Reference
- Hades(hā'dēz), in Greek and Roman religion and mythology. 1 The ruler of the underworld: see Pluto. 2 The world of the dead, ruled by Pluto and Persephone, located either underground or in the far west beyond the inhabited regions. It was separated from the land of the living by the rivers Styx [hateful], Lethe [forgetfulness], Acheron [woeful], Phlegethon [fiery], and Cocytus [wailing]. The newly arrived dead were ferried across the Styx by the avaricious old ferryman Charon, whom they paid with the coin that was placed in their mouths when they were buried. Unauthorized spirits who tried to enter or leave Hades were challenged by the fearful dog Cerberus. The honey cake that the Greeks buried with the dead was intended to quiet him. All the dead drank of the river of forgetfulness. The judges of the dead—Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus—assigned to each soul its appropriate abode. The virtuous and the heroic were rewarded in the Elysian fields; wrongdoers were sent to Tartarus; and most wandered as dull shadows among fields of asphodel.
- PlutoIn Greek mythology, lord of Hades, the underworld and also his original name. His Roman counterpart was Dis (also Orcus). He was the son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea; and brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter. He abducted and married Persephone, daughter of the goddess of agriculture Demeter, causing winter on Earth; Persephone was eventually allotted six months of each year in Hades, and six with her mother.
Pluto was swallowed at birth by Kronos who believed that his children would destroy him; Zeus, being hidden, later forced his father to regurgitate the siblings. In the ensuing battle, Pluto was given a helmet of darkness by the one-eyed giant Cyclops. Kronos was overthrown and his rule divided between the three gods: Zeus receiving the sky, Poseidon the sea, and Pluto the underworld.
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Perspectives
Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion
This volume presents a case for how and why people in archaic and classical Greece worshipped Underworld gods. These gods are often portrayed as malevolent and transgressive, giving an impression that ancient worshippers derived little or no benefit from developing ongoing relationships with them. In this book, the first book-length study that focuses on Underworld gods as an integral part of the religious landscape of the period, Mackin Roberts challenges this view and shows that Underworld gods are, in many cases, approached and 'befriended' in the same way as any other kind of god. Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion provides a fascinating insight into the worship of these deities, and will be of interest to anyone working on ancient Greek religion and cult.
A Dignified Passage Through the Gates of Hades
Archaeological excavations at the Eleuthernian burial ground of Orthi Petra continue to yield significant elements of the archaeo-anthropological record, the subject matter of continuous interdisciplinary research, outreach, national and international acclaim. Among a plethora of features discovered, unearthing components of a unique nexus to the Geometric-Archaic Periods, was an unspoiled time capsule in astonishing contextual preservation, a hand carved tomb with a drómos into the softer bedrock material of Orthi Petra. Designated in short as contextual association A1K1, the tomb as a funerary activity area yielded a remarkable collection of jar burials in complex internal tomb stratification, containing cremated human bones accompanied by a most noteworthy assembly of burial artifacts of exquisite wealth, along a multitude of traces of "fossilized" behavior left resolutely behind by the ancients in their transactions on the paths of their perceived realities and obligations of life norms, but also of the arcane matters of afterlife. Such evidentiary data of funerary behavior in conjunction with the rest of the archaeo-anthropological record afford the opportunity to document where possible and deduce where pertinent aspects of the transitional period, overlapping the end of life's journey and the unfolding of death in light of a number of the principles, the values, and the modes that guided the lives of the ancients as mortuary habits may have the transcending power to be revealing of certain codes of ante mortem conduct, of main beliefs, of ideologies and viewpoints, characteristic of their ideational world and hence of their attitudes toward, and expectations of, post mortem life. Such understandings, based on critical and deductive thinking combined with the data offered through the scope of anthropological archaeology and forensics by the decoding of traces permanently recorded on bone and dental surfaces, construct a persuasive dialectic, regarding important facets of the human condition in Eleutherna from Geometric through Archaic times.
