Hades (/ˈheɪdiːz/; Ancient Greek: ᾍδης, romanised: Hā́idēs, Attic Greek: [háːi̯dεːs], later [háːdeːs]) was a god in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He ruled over the underworld and was also associated with wealth. His name became closely linked with the underworld. Hades was the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea, but he was the last of his siblings to be born, as his father had swallowed him and later spat him out. Along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, Hades fought against and defeated their father, Cronus, and the other Titans. Together, they took control of the world. Hades was given rule over the underworld, Zeus ruled the sky, and Poseidon controlled the sea. The land, which was previously ruled by Gaia, was shared by all three. In artwork, Hades is often shown holding a bident (a two-pronged weapon) and wearing a special helmet. Cerberus, a three-headed dog that guards the underworld, is usually depicted standing beside him.
During the Roman era, writers connected Hades with other gods from Etruscan and Roman traditions, including Aita, Dis Pater, and Orcus. These figures were combined into a single god named Pluto, a Latin version of the Greek name Plouton (Ancient Greek: Πλούτων, romanised: Ploútōn). The name Pluto means "the rich one" and was sometimes used as a respectful way to refer to Hades.
Name
The origin of Hades's name is unclear, but it has often been thought to mean "the unseen one" since ancient times. A long part of Plato's dialogue Cratylus discusses the origin of the god's name, with Socrates suggesting it comes from "his knowledge (eidenai) of all noble things" rather than "unseen." Modern linguists have proposed the Proto-Greek form Awides ("unseen"). The earliest recorded form is Aḯdēs (Ἀΐδης), which does not include the letter digamma. Martin Litchfield West, however, suggests the original meaning was "the one who presides over meetings," due to the universality of death.
In Homeric and Ionic Greek, he was known as Áïdēs. Other poetic forms of the name include Aïdōneús (Ἀϊδωνεύς) and variations like Áïdos (Ἄϊδος, genitive), Áïdi (Ἄϊδι, dative), and Áïda (Ἄϊδα, accusative). The reconstructed nominative case Áïs (Ἄϊς) is not recorded. The name used in classical times was Háidēs (Ἅιδης). Later, the letter iota became silent, then marked with a subscript (ᾍδης), and finally omitted entirely (Άδης).
Because people were afraid to say his name, around the 5th century BC, the Greeks began calling him Plouton (Πλούτων, Ploútōn), meaning "wealthy." They believed riches, such as fertile crops and metals, came from the underworld. Plouton became the Roman god who ruled the underworld and gave wealth from below. This deity combined the Greek god Hades with the Eleusinian figure Ploutos and received a priestess, a practice not previously used in Greece. Other names of this type include Ploutodótēs (Πλουτοδότης) and *Ploutodotḗr (Πλουτοδοτήρ), meaning "giver of wealth."
Hades had special titles, such as Agesander (Ἀγήσανδρος) and Agesilaos (Ἀγεσίλαος), both derived from ágō (ἄγω, "to lead" or "to carry") and anḗr (ἀνήρ, "man") or laos (λαός, "people"), describing Hades as the god who takes everything away. Nicander used the form *Hegesilaus (Ἡγεσίλαος).
Hades was also called *Zeus katachthonios (Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος), meaning "the Zeus of the underworld," by those who avoided using his name directly, as he had complete control over the underworld.
Mythology
In Greek mythology, Hades was the god of the underworld and the first son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. He had three older sisters—Hestia, Demeter, and Hera—and a younger brother, Poseidon. All of them were swallowed by their father, Cronus, as soon as they were born. Zeus, the youngest child, was the only one who escaped this fate because his mother, Rhea, hid him. When Zeus grew up, he forced Cronus to release his siblings. After they were freed, the six younger gods and their allies fought the Titans in a war called the Titanomachy. This war lasted ten years and ended with the younger gods winning. After their victory, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots to decide which realms they would rule. Zeus received the sky, Poseidon received the seas, and Hades received the underworld, the hidden world where souls of the dead go after leaving the earth.
