Myth & LegendGreek → English
Elysian
/ɪˈlɪʒən/adjective
Blissful, or belonging to the paradise where favoured Greek heroes were sent after death.
The Greek roots
Ἠλύσιον
Ēlýsion
the Elysian plain
Literally: “of the Elysian plain”
Follow a root:Ἠλύσιον2 words
The story of the word
Homer sets the Elysian plain at the western edge of the earth and sends Menelaus there instead of letting him die, on the grounds that marrying Helen made him kin to Zeus. It was a destination for the well-connected rather than a reward for virtue; that idea arrives centuries later. Paris named a road after it, the Champs-Élysées, and the palace on that road gave the French presidency the name Élysée.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
In a sentence
Three days of sun in February counts as elysian by local standards.