Hades was the chthonic god of the underworld in Greek mythology. Though he commanded power over life and death, he was a lonely figure - - by far the loneliest of the Olympian gods. While the rest held court on Mount Olympus, his place was in the underworld as a solitary ruler with only the dead and his minions for company.

Hades’ birth was peculiar. He, along with his brothers and sisters were swallowed by their father, Cronus, after each of their births. They remained within him until their youngest brother, Zeus, who had been spared that fate by their mother, Rhea, grew into adulthood and freed them. The Titanomachy (the war between the Titans and the Olympians) ensued. The Olympian factions were victorious in the end and cast their father and many other Titans into Tartarus. After the Titanomachy, Hades and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, divided up the heavens, the sea, and the underworld between them.

While it might seem to the modern observer that Hades drew the short straw, he had two things in his favor: power over death and all of the riches in the world (as the metal and gem mines fell into his territory).

The Greeks called Hades “Clymenus (‘notorious’), Eubuleus (‘well-guessing’), and Polydegmon (‘who receives many’)” (1). These epithets clearly illustrate the mixture of awe and fear Hades invoked within the people who worshiped him. It’s said the even the gods avoided him, for fear of unleashing his wrath (1). Conversely, in mythology, he’s often portrayed as a neutral keeper of balance; death is, after all, a necessary part of life.

The name Hades meant “unseen”; the root of the word is Indo-European. Though, there are, perhaps, other connotations: Hades owned a helmet which made him invisible; aside of that, it could even be taken to mean that Hades (death) is something unseen, for nobody knows when death will come.

In the earliest myths surrounding Hades, his initial realm was Erebus, which was darkness and blackness, the son of Chaos. During the earlier myths, everyone, whether they were good or bad, went to Erebus. As time progressed, the Greek view of the afterlife changed and steered away from this completely morbid view in favor of an afterlife where the dead were judged based on their living deeds, and rewarded and punished accordingly.

One of the most famous myths surrounding Hades was the story of how he kidnapped his niece, Persephone.

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, Hades’ sister. Demeter was a goddess of nature and fertility. With her, she brought the changing seasons and new life. It could be said that she was the antithesis of her brother; where he brought death and decay, she invoked the richness of abundant life. Persephone was a maiden, and also a fertility and nature goddess. Hades’ abduction of Persephone could be construed as his longing for something he never had: vibrant and fresh life. It’s a poignant juxtaposition; and perhaps why, in the oddest of ways, the couple almost seems suited to one another.

Persephone was not very inclined to be abducted, and her mother was distraught without her. With her daughter held captive in the underworld, Demeter, in her overwhelming grief, cast the world into a harsh famine. Hades tricked Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds; it enacted a sort of nonverbal contract where she had to return to the world of the dead for six months out of the year. Autumn and winter are the times when she’s trapped in the underworld, the times when the trees are barren and the flowers are dead. This is, perhaps, another poignant point to the story of Hades: his actions concerning Persephone caused the world to be “dead” for six months out of the year.

1. “Hades.” Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
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