Hades married Persephone, who was Zeus’s daughter and Demeter’s daughter. Zeus ordered Hades to abduct Persephone, which led to the story of the Eleusinian Mysteries. This event is described in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, one of the oldest stories about the abduction, likely from the 6th century BC. Helios, the sun god, told Demeter that Hades was a worthy husband because of his status among the gods.
In Platonic philosophy, Hades was seen as a god who maintained balance rather than being evil. However, he was also described as strict and unkind, enforcing his laws equally on all. He was the ruler of the underworld, where the souls of the dead lived. He rarely left his domain and cared little about the world above. He strictly forbade anyone from leaving the underworld and punished those who tried, such as Sisyphus and Pirithous. Sisyphus was punished for cheating death, and Pirithous was trapped in the underworld for trying to take Persephone. Another story involves Asclepius, a demigod and skilled healer, who was killed by Zeus at Hades’s request after bringing the dead back to life.
Hades was rarely seen outside the underworld, except when Heracles shot him with an arrow while defending the city of Pylos. Other heroes who visited the underworld included Odysseus, Aeneas, Orpheus, Theseus, and Psyche. None of them were happy with what they saw there. Achilles, whom Odysseus summoned, said:
— Achilles’s soul to Odysseus. Homer, Odyssey 11.488–491 (Lattimore translation)
Persephone was not willing to marry Hades, but he abducted her while she was picking flowers in the fields of Nysa. Demeter, Persephone’s mother, caused a famine in protest. Zeus sent Hermes to the underworld to ask Hades to return Persephone. Hades agreed but gave Persephone a pomegranate seed to eat before she left. This act bound her to the underworld, and she was allowed to spend one-third of the year with her mother. During this time, winter came to the earth.
Orpheus, a hero, once went to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice. His music charmed Hades and Persephone, who allowed him to take Eurydice back to the living world as long as he did not look at her.
Theseus and Pirithous once tried to kidnap Zeus’s daughters. Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous chose Persephone. Theseus left Helen with his mother and went to the underworld with Pirithous. Hades tricked them by offering a feast, then trapped them with snakes. Theseus was later rescued by Heracles, but Pirithous was either trapped or killed by Cerberus.
Sisyphus, a king from Corinth, was punished in Tartarus for revealing the location of his wife’s body to the river god Asopus.
Cult and epithets
Hades, the god of the dead, was a feared figure among the living. People avoided swearing oaths in his name and turned their faces away during sacrifices to him. Because saying his name was unsettling, Greeks used other words to refer to him instead. Since precious minerals come from the earth, which Hades ruled, he was also called Plouton, meaning "the rich one." This name comes from the Greek word Ploutos, meaning "wealth." Sophocles once said, "The gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears." Other names for Hades included Clymenus ("infamous"), Polydegmon ("host of many"), and Eubuleus ("good counsel"), all of which were used as safer ways to refer to him.
Hades spent much of his time in his dark realm. He was a powerful warrior, proving his strength in the Titanomachy, a battle between the Olympian gods and the Titans that allowed Zeus to rule. People feared Hades because he represented the finality of death. Agamemnon once asked, "Why do we hate Hades more than any god, if not because he is so unyielding?" Though Hades was stern and cruel, he was also just. He ruled the underworld and was linked to death, but he was not the same as Thanatos, the personification of death. Some myths, like Euripides’s play Alkestis, suggest Hades and Thanatos were the same, describing Hades as dark-cloaked and winged.
When Greeks offered sacrifices to Hades, they struck the ground to ensure he heard them. Black animals, like sheep, were used in these rituals. The blood from sacrifices was poured into pits in the ground, and the person offering the sacrifice had to turn away. One ancient source said Hades had a cap of invisibility. His chariot was pulled by four black horses, named by different authors as Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus, and Alastor, among others. Other symbols of Hades included narcissus flowers, cypress trees, and a key. Snakes were sometimes shown with him, possibly linked to a myth in which he took the form of a snake to abduct Kore, who later became Zagreus-Dionysus.
Zeus, the king of the gods, was different from Hades, even though some myths refer to Hades as "Zeus Meilichios" or "Zeus Eubouleus." The philosopher Heraclitus said Hades and Dionysus were the same god, and evidence from ancient texts, like the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, supports this. Some believe Hades was a nickname for Dionysus, the god of life and wine. This connection is shown in myths where Demeter refused to drink wine after her daughter Persephone was taken by Hades.
