The History and Significance of the god Hades

Greek mythology has both fascinated and entertained society from ancient times to our modern contemporary society; the deities of the classical world are some of the world’s most famous figures. One of these deities, Hades, offers us great insight into this fascinating culture, as well as entertaining us with his myths and legends.

Hades, according to mythology, was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, one of the six children begot by Rhea and Cronos (also spelt Kronos and Cronus). Hades, along with his brother and sister, apart from Zeus, was swallowed by his father in order to prevent the prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him. Hades, along with the others, were rescued by Zeus when he made Cronos vomit them up by the aid of a potion.

With Zeus receiving the heavens to rule over and Poseidon the ocean, Hades drew the lot of the Underworld to reign when their father’s kingdom was divided between the three gods. In the Underworld, which was named after the god, Hades presided not only the lands where the dead dwelled, but also everything that lay beneath the earth’s surface. Therefore Hades controlled the wealth itself in the form of the Earth’s agricultural riches and minerals.

Hades most famous myth concerns the legend on how he procured his wife, his niece Persephone, the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Mother and daughter were in a meadow picking flowers when Persephone wanders off to look at other flowers. Hades, seeing his chance, creates a hole in the earth, drives up his chariot, grabs the young Persephone and returns back to Hades with his stolen bride.

For a long time, Demeter searched the world for her daughter before finally finding Persephone in the Underworld. She requested her daughter back but Persephone, having eaten 6 pomegranate seeds (this varies in different accounts), is required to stay in the Underworld. Asking for help from Zeus, he decreed that Persephone spend 6 months in Hades with her husband and 6 months on earth with her mother (again, the amount of time can differ with different sources; some say 6 months, others say a third of the year). It was this myth that explained the changing seasons on earth.

When looking at the significance of this god, we must put everything into context. For the ancient Greeks, it was ideal for one to achieve glory in one’s life. Occasionally, a mortal who was loved by the gods was granted a form of immortality by placed amongst the stars as a constellation, but for the most part, the afterlife was not relied upon to bring any rewards for good behaviour in life.

It is due to this that could explain why Hades was seen as a dark, unattractive and hard-hearted figure in Greek mythology. He was reluctant to spend time on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, instead he spent the majority of his time Underworld, emphasising the permanence of death. Due to this, he was the supreme god of the chthonic or earth gods and sometimes called the Chthonian Zeus.

Hades was not a god that was widely worshipped throughout Greece, and there are few myths that he features in. Unlike his brothers, Hades was not as sexually active. Apart from the abduction of Persephone, he did not become involved in the passions that make up so much of the myths of Zeus and Poseidon.

Bibliography:

Alderink, Larry J. (1982) Mythical and Cosmological Structure in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Numen, BRILL.

Cotterell, Arthur & Storm, Rachel (1999) The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, Hermes House, Anness Publishing House.