Hades, the god of the Underworld and Wealth

Author's note: The following article was published in May 2nd, 2021, in Spanish language, in my Blurt blog.

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In the last post , we explained Hera, the goddess of marriage and birth, known for her revenge against many of her brother-husband Zeus' lovers. We have explained her main attributes within the Greco-Roman pantheon, the importance she had within the hiéros gámos (sacred marriage) and the different titles under which she was venerated in Greece and Rome, whose information was undoubtedly abundant.

Today we will talk about another respected and feared divinity due to his relationship with the end of life and his link with wealth: Hades.

Who was Hades on the Greco-Roman Pantheon?

According to Carolina López Ruiz (2011), Hades was the personification of death, this being both an abstract concept in terms of human speculation, and an element of nature in terms of being an inevitable natural fact. Likewise, he was considered the god of natural treasures, since all kinds of precious metals were found in the Underworld.

There are disagreements about his descendants; some scholars point out that his marriage was sterile, although both he and Persephone represent the balance of life and death. Others allude to the fact that he is the father of Melínoe, goddess of ghosts; Macaria, goddess of non-violent death, and Zagreo, previous incarnation of the god of wine Dionysus.

Giver of life?

Alexander Murray (2000) mentions that one of the most important attributes of the god of the Underworld is the fertilization of vegetation from the ground and the production of precious metals; however, he exposes that this god could be a giver of life, since is him who claims it at the time of death. It is possible that Murray made this statement from one of the most famous myths related to this god, the abduction of Persephone or, as the author himself pointed out at the time, to the association of the cypress, the narcissus and the boxwood with the Underworld.

Persephone's Abduction

One of the best known myths, in which Hades has an important role, is related to the origin of the seasons, or the abduction of Persephone, goddess of spring. There are different versions of this myth; José Salvador Chávez Ferrusca (2006) and A. R. Hope Moncrieff (2000) point out that Hades had asked Zeus for Persephone's hand after seeing her near Sicily, to which the king of the gods agreed. Later, the king of the Underworld abducted her in the region of Sicily and made her his consort. The consequences of the rapture, which was covered up by Zeus himself as a way to ensure the fidelity of his brother, was a great famine, since Demeter had decided that the land would not bear any fruit until her daughter appeared. Seeing that the situation had gotten out of hand, the king of the gods asked Hermes to go to the Underworld and demand Hades to return the girl.

Hades agreed, and Persephone was got back to her mother. However, shortly after it's discovered that the young goddess ate pomegranate grains, symbol of marriage among the Greek people and the favourite fruit of the dead, linking her forever to the Underworld. Due to this, Zeus reached an agreement between Hades and Demeter: Persephone would spend half a year with her mother (in some versions, a quarter of the year) and the remaining half with her now husband, thus giving rise to the different seasons of the year.

Cult in Greece

Although López Ruiz (2011) points out that death, despite being feared and respected by both peoples, was not considered a power or an enemy against which human beings had to face throughout their lives, the figure of Hades was worshiped in places near the caves, those considered entries to the Underworld. However, little information is available on the cult of this god in Greece and later in Rome; the few information that is known is that his most important temples were in Pylos, Athens, Olympia and Eleusis, where he was invoked under the epithets of Polidegmon (the one who receives many), Pluto (the richest), and Climenos ( the most famous).

According to Sara María Fernández Magariño (2017), Hades was represented, in Greek art, on a chariot drawn by black steeds, with an ebony crown and a rod with which he guided the dead to the Underworld.

Cult in Rome

In the Roman Empire, the attributes of Hades were preserved as a result of the adoption and incorporation of Greek traditions into everyday life. According to Concepción Masiá Veriscat (2017), the Romans equated him with Dis Pater or Pluto, god of wealth and fertility, and with Orco, Etruscan god of death. Like the Greeks, the Romans feared and respected Pluto as a divinity linked to the mysterious and hidden forces of the Underworld, to the fertility of the Earth and to hidden riches. In this way, the images of him used to be sculpted only in gold, silver or marble, all minerals obtained from the subsoil.

The festivities in his honor were celebrated in February and June; in February bulls and black goats were sacrificed, while in June the temples were closed and marriages were avoided, despite the fact that these celebrations were always carried out by their union with Proserpina or Persephone (Murray, 2000: 69).

Another myths about Hades

Although the myth of the abduction of Persephone is the best known in relation to this deity, it is necessary to point out other myths where Hades had a small role:

Pirithous's attempted kidnapping of Persephone. Pirithous and Theseus traveled to the Underworld with the intention of kidnapping Hades's wife, Persephone. The god of the Underworld, informed in advance of their motives, set a trap for them by inviting them to a banquet; both heroes were trapped in their seats. Theseus managed to be freed thanks to Heracles, while Pirithous was left to his fate, because his crime was more serious than Theseus's.
Heracles and Cerberus. As one of the twelve tasks entrusted by Eurystheus, Heracles traveled to the Underworld with the intention of taking Cerberus, the guardian of the entrance to the Underworld. Hades agreed on the condition that he manage to tame the beast and, after showing it to the king, return it.
Orpheus and Eurydice. It's in this particular myth that Hades showed a more human facet, as he had been moved by the music that Orpheus played with his lyre and by the love that the young man felt for his beloved wife, Eurydice, whom he let go with the condition not to look back until you are completely out of the Underworld.

Consulted sources (in Spanish)

Chávez Ferrusca, José Salvador. 2006. Mitos y leyendas del mundo. México. Editorial Trillas.
"Dis Pater", en: Wikipedia. Consultado el 2 de mayo de 2021. English version.
Fernández Magariño, Sara María. 2017. "La mitología romana: una revisión bibliográfica y propuesta de intervención". Universidad de Sevilla. España. Tesis de Grado en Educación Primaria. Obtenido de: https://idus.us.es/handle/11441/62940
Hope Moncrieff, A. R. 2000. Mitología Clásica. España. EDIMAT Libros.
López Ruiz, Carolina. 2011. "Mot, Hades y la muerte personificada en el Levante y Grecia", en: Martín Hernández, Raquel, y Torallas Tovar, Sofía (editoras), Conversaciones con la Muerte. Diálogos del Hombre con el Más Allá desde la Antigüedad hasta la Edad Media. Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Pp. 9 - 22. Recuperado de: https://www.academia.edu/1269866/_Mot_Hades_y_la_muerte_personificada_en_el_Levante_y_Grecia_in_R_Mart%C3%ADn_Hern%C3%A1ndez_and_S_Torallas_Tovar_eds_Conversaciones_con_la_muerte_Di%C3%A1logos_del_hombre_con_el_M%C3%A1s_All%C3%A1_desde_la_Antig%C3%BCedad_hasta_la_Edad_Media_Madrid_Consejo_Superior_de_Investigaciones_Cient%C3%ADficas_2011_9_22
"Hades", en: Wikipedia. Consultado el 1 de mayo de 2021. English version.
Masiá Veriscat, Concepción. 2017. Mitología romana. España. Albor Libros.
Murray, Alexander S. 2000. ¿Quién es quién en la mitología? España. EDIMAT Libros.