Hades had many names across different cultures. In Latin and Etruscan, he was called Altor, Februus, Feralis Deus, and others. Some names, like Aidoneus and Moiragetes, described his role as ruler of the underworld or guide of the Fates. In Egypt, he was known as Amenthes. These names reflect how different societies viewed Hades as a god of death, wealth, and the underworld.
Artistic representations
Hades was not often shown in art or stories because the Greeks were very afraid of him. Art from the Archaic period sometimes shows figures that may be Hades, though it's not always clear. However, many believe these figures are Hades. In classical art, Hades appears in scenes of the Rape of Persephone. In these scenes, Hades is often shown as young, but in other artworks, he is shown at different ages. Because there were not many images of Hades, artists did not follow strict rules when drawing him. On pottery, Hades is shown with a dark beard and sitting on a throne made of black wood. Artists often show Hades with a bident (a tool with two teeth), a helmet, cornucopias (horns that pour out food), roosters, and a key. The key symbolizes Hades' control over the underworld and reminds people that the gates are always locked to keep souls inside. Even if the gates were open, Cerberus, a three-headed dog, made sure that souls could enter but never leave. Cerberus is closely linked to Hades. When artists show Cerberus, they almost always include Hades in the picture. Sometimes, artists showed Hades looking away from the other gods, as both gods and humans disliked him. As Pluto, Hades was seen more positively. He is shown with a cornucopia, which represents the gifts he gives and his connection to fertility.
Realm of Hades
In older Greek myths, the realm of Hades is the dark and foggy place where all people go after they die. Very few people could leave Hades once they entered. The exceptions were Heracles and Theseus, who were heroes. Even Odysseus, in his journey described in the Odyssey, called up the spirits of the dead rather than going to them directly. Later Greek philosophy introduced the idea that people are judged after death and either rewarded or punished.
The realm of Hades had several sections, including Elysium, the Asphodel Meadows, and Tartarus. The mythographer Apollodorus described Tartarus as "a gloomy place in Hades as far from Earth as Earth is from the sky." Greek writers did not always agree about the geography of the afterlife. A different myth describes the Garden of the Hesperides, often linked to the Isles of the Blessed, where honored heroes may live.
In Roman mythology, the entrance to the underworld was at Avernus, a crater near Cumae. This was the path Aeneas used to reach the realm of the dead. The term "Avernus" could sometimes mean the entire underworld. The di inferi were a group of gods who ruled the underworld.
For the Greeks, the deceased crossed the river Styx, guided by Charon, who charged an obolus (a small coin) for passage. This coin was placed in the mouth of the dead by their relatives. Poor people and those without friends waited for a hundred years on the riverbank, as described in The Aeneid. Greeks poured offerings of liquid to prevent the dead from returning to the living world. Cerberus, a three-headed dog, guarded the far side of the river. After passing Cerberus, the dead entered the land of the dead to be judged.
The five rivers of Hades and their meanings are: Acheron (sorrow), Cocytus (lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (forgetfulness), and Styx (hate). The Styx was the boundary between the world of the living and the dead.
The first region of Hades is the Fields of Asphodel, where the spirits of heroes wander sadly among other lesser spirits. Only blood offerings from the living could briefly restore their human feelings.
Beyond the Fields of Asphodel lies Erebus, a term sometimes used as a synonym for Hades. There were two pools: Lethe, where souls drank to forget all memories, and Mnemosyne, where initiates drank to remember. In the palace of Hades and Persephone, the three judges—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus—decided the fates of souls. At the trivium (a place where three roads meet), souls were judged. Those who were neither good nor evil returned to the Fields of Asphodel, those who were wicked went to Tartarus, and the virtuous went to Elysium.
In the Sibylline Oracles, a mix of Greek, Roman, and early Christian ideas, Hades is again described as the home of the dead. Some believed the name "Hades" came from "Adam," the first man, because he was the first to enter the underworld. In Christianity, the word "Hades" appears in the New Testament and has a different meaning.