Hades: God Of The Underworld
“ -John, Verse — 8:44, The Bible. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”.
Who is Hades? “ Talk about the devil and he shall prevail”. Well, we are pretty against the concept of so as knowledge is bliss while ignorance is quite contradictory to the fact of so. So, think about it, what is the devil? On the basis of options, our survey says 40% of people believe the Devil is negative energy that resides within us all, while the other 60% of people believe that the devil is a personifying God of the underworld, who is always trying to take over this world of Jesus Christ. Well, what is it’s actual story then?
Take an instance of any mythology, the devil always persisted and he went by different names across the world. The Christian reference calls him “ Lucifer” while the Hindu reference calls him “ Satan (शैतान)” and the Islamic reference calls him “ Shaytan (شياطين)”. Now let us be skeptical here for a second, what is common among all the three major religious references? ( Think for a second before you see the answer)
Yes, you got that right, he exists in all the three major religious references. Alright, now let’s make this more interesting and travel back in time- a time where Gods were not a part of the textbook, a time where they were walking the earth making the Mythological history of the world as we know it.
When we talk about the devil himself parallel with ancient history, we cannot help but think of the Greek god of death, the personification of the god of the underworld — Hades. Historically speaking, the greek take on the god of the dead is quite contradictory to that of the modern world aspect that portrays death as an evil. Though he is known as the Greek god of death yet throughout mythological incidents one can find him being more bound to the moral principals than his brothers.
Historically stating, he was more of “The Judgment Day” executioner than evil. He used to maintain balance in nature and it is believed by the whole Greek nation that we are all answerable to Hades after death. He is known for being cold and steady and in the realm of the god of the dead, every soul is treated equally. Hades’ rules are infamous to be pretty strict in the underworld and the Greek god of death is himself known to be very particular and impartial with his laws. According to Greek mythology, anyone who would try to leave his realm or try to cheat death would have to face the fearsome wrath of the god of the underworld.
As the legend goes- Pirithous (King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly) trespassed in the realm of the dead to steal the beautiful Persephone (wife of the Greek god of death) for himself and when the matter of such audacity came to light of Hades, he personally made sure to brutalize him with his punishments and ultimately made him sit on the infamous “Chair of Forgetfulness” Spooky, right? So further a due let’s fasten our seat belt since today’s ride is going to be skeptical and spooky as we are going to venture further about the god of the dead, Hades.
What does Hades name mean? Who is Hades?
The name Hades came from the Greek word “Αιδης” (Haides), which is derived from another Greek word αιδης (aides) meaning “the one who cannot be seen”. He was also known as Zeus katachthonios (Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος), which means “the Zeus of the Underworld”. He was called so by those who used to avoid his actual name in fear, as Hades had complete control over the Underworld.
Traditionally, Hades is the god of the underworld, who very strictly maintains relative balance and is infamously feared by us all the people across the whole greek nation. This infamous god of the dead appeared in many contexts of Odessey and in every context he was spoken of in subjection of fear, death, and horror.
Genealogically stating, according to Pre-eaten order, Hades is the 1st born son of Kronos/Cronus and Rhea. He had 3 brothers namely Zeus, Poseidon, Chiron, and 3 sisters namely Hera, Hestia, Demeter. He had a beautiful consort named Persephone (daughter of Zeus and Demeter) who he abducted and brought to the realm of the dead to marry. Later on, the Greek god of death indeed married her and had children with her namely Zagreus, Macaria, and in some cases Melinoe, Plutus, and The Erinyes.
Legends and Myth: Origin of Hades — The God of the Dead
According to the legend — Kronos, the father of Hades, was the ruler of all the Titans. It is believed that he was so evil that he not only overthrew his father Uranus, the ruler of the Universe by attacking him from behind but also tortured his own wife, Rhea, and ate all his children the moment they were born. He did so because the moment he overthrew his own father for the throne, he received a prophecy that one day he will share the same fate.
To prevent that from happening Kronos ate Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades (Basically all the 1st generation greek gods). Later in the years of his youth, when Zeus fought him, he made Cronus disgorge all his siblings, and thus Hades, the god of the underworld emerged from the belly of Cronus.
Upon emergence, the Greek god of death allied up with his siblings and challenged his father, Cronus in the famous divine war of Titanomachy. The war is believed to have lasted for 10 years and finally, when Cronus and the other Titans were defeated, the universe got split among the new emerging superpower called “ GODS “. As per as Greek Mythology, that is how Gods came in power for the 1st time and been ruling the universe ever since then. Anyhow the split of the universe went as follows-
- Zeus got the realm of the sky,
- Poseidon got the seas,
- Hades got the realm of the dead and ever since then, Hades is known as the God of the Underworld.
How was Hades tricked by Zeus?
This one is equally interesting and debatable as many believe Hades was tricked by Zeus and was forced to be the god of the Underworld. But originally, that was not the case, Hades, being the eldest let his brothers choose the domain they want to rule after defeating Cronus at the epic divine battle of Titanomachy. He let Zeus choose first because it was Zeus who saved Hades and his other siblings by making Cronus disgorge, Further, it was Zeus who freed the captive Cyclops and Hecatonchires let them defeat the Titans.
According to the original manuscripts, upon given the options, Zeus chose the sky and Poseidon choose the sea then Hades took what remains of the choice and became the god of the dead. It was always a choice and never a trickery.
What are the symbols for Hades?
The greek god of death has several symbolic representations that are readily worshipped by few cults of ancient Greece, the following is the list of his symbols-
- The Screech Owl: Sacred bird of the Greek god of death
- Cypress trees
- Cerberus, the ferocious three-headed pet dog of the god of the underworld
- Snakes: Sacred reptile of the god of the dead
- The Bident (Hades’ weapon): is Hades’ actual weapon, often confused by people with his scepter
- The Cap of Invisibility (Greek name: Ἅϊδος κυνέην (H)aïdos kuneēn): Helmet of the god of the dead that helped him to be invisible
- Hades’ scepter which he could use to literally split the earth open and guide the legions of the dead out from the underworld.
Is Hades a good or a bad god?
So, as we mentioned earlier, The greek take on the Greek god of death is completely contradicted to the rest of the modern world’s take to it. Yes, it is true that he is dreaded for his coldness and merciless punishments to any soul crossing his way or trying to leave the underworld and he is feared by the mortals for none is in the hurry to visit the god of the dead but let’s make one thing clear, the ancient greek mythology is the proof he was more benevolent than malevolent.
One can see the proof of so in Ancient Greek arts and Archaic as Hades can be seen portrayed as a mature man, all bearded up and is holding a scepter, a two-pronged spear, a libation vase, or a cornucopia — symbolic of the mineral and vegetable wealth which comes from the ground.
Why isn’t Hades an Olympian?
Hades- the God of the underworld, one can clearly make from the name that he ruled the underworld. Hence he was the god who wasn’t an Olympian. He rather preferred to stay in his dark Castle of the Underworld than reside in the sky with other gods. Considering the fact of so, leads us to the prime question Is hades allowed in Olympus? Well, the legend says, the Greek god of death abducted Persephone ( daughter of Zeus ) to marry her as he was mesmerized by her beauty, and ever since then, he is not allowed to step his foot in Mount Olympus.
When did hades die? Did Hades die?
Technically, Hades, the god of the underworld can never die. He is a god and he is immortal. According to ancient Greek texts, the life of gods depends upon the worship of the mortals. So as long as the god of the dead or any of his personifying symbols such as the snakes, Cerberus, etc are worshipped by his followers, he can never die.
Originally published at https://world-tomorrow.com on May 9, 2020.