Extract Out of Josephus's Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades
Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the good things they see, and rejoice in the righteous and unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a place in the world not regularly finished; a subterraneous region, wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance, that in this region the light does not shine, it cannot be but there must be in it perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a place of custody for souls, ill which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishments, agreeable to every one's behavior and manners...
Hades: Queen of the Underworld
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Demeter refuses to return to Olympus and keeps the Earth sterile. The gods agree that Persephone will spend winters in the underworld and the rest of the year with Demeter. Hades and Persephone are happy in the underworld. WARNING
Viewer Discretion Advised. This video contains nudity.
Hades: Who is Hades?
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Hades is not evil and does not engage in torture; the Erinyes persecute their victims in the underworld. Hades reigns over the kingdom he never wanted and occasionally provides indulgence. WARNING
Viewer Discretion Advised. Some content may be objectionable. This video contains nudity.
Hades, God of the Underworld
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowThe souls of the deceased are brought to Hades, the god of the underworld, by Hermes, and Charon ferries them across the river Acheron. The deceased pay him an obolus for their passage. For that reason a corpse always had an obolus placed under the tongue.
Hades: Lord of the Dead
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowHades, son of Cronus and Rhea, received the kingdom of the dead when is brother Zeus decided to share the universe with his brothers. Hades governs the souls of the dead without mercy, sending them to one of three paths in the underworld. WARNING
Viewer Discretion Advised. Some content may be objectionable. This video contains nudity.
Online Resources
- Death as a Beginning: Transformation of Hades, Persephone and Cleopatra in Children’s and Youth CultureThe motif of ancient beliefs about afterlife and contemporary idea of them appears increasingly in contemporary works directed to young audience. The combination of mythology and history known from ancient sources and popular culture works is essential for reception studies. The paper presents three cases of transformation of characters connected with ancient beliefs about afterlife as protagonists or villains in works directed to youth; Hades as a villain known from Disney’s works, especially Hercules; Persephone and Hades’s love story in three web comics: Underworld Love Story and Hades & Persephone Shorts by Gau Meo and Hades’ Holiday by Elvishness; and the way the Cleopatra VII Philopator’s image in Scooby Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? is different than others representations of the queen.
- Laughter from hades: Aristophanic voice todayThe current Greek political situation again brings to light, and on stage, many ancient dramas. Contemporary Greek theatre professionals, not turning a blind eye to reality, have come up with 'the revival' of old texts, staging them in new circumstances. Aristophaniad is an original play with a subversive content inspired by Aristophanes and a contemporary street graffito reflecting contemporary Athenian life. It is a mixture of various comic and other dramatic elements, such as ancient comedy, grotesque, pantomime, musical, ballet, opera, standup, even circus. Additionally, staging methods developed by the Greek director, Karolos Koun (1908-1987) are also evident in the production. Idea Theatre Company, exploiting excerpts from Aristophanes' plays and starring the comediographer himself, manages to depict a fictional and real world in one. The performance starts with the rehearsal of Aristophanes' new play, Poverty, which is in danger of being left unfinished since Hades plans to take Aristophanes to the Underworld. The play ends with Plutus. In the meantime, the performance entertains its audience, leading them to experience Aristotelian catharsis through laughter. This collective 'purification' of the soul is supposed to be mediated by laughter and provoked by references to serious life issues, given in comic mode and through a vast range of human emotions. The article deals with those comic features and supports the thesis that in spite of the fact that times change, people never cease to fight for a better society. Ifigenija Radulović is an associate professor of Classics in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad. She deals with the reception of Antiquity in different historical periods and with ancient Greek rhetoric and drama as historical sources. Ismene Helen Radoulovits Petkovits holds a BA in English, MA in Greek Philology and is writing a PhD thesis in Comparative Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She translates from Greek/English into Serbian and Croatian and vice-versa, and collaborates with many Greek and Serbian Theatres on modern adaptations of the classical repertoire.