Hades offers Persephone the pomegranate seeds |
Hades
Roman name: Pluto
Ruler of the Underworld, Lord of the dead
Hades was one of the major Olympian gods: son of Cronus and Rhea, and brother of Zeus.
When Zeus triumphed over his father, Cronus, he made himself Supreme Ruler of the Universe and divided the universe between his brothers. He made Poseidon god of the sea and made Hades god of the underworld.
Hades supervised the trial and punishment of the wicked after their deaths, although the actual torture of evildoers was undertaken by the Erinyes. He was understood to be stern and pitiless, unmoved (like Death itself) by prayer or sacrifice. Hades was, understandably, a terrifying and unpopular god; even the other gods were scared of him. Usually he was worshipped under a euphemistic epithet, such as Eubuleus (‘giver of good counsel’). People avoided speaking his name for fear of attracting his attention.
The underworld and its inhabitants
The underworld was known as ‘the House of Hades’, or by transference simply ‘Hades’. Tartarus was originally an abyss far below Hades’ realm, where the guilty were punished, but over time the two became synonymous.
The souls of the deceased were taken to the underworld by Hermes then ferried across the River Acheron by the ferryman Charon. Charon only accepted those souls who had been buried or burned with the proper rites, including having an obulus (a coin) placed under their tongue. Those souls who did not have the fare to pay Charon were doomed to walk on the banks of the River Styx (the most famous of the five rivers in the underworld) for 100 years.
Having crossed the river, the souls passed through the gate guarded by the giant, dragon-tailed, three-headed watchdog Cerberus. Cerberus permitted new shades to pass into Hades, but would not allow any to leave. Among those few who outwitted the dog were Orpheus (who lulled the dog to sleep by playing his lyre) and Heracles, who took him to the land of the living as the last of his twelve Labours.
Hades and Persephone
Hades fell in love with Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and abducted her to rule as his queen. Demeter – goddess of the harvest – searched endlessly for her daughter, and became so distraught that she neglected to oversee the harvest and there was a worldwide famine.
Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother. But Hades tricked Persephone into eating some pomegranate seeds and, having eaten food in the underworld, she was eternally tied to it. Thereafter, Persephone spent eight months of the year with her mother, but returned to Hades for four months, during which time winter claimed the upper world.