Hades was the god of the underworld and the ruler of the realm of the dead, one of the three sons of the Titans Cronus and Rhea who divided the cosmos after the Titanomachy. He received dominion over the underworld, the realm where the spirits of the dead lived after death. He was not an evil god, but he was a stern and unsmiling one, sometimes called “Plouton” (the Wealthy) because precious metals were mined from the earth, his domain. The Romans identified him with Pluto or Dis Pater, and his name has become synonymous with the Christian concept of hell.
Hades is the god of the underworld, the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, the third of the three sons of Cronus who divided the cosmos after the Titanomachy. The Homeric Iliad and Odyssey treat him with restraint: he is rarely seen, he sits in the underworld, he is the receiver of the dead, and the epithet Polydegmon (‘the receiver of many’) is the standard Greek way of naming him. The cult of Hades was not as extensive as that of the other Olympians, and the standard scholarly reading is that the Greeks preferred euphemisms like Plouton (‘the wealthy’) to soften his name.
The Name and Origins of Hades
The name Hades is debated, but it is generally understood to mean “the unseen” or “the invisible,” a fitting name for the god of the dead, who was rarely seen by the living. In some traditions, he was also called Plouton (the Wealthy) or Polydegmon (the Receiver of Many). The Romans called him Pluto or Dis Pater, and the Greek underworld itself was called Hades after him.
Hades was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and was swallowed by his father at birth, only to be disgorged later when Zeus tricked Cronus into vomiting up his siblings. He fought alongside his brothers and sisters in the Titanomachy, and after the victory, the three brothers drew lots to divide the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea.
The Symbols of Hades
Hades was associated with several symbols:
- The Helm of Darkness: The helm of darkness (kuneê) was a magical cap that made its wearer invisible. Hades wore it when he went to the upper world, and he loaned it to Hermes and Athena on occasion.
- The Bident: The bident, a two-pronged spear, was Hades’s weapon.
- The Cypress Tree: The cypress, sacred to Hades and Artemis, was associated with mourning and was often planted in his sanctuaries.
- The Narcissus Flower: The narcissus, the flower with which Hades enticed Persephone, was associated with his cult.
- The Asphodel: The asphodel, a pale flower that grew in the meadows of the underworld, was the food of the dead.
- The Black Ram: The black ram, in some traditions, was sacrificed to Hades.
The Domains of Hades
As god of the underworld, Hades presided over:
- The Realm of the Dead: He ruled the underworld, where the spirits of the dead lived after death. This was his primary domain.
- Wealth: He was called “Plouton” because the earth, his domain, contained precious metals. The wealth of the earth was attributed to him.
- Chthonic Riches: He was the god of all the wealth beneath the earth, including metals, gems, and fertile soil.
- Funerary Rites: He presided over the proper burial of the dead.
The Underworld
The underworld, the realm of Hades, was a shadowy place at the center of the earth, the destination of all who died. It was surrounded by the rivers of the underworld, including the Styx (the river of hate), the Acheron (the river of sorrow), the Lethe (the river of forgetfulness), the Phlegethon (the river of fire), and the Cocytus (the river of wailing).
The entrance to the underworld was guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Beyond Cerberus, the souls of the dead were judged by three judges: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus. The virtuous were sent to the Elysian Fields, a paradise of perpetual spring. The wicked were sent to Tartarus, a deep pit of torment at the lowest level of the underworld. The majority of souls, who were neither virtuous nor wicked, wandered the Asphodel Meadows, a grey and shadowy place of eternal ennui.
Notable inhabitants of the underworld included the Titans, imprisoned after the Titanomachy; the Gigantes, imprisoned after the Gigantomachy; Tantalus, who was punished by standing in water that receded when he tried to drink and under fruit that rose when he tried to eat; Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a stone up a hill for eternity; and Ixion, who was bound to a wheel that turned forever.
