36 Facts About Hades

Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father.

Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, long the province of Gaia, available to all three concurrently.

Origin of Hades' name is uncertain, but has generally been seen as meaning "the unseen one" since antiquity.

Epithets of Hades include Agesander and Agesilaos, both from ago and aner or laos, describing Hades as the god who carries away all.

Hades was referred to as Zeus katachthonios, meaning "the Zeus of the underworld", by those avoiding his actual name, as he had complete control over the underworld.

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In Greek mythology, Hades, the god of the Greek underworld, was the first-born son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea.

Hades had three older sisters, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, as well as a younger brother, Poseidon, all of whom had been swallowed whole by their father as soon as they were born.

Zeus received the sky, Poseidon received the seas, and Hades received the underworld, the unseen realm to which the souls of the dead go upon leaving the world as well as any and all things beneath the earth.

Hades obtained his wife and queen, Persephone, through abduction at the behest of Zeus.

Helios told the grieving Demeter that Hades was not an unworthy groom or son-in-law given his status among the gods, as her own brother and king on his own right:.

Hades isn't an unsuitableson-in-law among the gods: Lord of the Many Dead, your own brother from the same seed.

Hades was portrayed as passive and never portrayed negatively; his role was often maintaining relative balance.

Hades ruled the dead, assisted by others over whom he had complete authority.

The House of Hades was described as full of "guests, " though he rarely left the underworld.

Hades cared little about what happened in the world above, as his primary attention was ensuring none of his subjects ever left his domain.

Hades strictly forbade his subjects to leave his domain and would become quite enraged when anyone tried to leave, or if someone tried to steal the souls from his realm.

Hades was only depicted outside of the underworld once in myth, and even that is believed to have been an instance where he had just left the gates of the underworld, which was when Heracles shot him with an arrow as Hades was attempting to defend the city of Pylos.

Besides Heracles, the only other living people who ventured to the underworld were heroes: Odysseus, Aeneas, Orpheus, to whom Hades showed uncharacteristic mercy at Persephone's urging, who was moved by Orpheus' music, Theseus with Pirithous, and, in a late romance, Psyche.

Persephone does admit that she ate the food of the dead, as she tells Demeter that Hades gave her a pomegranate seed and forced her to eat it.

Hades knew of their plan to capture his wife, so he pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast; as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there.

Hades punished Sisyphus by making him roll a boulder up a hill in the underworld; but every time he reached the top, the boulder would roll down again and again.

Hades did this to absolve himself of guilt for killing the centaurs and to learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive.

In great pain, Hades went to Olympus to be healed by the physician of the gods, Paean.

Hades fell in love with her and abducted her to the underworld.

Hades lived out the span of her life in his realm, and when she died, the god sought consolation by creating a suitable memorial of their love: in the Elysian Fields where the pious spend their afterlife, he brought a white tree into existence.

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In some versions Hades is considered the master of the goddesses of Fate, not his brother Zeus and the god who designates the end and origin of all things and orders the alternation of birth and destruction, the arbiter of life and death.

Hades is considered the father of the Furies in some versions, but the mother's identity varies.

Hades is said to hate Alecto, even though she is one of his children.

Hades, as the god of the dead, was a fearsome figure to those still living; in no hurry to meet him, they were reluctant to swear oaths in his name, and averted their faces when sacrificing to him.

Hades was not an evil god, for although he was stern, cruel, and unpitying, he was still just.

Hades's chariot, drawn by four black horses, made for a fearsome and impressive sight.

Zeus was portrayed as having an incarnation in the underworld identifying him as literally being Hades and leading to Zeus and Hades essentially being two representations and different facets of the same god and extended divine power.

Hades was depicted infrequently in artwork, as well as mythology, because the Greeks were so afraid of him.

Sometimes, artists painted Hades as looking away from the other gods, as he was disliked by them as well as humans.

Hades holds a cornucopia, representing the gifts he bestows upon people as well as fertility, which he becomes connected to.

In older Greek myths, the realm of Hades is the misty and gloomy abode of the dead where all mortals go when they die.