field in Kansas', according to Grover Underwood. It is very dark, there is little noise, no light, black grass, stunted black poplar trees, and some fallen stalagmites.

When Percy sees the field, he considers it to be very depressing. He sees it as a field packed with people, but there is no electricity, no noise, no light, no beach ball over the crowd, and the millions of people in the crowd "are just milling around for a concert that will never start."

The Demigod Files[]

The Sword of Hades[]

When Percy, Thalia Grace, and Nico di Angelo go to find Hades' stolen sword, they walk through the Fields of Asphodel. Nico uses his sword to clear a path through the shades.

The Battle of the Labyrinth[]

Daedalus was asked to build a road at the Fields of Asphodel so it would prevent Underworld traffic.

Between the Series[]

While the Doors of Death have been opened by Gaea and Thanatos is chained down, Nico di Angelo visits the Underworld in search of his sister Bianca, hoping to use the chance to resurrect her. However, he discovers that Bianca has already chosen rebirth. In the Fields of Asphodel, Nico discovers the spirit of Hazel Levesque, a daughter of Pluto and his half-sister. Recognizing that she doesn't belong there, Nico escorts Hazel through the Doors of Death, resurrecting her and takes her to Camp Jupiter.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Son of Neptune[]

Hazel official

Hazel, an escapee from the Fields of Asphodel.

When Hazel Levesque has a "blackout" to when she sacrificed herself to prevent Alcyoneus from rising, she was placed before the judges, who were going to send her to Elysium and her mother, Marie Levesque, to the Fields of Punishment. Hazel did not think this was fair, so the judges modified the punishment and sent them both to the Fields of Asphodel. While Hazel remembered who she was (being a daughter of Pluto), her mother most likely did not, and Hazel never saw her again. Nico di Angelo eventually found Hazel sitting next to a poplar tree while looking for his sister, Bianca di Angelo, but she had been reborn, so Nico took Hazel out of the fields and through the Doors of Death, resurrecting her, before delivering Hazel to Camp Jupiter. Frank Zhang shared this flashback with Hazel and it is here that he gives Hazel his burned stick that is connected to his life.

As Frank, Hazel and Percy Jackson prepare to head to Hubbard Glacier to free Thanatos, Hazel admits that she expects Thanatos to reap her soul and return her to the Underworld. However, Hazel believes that Nico only brought her back so that she could correct her mistakes and maybe get into Elysium when she is returned to the Underworld rather than being sent back to Asphodel. To Hazel's surprise, when he is freed, Thanatos doesn't take her soul as she is not on his list, suggesting that Pluto has chosen to ignore Hazel's return to the living.

The Trials of Apollo[]

The Tower of Nero[]

While speaking with Apollo about the death of Jason Grace, Nico mentions how he found Hazel in the Fields of Asphodel. Nico states that with Hazel, he could tell that she didn't belong there and needed to come back while he senses that Jason is at peace and that bringing him back would dishonor Jason's sacrifice, particularly as he has a feeling that Jason is somewhere better now.

Known People[]

See also[]

Underworld
Underworld: DOA Recording Studios | Doors of Death | Door of Orpheus | Elysium | Erebos | Fields of Asphodel | Fields of Punishment | Hades' Palace | Isles of the Blest | Judgment Pavilion | Persephone's Garden
Rivers: Cocytus | Phlegethon | Styx | Lethe | Acheron
Tartarus: Mansion of Night | Hermes' Shrine | Chaos | Regeneration Pod
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