The Major Myths of Hades
The Abduction of Persephone
The most famous myth of Hades is his abduction of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. According to the myth, Hades fell in love with Persephone and asked Zeus for her hand. Zeus, unable to refuse his brother, agreed but did not want to anger Demeter, so he consented to the abduction without telling her.
Hades burst forth from the earth in his chariot and seized Persephone as she was gathering flowers with her companions. He took her to the underworld, where he made her his queen. Demeter searched the world for her, and the earth became barren. Finally, Zeus intervened and negotiated a compromise: Persephone would spend part of the year with Hades in the underworld and part of the year with Demeter in the upper world. When she returned to her mother, spring came. When she descended to the underworld, autumn and winter came.
The myth is the source of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most important religious festival of the ancient Greek world, celebrated in honor of Demeter and Persephone.
The Return of Persephone
In one of the most poignant of the underworld myths, Orpheus descended to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife Eurydice. Hades and Persephone agreed to let Eurydice follow Orpheus back to the upper world, on the condition that he not look back at her before they were both in the sunlight. Just as he was about to emerge, Orpheus could not resist looking back, and Eurydice was lost to him forever.
The Theft of Cerberus
As the twelfth and final Labor of Heracles, the hero was commanded to bring Cerberus up from the underworld and show him to King Eurystheus. Heracles descended to the underworld, where he was allowed to take Cerberus without using weapons. He carried the dog to the upper world and back, completing the Labor.
The Sisyphus Myth
In one of the most famous of the Greek myths, Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, was a clever and dishonest man who tried to cheat death. When Hades came to claim him, Sisyphus tricked the god and bound him in chains, so that no one could die. Eventually, Ares came and freed Hades, and Sisyphus was condemned to roll a stone up a hill for eternity, only to have it roll back down before he reached the top. The myth was used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and, more famously, by Albert Camus in his philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus, to illustrate the absurdity of human existence.
The Tantalus Myth
Tantalus, the king of Lydia, was a favorite of the gods, but he abused their hospitality. In one version of the myth, he killed his son Pelops and served him as a meal to the gods. The gods, recognizing the body, were horrified and punished Tantalus by condemning him to stand in a pool of water that receded when he tried to drink, under a tree of fruit that rose when he tried to eat. The word “tantalize” derives from this myth.
The Worship of Hades
The worship of Hades was not as widespread as that of the Olympian gods, partly because he was feared as the ruler of the dead, and partly because his cult was associated with the dead and with the underworld. The Greeks were cautious about invoking him, and they preferred to use euphemisms like “Plouton” (the Wealthy) to refer to him.
Major cult centers of Hades included:
- The Necromanteion at Ephyra, a temple of Hades and Persephone where pilgrims came to consult the spirits of the dead.
- Eleusis, the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries in honor of Demeter and Persephone.
- Various oracles of the dead, where heroes like Odysseus and Aeneas descended to consult the spirits of the underworld.
The Romans identified Hades with Pluto, the god of wealth, and the word “Pluto” became a euphemism for Hades. The Roman god of the dead was also called Dis Pater, “the Wealthy Father.”
The Legacy of Hades
Hades is the father-figure of the protagonist in the Percy Jackson series, the central character of Supergiant Games’ Hades (2018, one of the most-acclaimed video games of recent years), the antagonist of Disney’s Hercules (1997), and a recurring character in the God of War franchise. He is a central figure in modern romance retellings of the Persephone myth, including the Lore Olympus webtoon. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. The Greek cult of Hades was not centred on temples in the way that the cult of the Olympian gods was. The cult of Hades was a chthonic cult, with rites performed at the tombs, with sacrifices to the dead, and with the standard ‘libation’ of unmixed wine and water poured into a pit. The standard scholarly treatment of the Greek chthonic cults is the Cambridge Companion to Greek Religion (2014), chapter 5. The page above treats the literary figure; the cult is a separate question that the standard reference works cover better.