He was the god of Olympus who rules in the world of the dead: Who is Hades?
Originally, Hades was an ominous god whose name the Greeks were even afraid to pronounce out loud. However, his image softened over time. He was also considered the lord of underground wealth, who could show mercy and generosity to people.
Every culture in the world has its own mythological stories. Greek mythology is one of the most well-known ones with the influence of popular culture. Hades, whose name we hear most often in Greek mythology and is always associated with fear, is the god of the underworld and the dead, but he is not dead himself. Although his name has always been mentioned as if he was a very scary person, Hades is a Greek god who rules the underworld and does no harm to anyone.
Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth (long the province of Gaia) available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.
Although we call them mythology today, these stories once told about the religious beliefs of the Greek people and one of the gods that the local people feared most was Hades. Since Hades was also the owner of the mines in the underworld, his name was equated with wealth. He was one of the other gods, and he wasn't evil at all, just his place was a little dark. Let's take a closer look at who Hades is, one of the most well-known Greek gods, and see his role in mythology in full detail.
Who is Hades?
Hades is one of the 12 Greek gods who are the children and grandchildren of Cronus and Rhea. (One of his brothers is Zeus, the other is Poseidon.) The name Hades means invisible in Greek. He is the god of the underworld and the dead, but he is not death itself. Since Hades has all the riches of the underground, it is also known as Pluto, which means wealthy in Greek. Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, is the wife of Hades.
It is his helmet that makes Hades invisible. Along with his helmet, he carries a two-pronged spear, one end of which represents death and the other of life. Hades is also the name of the land of the dead. Contrary to popular belief, Hades is not an evil god. He does not come out of the underworld much and does not attend the meetings of the gods. Only those who want to escape from the underworld or steal souls from the underworld will become angry and their wrath will be great.
All Greek gods are children of Cronus and Rhea. Cronus is a titan in the form of a serpent who swallows all his children, including Hades, out of fear that his descendants will usurp his throne. When her last child, Zeus, was born, Rhea swaddled a rock instead, and Cronus swallowed the rock, mistaking it for a child. So Zeus had the chance to grow.
When Zeus grew up, he appeared before Cronus and asked him to take out his brothers. When Cronus did not accept this, the war between the Titans and gods, called the Titanomachy, began. At the end of the ten-year war, the gods won. Cronus had to take out all the children he swallowed. Although Hades was the firstborn child, he was the last child taken out by Cronus.
With the retreat of the Titans, many areas to be governed were left to the gods. Zeus, the hero of the war, was declared the king of the gods and settled on his throne on Mount Olympus. Zeus became the god of the sky, Poseidon became the god of the seas, Gaia became the god of the earth, and Hades became the god of the underworld. In other words, Hades is the god of the underworld and the dead, not because he is evil, but simply because such duties are shared with his brothers.
Like Zeus, the king of the gods, Hades, the god of the underworld, can send dreams to living people. Dreams coming out of the horn gate of the underworld are good, dreams coming out of the ivory gate are bad, that is, nightmares. All living things that enter the underworld die. For this reason, Hades gets angry and his wrath is very terrible if anyone tries to escape from the underworld or tries to steal the souls here.
A few heroes such as Odysseus, Orpheus, Theseus, Hercules, and Evridiki entered the underworld and managed to come out alive. Hercules even fought Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the underworld. Cerberus is one of the many names that work with Hades in the underworld. Thanatos, the god of death itself, also works with Hades.
Except for routine underworld business, Hades is rarely seen. He does not boast like the other gods, he does not travel around the world, he does not interfere with the living, he does not talk much, and he does not even go to the feasts held on Mount Olympus with the other gods. Hades loves the invisibility of the underworld. One day, his brother Poseidon, the god of the seas, to annoy him, split the ground and revealed the underworld. Hades was so angry at this situation that he destroyed Atlantis with his army of the dead.
The story of Hades kidnapping his wife Persephone:
Demeter, the wife of Zeus, the king of the gods, is the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, is very beautiful and Hades falls in love with her. According to a rumor, the only reason Hades left the underworld was to follow Persephone. In another rumor, he asks Zeus to sacrifice one of his daughters to be his bride. As a result in both stories, Hades somehow kidnaps Persephone and makes her the goddess of the underworld.
When Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, hears that her daughter has disappeared, she travels all over the world in search of Persephone. When she hears that he is with Hades, she gives up everything and asks Zeus to talk to Hades to get her. But now Persephone is the goddess of the underworld and it is impossible to leave there completely.
Hades made an agreement with Zeus and Demeter. According to this agreement, Persephone would spend certain times of the year with her family and other times in the underworld. They say that when Demeter reunites with her daughter, spring and summer seasons occur and the world becomes fertile. When Persephone returns to the underworld, poor winter and autumn seasons occur as Demeter goes into mourning.