Hades: Ruler of the Underworld
Background of hades
Hades was born into a family of gods. He was the oldest male of his two brothers Zeus and Poseidon and their parents were Cronus and Rhea. When Hades and his brothers were born, their father ate them but they found a way out. They defeated their father to end his reign and claim rulership over the Cosmos, which was the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire. The three brothers agreed to split up their rule, with Zeus being god of the air and skies, Poseidon god of the sea, and Hades god of the underworld. Hades was to maintain the balance of the life and death of all mortals and gods in the universe.
Painting of Hades and Persephone
The underworld
sculpture of Hades with his scepter and the cerebus
symbols
Some of the symbols Hades had were the key, the cerebus, and the scepter. The key was the only way to leave the underworld. Hades had to grant you permission and give you the key himself to leave the underworld, but that rarely happened. The key symbolized that Hades was the keeper of the underworld. Another symbol is the Cerebus which was a three headed dog with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and claws of a lion. The cerberus guarded the entrance to the underworld. It let any of the dead in but none to ever leave unless they had the key. Lastly, the scepter, which was a staff that Hades had with him at all times. It was used to destroy anything that got in his way.
the fear of Hades
Hades was feared and hated by almost every god, goddess, and mortal. They tried to stay away from him and those in the underworld would stay in the shadows, hidden from sight. He spent most of his time in the underworld away from everyone. He very rarely went out into the light of day and when he did, it was usually because someone tried to steal a soul from the underworld. people wouldn't even know he was out because he had a helmet that made him invisible. He had a very bad temper and was very cruel to those in the underworld, but most would say that he was only being just and fair. Hades felt lonely, so he tricked Persephone into going down into the underworld and then soon after marring him.
HADES-God Of The Underworld
Greek Mythology: The Story of Hades
works cited
Greek God and Goddeses. "Hades • Facts and Information on Greek God Hades." Greek Gods & Goddesses. 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. http://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/hades/.
"Hades - The God of the Dead." GreekGods.info -. 2008. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. http://www.greekgods.info/hades.html.
"Chaos." In Greek Mythology. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. http://www.crystalinks.com/Chaos_Mythology.html.
Ancient Greek Art. 2011. British Museum, London, UK.
Jan Brueghel Il Vecchio. Sybil in Hades. 2013. Italy.
Mark Cartwrite. Hades: Ancient History. 2012. London.
Kate Tester. Key of Hades. 2012. Washington.
Aaron. Hades Cerebus. 2015. New Zealand.