The Abduction of Persephone: Why Hades Couldn't Find a Wife – Greek Mythology Explained

Welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing one of the best known Greek myths-the abduction of Persephone. In a nutshell, it gives a divine explanation for the growing seasons, their cycle of death and rebirth. A compromise was made in which Persephone spent half her time in the underworld and half her time in the land of the living with her mother Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. Demeter became overjoyed in the spring when her daughter returned to her, and the world bloomed with her happiness. The opposite happened in the fall when Persophone returned to the underworld. Demeter’s sadness withered plants and crops. And so, the growing cycle was explained.

A lesser discussed aspect of this story is why Hades went through all the trouble. He was Zeus’ brother, one of the original six olympians, the lord of the underworld: did he really need to resort to kidnapping to get himself a wife? Surely there must have been a long line of women just waiting for the dark lord to drag them down to hell? It’s these questions that we’re going to unpack in the rest of this video.

Hades wasn’t much of a philanderer: he bedded few women and he sired few children. This is in stark contrast to the sexual exploits of his lecherous brothers. Poseidon and Zeus were, presumably, desired by many, but they also forced themselves upon many, using trickery or strength to get what they wanted.

What’s interesting about this is that, though Hades was less desirable – we’ll get to that later – it can be reasonably deduced that he possessed physical strength and magical abilities to a degree commensurate with those of his brothers, and thus, could have taken, similarly, the sexual fruits of others against their will. This begs an interesting question: why didn’t Hades overpower and deceive people sexually the same way that Poseidon, Zeus, and many other Greek deities did?

Understanding this question comes down to understanding how the ancient Greeks perceived Hades. To begin with, the Greeks didn’t place the same stock in the afterlife that many other cultures did. The ancient Egyptians, for example, built enormous pyramids as mausoleums for their most venerated dead, and they toiled through the drawn-out and meticulous process of mummification. The Greeks, on the other hand, had a profound zest for life, but had relatively little interest in rewards that would be bestowed afterwards, in death. As such, on an overarching cultural level, the Greeks were far less interested in Hades than they were with other deities. They respected him to be sure, fearing his power and what he represented, but there wasn’t much of a cult, if any, dedicated to him; there were no temples – if there were they were exceedingly rare – at which worship was paid to him; and the only sacrifice dedicated to him were black animals, usually black bulls

This idea of Hades being feared ties in with the intense moralism engrained in Greek culture. It was thought that those who did evil, that those who lacked scruples in life, were severely punished after death. So Hades was seen as a subterranean being who seldom departed from his cavernous domain, and as a being whose purview was the punishment and torture of the sinful dead. This description doesn’t exactly conjure up notions of sexuality or stir desire in one’s loins. Moreover, in a fashion, sex is the act of life, making it the antithesis of death and, thus, the polar-opposite of what Hades and his dark realm represented.

What this all boils down to is that the Greeks didn’t associate Hades with sexuality, or celebrate him to the same extent that most other gods in the Greek pantheon were, so there were little to no myths centered on lust or romance built around him. Hades’ omission from these sorts of myths, in turn, came to colour his character. His appearance was so grim and his abode was so gloomy that he was unable to woo any goddess into marrying him. His power was great; his riches were abundant; but still, no woman wanted to be his wife. This struck two very human emotions into the mighty god’s heart, loneliness and frustration. Eventually, his not being able to win a wife for himself emboldened him to pursue other less consensual avenues, which is why he snatched up Persephone and whisked her away underground in his chariot.

And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Until next time

Remember,

Where rage seeds, repentance reaps.

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