Hades, the god of the underworld, is one of the 12 gods of the Olympic Pantheon . Although his only name arouses dread, he is not an evil god. His only interest is to maintain order in his world and that the souls in his custody do not abandon him. Join us to know 3 curious Hades Myths and other fantastic legends of the god of the underworld.
God of the underworld
Hades, "the invisible" was the son of Cronos and Rhea. Like his brothers, Hera, Hestia , Demeter and Poseidon, was swallowed by his father as soon as he was born. Released by the little one of the brothers, Zeus , became one of the main gods of Olympus.
If Hades is the god of the underworld it is due to the distribution of the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, of the kingdoms that were to rule after defeating the Titans. Zeus touched the sky, Poseidon the seas and Hades touched the underworld. In Roman mythology, Hades is Pluto.
What is the underworld?
The underworld for the Greeks was an invisible realm for the living to which the souls of the deceased went. If you ask them what is the underworld for them, they would answer you a dark place as opposed to the luminosity of Mount Olympus and geographically located at the edge of the oceans or under the marine or terrestrial depths. For them it was not similar to hell and Hades was not a torturer of souls like the devil. After a trial, the souls were sent to their destination in the underworld that varied according to their behavior in life. In many occasions the underworld receives the name of the god that reigns in it and is known as "The hades" .
For the Greeks it was possible to cross the river Acheron in the boat of Charon that charged an obolium for passing you in the boat. On the other side, Cerberus was waiting to prevent the escape of any soul. The Romans had very similar beliefs, although to enter the underworld they had a localized place: the Avernus, a volcanic crater near the city of Cumas. In Rome the gods of the underworld were known as the "Inferi Dii". Once cleared what is the underworld Y who is the god of the underworld , let's dive into some of its most popular myths.
Myths of Hades
Hades and Persephone
He myth of Hades and Persephone It is one of the best known of Greek mythology. Hades, who was Persephone's uncle, fell in love with the young woman and abducted her one day when she was picking flowers in the fields of Sicily . The nymphs that had to watch her were punished by her mother and turned into mermaids . Demeter did not know where he was and began to look for her, neglecting her work to protect the earth, so the crops withered and there was a great shortage of food.
Zeus, who knew where Persephone was, asked his brother Hades to return it so that everything would return to normal. At first he refused, but at the insistence of Zeus allowed him to leave as long as he consumed no food while he was in the underworld. Hades tricked her and got her to eat four pomegranate granites. Upon reaching the outside world the gods made a pact: each year, for four months, Persephone would live with Hades in the underworld and the other eight with Demeter on the outside. The four months he is not with his mother correspond to winter, period in which the desolation of the goddess covers the world of sterility. He myth of Hades and Persephone It serves to explain the arrival of winter,
Hades and the punishment of Sisyphus
Sisyphus was the king and founder of the city of Corinth (Ephira). Apparently, he was reluctant to die and when Zeus ordered Thanatos to go and look for him as punishment, he captured him and until Ares came to free him, no one died in the world. Sisyphus was sent to the underworld, but before he died he told his wife that under no circumstances would he make the usual sacrifices. When he arrived in front of Hades he began to complain about his wife, about the breach of his obligations and his negligence and begged the God of the underworld let him come back to punish her. Hades relented and when Sisyphus arrived in his city he refused to return to the underworld.
Sisyphus lived several more years in Corinth until finally Hades forced him back. For having acted in a treacherous way, the god imposed a terrible punishment on him; I should push a large rock up the mountain all day long and when I was about to reach the top, it would fall to the base of the mountain so I would have to start over forever.
The myths of Hades and his lovers: Mind and Leuce
Mind and Leuce were lovers of the god of the underworld . Their stories are part of the Myths of Hades . Mind, the first of the lovers, was discovered by the mother-in-law and sister of Hades, Demeter. She or Persephone, upon learning of the infidelity, beat the nymph in such a way that it disintegrated. Hades, desolate, upon finding his remains gathered them and created a new plant: mint. In the Greek funerals the mint was used since it was a plant related to the death due surely to that with its scent the one of the decomposition of the corpses was covered.
Leuce ("white poplar") was an oceanic nymph and lover of Hades. He lived for a time in the underworld at his side and when he died a natural death, the god to console himself thought of building a monument worthy of his memory in the "Champs Elysees", the area in which the righteous and pious spend eternity. To remember her, she planted a white poplar in the underworld.
Another interesting myth related to Hades is that of Orpheus and Eurydice, if you want to know more about him we invite you to read the post: 10 Short Greek myths | Epic stories of the Gods of Olympus
Did you know these Myths of Hades ? Do you know more stories about God of the underworld ? Do you have more information about what is the underworld and their differences or similarities with our hell ? Share them with us!
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