Finally, the river Phlegethon was, according to Greek philosopher Plato, the river of fire that led the way to the depths of Tartarus. A sixth river, the Oceanus, encircled the world and marked the east edge of the underworld as Erebus was to its west. Greek mythology had three minor deities [demi-gods] serving as the judges of the dead in the underworld — Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. Minos was the judge who made the final vote.
Rhadamanthus was the judge of the men of Asia and the lord of the Elysium. Aeacus was the guardian of the keys of the underworld and the judge of the men of Europe. Those were the unburied. The gates of the underworld were guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus. This section was called the Mourning Fields Lugentes Campi.
He was the oldest son of the titan Cronus and Rhea and the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. After Zeus, Poseidon and Hades overthrew Cronus and ended the reign of the Titans, they draw lots to divide the universe. The Greeks later named him Plouton and the Romans pluralized it to Pluto. Hades, in Ancient Greek, means invisible. According to accounts, Hades had a helmet that made him invisible. Hades requested his brother [Zeus] for a wife and the latter presented him with Persephone.
However, as the god of the skies knew Demeter would never consent to the union, he allowed Hades to abduct Persephone. So, Zeus sent Hermes to take her back to earth. Hades was said to be infertile as not being able to sire children should be part of his nature as the ruler over the dead.
He did have children, however, birthed by Persephone. Other accounts said Zeus took the form of an earthly dragon when he came to the queen of the underworld. Gods and men alike detested Hades. He was often pictured as stern, unyielding and shrouded in mystery. He was fair over the inhabitants of his kingdom, however, and only got angry when the souls of the dead tried to escape from his domain.
His many-headed dog [Cerberus] was placed at the gates of the Underworld to keep these souls from leaving the Underworld. Aside from his helmet of invisibility, Hades had a chariot drawn by four black horses, a throne that was made of black ebony and a bird-decorated scepter.
Some of the symbols associated and were sacred to him were the Narcissus flower [which he used in his seduction and abduction of Persephone] and the Cypress tree. Footer KidsKonnect. He always chose to sit there when he was supposed to meet a newcomer, because he knew how fearsome and imposing he seemed on it.
Since he lived in the darkness, Hades developed a rather morbid personality, which was not much liked by the other Gods. Hades made a dark chariot, drawn by four dark black horses; its impressive and loathed sight would scare anyone in his path. Since he lived in the darkness, Hades developed a rather morbid personality, which was not much liked by the other Gods or humans, especially since Hades seemed to enjoy being feared. It is not surprising that the Underworld was his realm and shrine, but almost no temples were built to Hades on Earth.
Hades decided to appoint a guardian for the Underworld. This guardian was Cerberus , the three headed dog that would tear apart anyone that was not supposed to be in the Underworld.
Cerberus was one of the mythological creatures associated with the God of the Dead, along with the cypress tree. A common attribute to the God was Narcissus and the Key of Hades, which implied that he was guarding carefully anyone who would enter his domains and that no one could escape without his permission. Although Hades was the God of the Underworld and the Dead , he was not the God of Death, as many people falsely believe. Thanatos was the God of Death and brother of Hypnos. Hades was ruling the Underworld and the souls that resided in it, but he was not choosing who would have such a fate.
People tend to associate him with death, because he was so fearsome, but in fact, Hades was one of the most just Gods of the Dodecatheon. Hades was basically a way for the Greeks to come to terms with the idea of Death and Afterlife. Hades was married to Persephone , daughter of Goddess Demeter.
Their love story is described in the myth of Hades and Persephone. Hades was associated in the Roman mythology with Pluto and Orcus , and became a very important term in many religions. The Roman religion associated Hades with the Purgatory. Since the name Hades was synonymous to the Underworld itself, the Christians used the term Hades to describe a place like hell, where the souls fallen from grace would go.
Hades was rarely seen outside his domain, but was allowed to have powers also on earth. Therefore people, who were still alive, were reluctant to swear an oath in his name, because they were so afraid of him coming for them as it was believed in those times that he could hear the voices calling his name. To some of them even calling his name 'Hades' was frightening.
Hades was also known as a god of hidden wealth which referred to fertile soil as well as to the precious metals, such as sliver and gold. He was believed to have control over everything that was buried. Hades is often depicted as a grown man with longer curly hair and long beard. Sometimes, he is depicted in company of his pet and sacred creature Cerberus, the three-headed dog.
Hades was a son of titans Cronus and Rhea. He was supposed to dwell on Mount Olympus with his brothers and sisters but, after the victory over titans, the trio of him, Zeus and Poseidon drew lots to divide the rulership of Cosmos. Zeus got the sky , Poseidon got the seas , and Hades received the unseen place of the underworld away from earth, seas and sky, where the souls of the dead went upon leaving the world.
From the world of the living he couldn't hear anything else but voices of those who called his name and the names of the dead. The trio also agreed that they can intervene on earth at any time they want but on the condition that they would keep their true identity a secret because Zeus wanted for mankind to write their own destiny.
Even so, Hades was rarely seen on earth because he had his hands full with the Underworld where he was dubbed as merciless ruler who would often go mad due to lack of moral discipline. He was considered stubborn, never kind and could not be persuaded by any means and, just to make things worse for the inhabitants of the underworld, their living conditions were just dreadful and even Hades himself feared of this chaos being exposed to other gods and mortals.
There is also an alternative story provided by Hyginus who claims that Hades was cast under the earth at birth by Cronus because he feared of being dethroned in the future so his faith was sealed from the start which would explain his anger, relentlessness and having no regard to any rules. Hades, however, was not alone down there ruling the pits, he was accompanied by Cerberus , Fates and Furies Erinyes and it is said that they all served and answered to him.
The underworld, also called just Hades, was a region where souls went after separating from their bodies. They took a shape of the former bodies and were transported to an entrance of the underworld.
It was thought to be the subterranean region beneath the depths of the earth and waters. There were many entrances to Hades such as rivers, chasms and bottoms of the lakes.
Once reached the underworld, there were four main regions, where the souls could rest. The Tartarus was the lowest region, also referred as never a part of Hades itself.
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