Bust of Hades, Roman copy after a Greek original of the ^fifth century BC. AD , Altemps palace.

In Greek mythology , Hades (in Greek / is a chthonic deity , brother of Zeus and Poseidon. Like Zeus and Poseidon rules the Sky Sea, Hades reign under the Earth and is therefore often considered the "master of Hell. " He is married to Persephone. It is the Serapis Ptolemaic and Pluto Roman.

Myth

It is the third child of Cronus and Rhea , and brother of Hestia , Demeter , Hera , Zeus and Poseidon . It is not explained well how such an object it is useful, since the gods usually go unseen by covering with a cloud, it is probably related to the folk etymology of the name of Hades - the "invisible " .

Ruler of Hell

Hades holding cornucopia , detail from an amphora Attic red-figure painter Oionocls, c. 470 BC. BC , Muse du Louvre.

At the end of the war against the Titans, Hades receives shares the "misty shadows" and lives with them in Hell . King of the Dead , its main mission is to prevent them from leaving the underworld, as they fill with horror for both men and gods . Pindar gave him a scepter to attribute through which he led died , a role that is normally of Hermes psychopomp . In The Persians , the name of Hades is invoked at the same time as that of Hermes and Gaia to return to earth the soul of Darius .

Aeschylus presents twice as judge of the dead. In Suppliants , Danaos claims that "there too Someone does justice crimes, they say - another Zeus him among the dead, the last Judgement . In The Eumenides , the chorus declares even that

"It is making
terrible accounts
Prince of the dead, there beneath the earth,
and in his great book,
his watchful eye leaves nothing to lose. "

We may compare these statements of About Agamemnon to witness his oath of Zeus, Helios , and "you who, under the ground / pull punishment of the dead who make false oaths," that is to say, Hades and Persephone . Elsewhere, Althaea , mother of Meleager , asks Hades and Persephone the death of the man who killed his brothers . Nevertheless, the idea of doomsday is related more to the Egyptian traditions as those of the Greeks .

It is sometimes counted among the twelve Olympians , although this is contrary to the dominant tradition: it rarely comes out of his kingdom, the most notable exception being the abduction of Persephone . Hades is also relatively quiet in mythology, is essentially linked to legends involving heroes : Orpheus , Theseus and Heracles were among the few mortals to meet him at their catabase. Conversely, it gives Sisyphus , Protesilaus and Eurydice permission to leave the Underworld.

Dione tells in the Iliad how Heracles wounded Hades with an arrow and lets it "in Pylos , in the midst of the dead "; Hades must climb into the Olympia for treatment by Pean . The ancient commentators have provided several explanations for this curious passage: the episode may take place during the descent to the underworld of hero for capturing Cerberus . It could also be an allusion to the attack against the Pylians Heracles, who gave their support to Orchomenos against Thebes , or the killing of the son of Neleus by the hero .

In any case, during the descent into Hades Heracles kills a cow has in Hades erythematosus , the red island, offering a blood sacrifice to the souls of the dead. The shepherd, Menetes son of Ceutonymos, challenges the hero in the fight to prevent it, but must withdraw from the fight broken ribs .

Abduction of Persephone

Hades and Persephone , a medallion kylix Attic red-figure, ca 440 - 430 BC. BC , British Museum.

The abduction of Persephone by Hades is the most popular myth attached to the god, and is found already in Hesiod very condensed form: "Aidoneus delights .

In its more complete form, narrated by the Homeric Hymn to Demeter , Hades, Persephone removes the authority of Zeus , while the girl is busy picking flowers in the company of Oceanides , to Athena and Artemis in the plain of Nysie . Her mother Demeter searches for her everywhere on Earth; Helios , god of the sun, he finally learns that her daughter is in the realm of the dead . In anger, Demeter left the abode of the gods to take refuge on earth and in revenge, it prevents seeds from germinating .

Zeus must then attempt a reconciliation and, by means of Hermes , ordered his brother to Persephone to her mother before the whole world dies of hunger. Hades agreed to let her go, but gives him a grain of pomegranate to eat. When reviewing new Demeter's daughter, she immediately understood the problem and prevent it if she ate the food of the dead, she will stay in the underworld of the third year (the winter ), unable to move up one Olympus as the remaining two thirds, "when the earth is green with all kinds of flowers" - or, in later versions, six months and six months in the Underworld in Olympus . Persephone says she ate a pomegranate seed - or, in a later version, is denounced by a man named Hades owlfly .

Love

We ready to Hades before he marries Persephone, an adventure with Mint , daughter of the river Cocytus . After being abandoned, Mint takes revenge by constantly denigrating her rival. It is transformed into a plant, the mint , for Persephone herself or mother . In another version, Persephone trampled the hapless before making the transformation .

Leuca , another nymph daughter of Ocean , is abducted by Hades and Persephone by changed (or Hades) in white poplar .

According to the Suda , a glossary Byzantine late ( ^eX - XI ^century ), it would be a girl named Macaria , goddess of death "happy".

Worship

Very few places of worship for him, so that a scholiast to Iliad boldly declares that none exists . In reality, the city of Elis in the northwestern Peloponnese , has indeed a temple of Hades opened only once a year and only for the priest of the god . Pausanias noted that "Eleans are the only ; Strabo also mentions worship Hermione .

Hades is Zeus underground " , to approximate the "chthonic Zeus" that Hesiod recommends to invoke the farmer before turning his hand to the plow . It is commonly revered as the epicleses that have a value of understatement. It is so named / Plouton, "the rich" because he is master of the riches of land, whether mineral or vegetable a temple dedicated to him under that name at Eleusis , and he received honors in Athens .

He sacrificed sheep or bulls black overnight. Euripides tells Hades is not the object of ritual libations.

Iconography

God of the dead, feared, it is represented as a mature man, bearded, holding cornucopia , a symbol of wealth from the ground which he is the master. Sometimes called the vases Plouton explicitly . However, it should not be confused with Plutus , the personification of wealth.

The abduction of Persephone is the subject of a painting in the ^fourth century BC. BC in the tomb called "Persephone" at Vergina , perhaps it is a work of Nicomachus which, according to Pliny the Elder , a composition on the same subject is on Capitol Hill in Rome . The myth is also represented on Attic vases, Basilicata and Campania, the terracotta plaques of Locri , bas-reliefs of the sarcophagus, or currency .

Etymology

An etymological explanation often given for the word "Hades" is decomposed into - / a Wides-(verb / Eido, "see"), which would mean "invisible." However, from a linguistic point of view, the assumption does not hold. Indeed, the privative prefix, derived from the vocalization of a * n, is necessarily brief, although involves a (alpha long) original. Aspiration is also troublesome. It is therefore a popular etymology , which already existed in the Antiquity. No assumptions regarding the name of god is really convincing.

epiclesis attributes and shrines

• Epithets: ("he who receives many guests), (" he who enriches "), (" Bond Counsel "), (," one that is not seen "), (" Renamed ") (" the gates firmly shut "), (" horrible "), or (" Zeus of the Underworld ").
• Its attributes: the snake , Cerberus , the kune , the cornucopia , the spear in two forks, the cypress and chariot pulled by two creatures half man and half horse.
• Sanctuaries: Samothrace (under the name Axiokersos, husband of Persephone-Axiokersa), Elis and Eleusis.

Notes

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