Ruler of the underworld and guardian of the dead, Hades was the most misunderstood of the Greek gods – stern and unyielding, but never evil. Discover his kingdom, his story with Persephone and his loyal hound Cerberus.
Who is Hades?
Hades is the Greek god of the underworld and of the dead, eldest son of Kronos and Rhea and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. The Romans called him Pluto, "the wealthy one", because all the riches of the earth – precious metals, gems and the fertile soil – came from below. The Greeks rarely spoke his name aloud, preferring respectful titles such as Plouton or "Zeus of the Underworld".
Hades was not the devil of later traditions. He was a just and severe ruler who made sure the dead stayed in his realm and that the order of the world was kept. In art he is a mature, bearded king holding a sceptre or a two-pronged staff, often seated on a dark throne, with his three-headed dog Cerberus at his feet. He also owned the helmet of invisibility, forged by the Cyclopes during the war against the Titans.
The kingdom of the dead
When the three brothers divided the world after their victory over the Titans, Hades received the underworld. The souls of the dead were guided there by Hermes and ferried across the river Styx by the boatman Charon, who demanded a coin for the passage. At the gates, Cerberus let every soul enter and none escape. Inside lay the gloomy Asphodel Meadows, the blessed Elysian Fields for heroes, and deep below, Tartarus, the prison of the Titans.
Hades and Persephone
The best-known myth of Hades is his love for Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest. With Zeus' consent, Hades carried her off to the underworld to be his queen. Demeter searched the earth in grief, and while she mourned, nothing grew – the first winter. Zeus finally ordered Persephone's return, but she had eaten a few seeds of a pomegranate in the underworld and was bound to it forever. A compromise was found: Persephone would spend part of each year with Hades and the rest with her mother. Her return each spring brings the flowers back; her descent each autumn brings the cold.
Visitors to the underworld
Few mortals entered Hades' realm and returned. Orpheus charmed Hades and Persephone with his music to win back his wife Eurydice, only to lose her again by looking back. Heracles descended to capture Cerberus as his twelfth labour, and Odysseus consulted the spirits of the dead at its edge. In each story Hades appears firm but fair, bound by the rules of his own kingdom.
Hades in art and in your home
Statues of Hades with Cerberus are among the most dramatic pieces of mythological sculpture: the brooding king, the three snarling heads of his hound and the dark bronze patina create a powerful presence. They appeal to collectors of mythology, lovers of gothic and dark art, and readers of the many modern retellings of the Persephone myth. Display one on a bookshelf or desk under warm, low light to bring out the shadows.
Related gods
Read the stories of his brothers Zeus and Poseidon. Browse all the Olympians in our Greek Mythology collection and darker pieces in Skeletons & Gothic.
