Final answer:
Tartarus is portrayed as a dark and torturous place for sinners, featuring a triple wall, fiery river, and iron tower, whereas Elysium is a serene realm reserved for virtuous souls, highlighting a stark contrast between the two afterlife destinations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Compared to Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed, Tartarus is depicted as a vastly more grim and punitive realm. In Virgil's Aeneid, while Elysium is reserved for the virtuous and heroic souls who may reside there eternally, Tartarus is portrayed as a heavily fortified and torturous place for sinners, characterized by its threefold wall, the fiery river Phlegethon, and a towering iron structure. This underworld division aligns with various ancient eschatologies, including Orphic, Homeric, and later philosophies, where Tartarus was the deepest, most severe section reserved for the greatest sinners, in contrast to the serenity and reward offered in Elysium.