Hades (Ἁδης) was the god of the The Underworld and of the Dead alongside his queen, Persephone. He ruled the Underworld as his kingdom and his queen and wife was Persephone. Hades was one of the children of Kronos and Rhea, and his brothers included Zeus and Poseidon. His servants included Charon, the boatman, and the hellhound, Cerberus, was his treasured pet with 3 heads. Even though he is a god, he chose not to have a throne on Mount Olympus. He ruled and possessed the Earth's riches and wealth. He controlled the demons and spirits in the underworld. The Underworld is sometimes called Hades, like its ruler.
Birth
Hades was one of the children of the Titans, Kronos and Rhea. He was the oldest son, but the second oldest out of Kronos' and Rhea's six children after Hestia. His brothers were Poseidon and Zeus. Like his siblings, he was swallowed whole by Kronos, who was afraid that his children would one day surpass him. He and the others were eventually freed by Zeus
Titanomachy
During The Great War, Hades fought alongside the Olympians and helped a great deal with it. With the help of Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter ,and Hera; Zeus was able to defeat Kronos and the Titans, thus ending the Great War.
Hades' Rule
When the war ended, Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus divided the world among themselves using lots, Poseidon getting to rule the sea, Zeus,the heavens, while Hades got the Underworld and the Earth belonged to all three. It is said that Hades was always the unlucky one, and it is no wonder he got stuck with the Underworld.
Wife
Hades wife, Persephone, was the goddess of crops and spring, daughter of Demeter. Demeter and Persephone were picking crops, when Persephone was caught by the sight of a flower, the narcissus. Unnoticed by the maidens with her, Persephone went to pick up the flower. Out of no where, the ground split, and Hades himself rode out in his majestic chariot, guided by black-ash steeds. Grabbing Persephone, he rode back into the Underworld, and the gap sealed. He had tried to rape her in the process. Demeter, not able to find Persephone, became extremely sullen and saddened. Her sadness left the Earth to die. Nothing grew, nothing was green. This was the season of Winter, in which Demeter was sad. Going to Zeus, she found that Hades himself had taken Persephone. So Hermes was sent, and asked Hades for Persephone back. In the Underworld, Hades was showering Persephone with gold and riches, but she would have none of it. Hearing the news, she gladly was allowed to go back. But Hades persuaded Persephone to eat a pomegranate seed. She went back to Demeter, happy again. And everything on Earth grew. But when Persephone told Demeter of the pomegranate seed, Demeter was struck with sadness. Anything eaten in the Underworld, would bind the digested to hell for their life. So Zeus had declared Persephone would spend four months in Underworld, and the rest of the year coming back and living with Demeter. This is the reason that Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter was formed.
In another myth, a dead spirit boy (which Demeter had turned into a lizard, and was eaten by a hawk) came to Persephone and convinced her to eat six pomegranate seeds, and when Zeus found out he declared she had to go back to the Underworld for six months, one month for each seed.
Asclepius
Another myth tells of Hades' involvement with Asclepius, a mortal son of Apollo who was a gifted healer and the world's first doctor. Asclepius was so gifted he was able to give mortals longer lives by curing plagues and showing them how to take care of themselves. Asclepius brought people back from the brink of death many times. Eventually though Asclepius started to bring people back from the dead for hefty sums of money. It was with this feat that Hades lost his temper and stormed up to Mount Olympus demanding that Asclepius pay the price for openly mocking death. Zeus appeased Hades by personally striking down Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Apollo, enraged at the death of his son, killed the younger generations of Cycloposes that forged the bolt. Enraged at Apollo's defiance Zeus forced him to serve a mortal king for a year as punishment. Asclepius was later deified as the god of healing.
Sisyphus
One of the few other myths Hades played a major antagonistic part in was the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was a clever and charismatic king who feared death and made up his mind to find a way to evade Hades. Sisyphus trapped Hades when he came to reap his soul and though Hades escaped and would drag Sisyphus to the Underworld anyway Sisyphus had told his wife not to bury him with fare and so his ghost was sent back to ask for his last rites but Sisyphus instead remained in the world of the living as an undead, content to live forever in undeath rather then go to the Underworld. Hades did not wish to be trapped and tricked again so he told Sisyphus that for every day he lived one of his people would die. For a long time Sisyphus escaped death by offering one of his people in return and being a beloved king his people were willing to offer themselves to Hades on his behalf. But tired of Sisyphus scheming one day Hades called for the soul of Sisyphus's wife as offering. Sisyphus was terrified of living without her and so he finally conceded. His wife gave him his last rites at last and Sisyphus went to the Underworld. Hades was so angry at Sisyphus for holding the natural order hostage that he arranged a special punishment for him. Hades put Sisyphus on the edge the pits of Tartarus but told Sisyphus that his schemes would be overlooked and he had a chance to go to the paradise of Elysium if and only if he could roll a large boulder up a hill; Sisyphus quickly agreed fearing the punishments of Tartarus and tried to push the boulder up the hill but it fell, frantically he tried again and it fell. Sisyphus would keep trying to push the boulder up the hill so he would never be brought to be punished in the fiery pits and one day he could get out and go to Elysium, but Hades never told him the boulder, like all parts of the Underworld, obeyed his wishes and would always roll down and that that was his punishment. So Sisyphus continues to try to escape Tartarus forever punished by his own ambitions.
Symbols
Screech Owl the bird of Hades
* The Screech Owl is the bird of Hades
* Cypress trees are the trees sacred to Hades.
Powers and Abilities
As the god of the underworld, and precious metals, Hades has absolute power and authority over riches and death. Also being a son of the titan, Kronos, Hades is an incredibly powerful god and is only rivaled by his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon.
Trivia
- Hades' name in Roman Mythology is Pluto, though some people confuse him with the god Dis Pater, another roman god of the Underworld, who had his place taken by Pluto.
- Unlike his brothers, and most gods, Hades never caused harm to any mortal without provocation. The only mortal who received his punishment was Pirithous, who attempted to kidnap Hades' wife. Hades' only other relation to mortals was the fact that he placed them in specific parts of the Underworld, depending on how good or evil they were in life. This relatively peaceful nature of his is never portrayed in any popular culture depiction of him, where he is always an evil character.
Gallery
