Is this the real Hell? Incredible cave which experts believe inspired the Greek legend of Hades

[Jazzy]

An ancient Greek cave nearly the size of four football pitches and with its own underground lake may be responsible for sparking the age-old myth about the Greek underworld god Hades, archaeologists claim.



The cavern - named Alepotrypa which means 'foxhole' - laid undiscovered for centuries in Diros Bay, Mani, southern Greece, until a man walking his dog found a tiny entrance to the cave in the 1950s.



Experts have spent the last few decades excavating the cave and believe hundreds of people lived inside Alepotrypa, making it one the oldest prehistoric villages in Europe, before the cave entrance collapsed burying everyone alive 5,000 years ago.



Archaeologists have now uncovered tools, pottery, obsidian, silver and copper artifacts that date back to the Neolithic Age, which began in Greece began around 9,000 years ago, soon before the Stone Age.



But the most important find - that the cave was used as a cemetery and for burial rituals - has led researchers to believe it could have inspired the legend of Hades' underworld.



The first archaeologist to ever dig inside Alepotrypa, Giorgos Papathanassopoulos, suggests that the Neolithic residents believed the cave was Hades.

Pictures and video



Do you think this is Hades?

 

[The Dragon Master]

Ehhh.... No... Not really...

 

[DrLeftover]

One of several.

 

[Evil Eye]

Movie reference: Let's hope they don't find dragons.

Mythic fancy: Go deep enough and you might find Hades.

Reality: Cool cave... might be some interesting stuff down there.