Hades | Characteristics, Family, Facts & Mythology
Highlights of Hades:
| God of | The Underworld, death, and riches |
| Symbols | Scepter, Cerberus, drinking horn, and the cypress tree |
| Parents | Cronus and Rhea |
| Children | Melinoe, Macaria, and Zagreus |
| Spouse | Persephone |
| Abode | The Underworld |
| Roman name | Pluto |
In Greek mythology, the god Hades is in charge of the Underworld, which is home to the dead. Along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, he is among the three most powerful Greek deities.
How is Hades typically portrayed?
Typically, images of Hades include a beard, a helmet or crown, and either a staff or a two-pronged pitchfork. His three-headed dog Cerberus is frequently by his side. He commutes in a chariot drawn by dark horses.
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What abilities and talents did he possess?
The underworld and all its inhabitants were under the total rule of Hades. He was an eternal god, and one of his unique abilities was invisibility. He appeared invisible thanks to a helmet he was wearing called the Helm of Darkness. He once gave the hero Perseus his helmet to use in his victory over the monster Medusa.
Birth of Hades
Cronus and Rhea, the ruler and queen of the Titans, were the parents of Hades. To stop a prophecy that a son would one day overthrow him, Hades’ father Cronus swallowed him after his birth. Finally, Hades was rescued by his younger brother Zeus.
Lord of the Underworld
Hades and his brothers divided the world into halves when the Olympians fought the Titans. The sky was created by Zeus, the sea by Poseidon, and the underworld by Hades. In Greek mythology, the afterlife is the Underworld. At first, Hades wasn’t very enthusiastic about inheriting the Underworld, but once Zeus told him that someday, all humanity would be his subjects, Hades changed his mind.
Cerberus
Hades possessed a great three-headed hound named Cerberus to guard his kingdom. The entrance to the Underworld was manned by Cerberus. He prevented both the live and the dead from entering.
Charon
Charon was another one of Hades’ helpers. Hades had Charon as his ferryman. He would row the dead from the living world to the Underworld over the rivers Styx and Acheron. In order to cross, the deceased had to give Charon a coin; else, they would have to roam the coasts for a hundred years.
Persephone
In the Underworld, Hades grew to be quite lonely and yearned for a wife. Zeus said he might wed Persephone, his daughter. Persephone didn’t want to live in the Underworld and wed Hades, though. Persephone was then abducted by Hades and coerced into entering the underworld. The world experienced hunger as a result of Demeter, the goddess of harvests and Persephone’s mother, becoming depressed and neglecting the harvest. The gods eventually reached a consensus that Persephone would spend four months of the year with Hades. The winter, when nothing grows, is a representation of these months.
Greek deity Hades: Interesting Facts
The name of Hades was disliked by the Greeks. He was occasionally known as Plouton, which is French for “the lord of riches.”
Anyone attempting to avoid death would anger Hades to a great extent.
Not Hades, but another god by the name of Thanatos represented death in Greek mythology.
When Persephone learned that Hades was in love with Minthe, she transformed the nymph into the mint plant.
The Underworld is divided into numerous areas. Some of them, like the Elysian Fields, where heroes went after they died, were lovely. Other places were terrible, like Tartarus, the gloomy pit where the wicked were cast to suffer eternally.
Although Hades wasn’t a resident of Mount Olympus, he is occasionally regarded as one of the Twelve Olympian gods.