Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. Today we’re going to be discussing Hades. Stern and unyielding, and sometimes reviled due to the inevitability and untimeliness of what his realm represented, Hades was not actually an evil god; and though his realm encompassed the fates of all those who have or will die, he was not death incarnate; that honor went to Thanatos, who was the actual personification of death.
people were about as keen to invoke Hades as they were to suffer a tragic demise. Because of this, no temples were erected in his honor, no cults grew to worship him, iconography was kept to a minimum, and only black animals were sacrificed to him. When addressing him, the name Hades was almost always avoided. Instead People favoured other titles that beat around the bush; “Lord of the Underworld” and “Chthonian Zeus” were commonly used.
Hades did have a softer side, an alter-ego of sorts. This more benign persona was Pluto, which meant “Wealthy One”. Under this name he was associated with the riches of the earth, such as crops, jewels, and precious metals.
Hades seldom left his domain. Perhaps the only two instances of this are when he abducted Persephone – which we’ll get to later – and when he attempted to defend the city of Pylos – this later instance proved unsuccessful as Hercules shot him with an arrow and then sacked the city.
Most of the interactions Hades had with other characters in Greek mythology were with Heroes who ventured into the underworld out of hubris or necessity. Orpheus, the renowned singer and musician braved the underworld to retrieve his dead wife. Hades, encouraged by Persephone and moved by Orpheus’ music, allowed Orpheus to take his wife back with him to the land of the living, but only if he could keep himself from looking at her on his way out. Of course, Orpheus couldn’t stop himself from looking, so his wife stayed dead. Another example is when Theseus and Pirithous entered the underworld to abduct Persephone so that Pirithous could marry her. Hades knew of their plan, so he played the role of the gracious host to deceive and imprison them. Later, Hercules came across them when he was forced to enter the underworld to complete his 12th labour, which was to subdue Cerberus barehanded and then carry him to the mortal world. Sometime during this, Hercules passed Theseus and Pirithous, but only Theseus was allowed to be freed because it wasn’t his intention to keep Persephone for himself.
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Hey Mythology Explained, I came here when you first mentioned it on your other channel HP Theory and I've never missed a video since, you got me into mythology and I will continue to watch all of your videos! Keep it up my dude!
I always thought it was unclear what roles Thanatos and Hades had respectively. But now it makes a lot more sense. Thanks.
I feel bad for Hades. He really got the bad end of the stick
Make for house of thebes if you can..
Great stuff!
Funny enough with the exception of his abduction of Persephone Hades as very few stories where he was the cause of human suffering like the other gods. Everyone else in the pantheon were pretty messed up.
. . . Not going to enjoy mint the same again
There are 2 gods that I consider the best of the greek gods. Hades is one of them. I give him an alignment of Lawful Good.
Poor Hades, its also a foolish move to call him the Greek counterpart of S*tan.
I definitely like Hades best in Saint Seiya manga and in animated films & Series
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Why does the thumbnail have a skin for Zeus in smite lmao
lol zeus skin XD