Scott Watson
Mrs. Henderson
English Honors 1
March 16, 2011
Hades

In modern times people have a tendency to group the words “Death,” “The Underworld,” and “Hades” all under the same category. These words are usually considered all to be malicious and frightening. While the fact that feelings of dread naturally creep inside many people’s minds at the thought of these words, Hades, the god, was not a truly malevolent being. He was a hardhearted deity whom had many different items, stories, and objects associated with him; Hades also had many names and epithets given to himself. It’s impossible to truly comprehend the King of the Dead without studying much of the Greek mythology written and archived about him.
Before Hades’ personality and duties can be told, one must first understand how the god came into existence and how he was given his responsibilities over the dead. According to Greek mythology, long ago a powerful group of deities called the Titans ruled the universe. The leader of the Titans, Cronus, was the father of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. A prophecy foretold of Cronus being overthrown by his children and out of fear, quickly devoured them after when they were born. Zeus, whom was born in secret to prevent his death, overthrew Cronus as was foretold. With the Titans defeated, the Olympians became the ruling gods with Zeus as their leader. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades all took lots to see what domains they would rule over. In doing this, Hades became the ruler of the underworld, and King of the Dead. Hades quickly set into his role and performed well at it. Whenever someone on Earth died, they entered the Underworld by crossing over the Acheron river. To do this, the deceased had to pay Charon the ferryman one coin. When the dead entered the Underworld, they were forever bound there by Hades. The exit was over the Styx river, but this guarded by the guard dog Cerbeus. Hades didn’t rule alone however, he was aided by others whom he had complete and utter authority over. Those who helped in maintaining the Underworld were allowed to go back and forth between other realms, these are the only exceptions that Hades allowed. If someone attempted to leave his realm, or those who came into the Underworld with the intent to steal souls sent Hades into a rage, his anger was also just as strong for those who attempted to cheat him. Anyone who tried this met a terrible fate. To say that Hades was a harsh god isn’t exactly accurate. He was one of the more just gods in Greek mythology due to the fact he gave truly just punishments to those who came into his realm. After judgment was passed on the dead, Hades punished or rewarded them based on how they lived their lives. Nonetheless, anyone who prayed to him turned their faces when they gave sacrifices in his honor. When a sacrifice was made, black animals were slaughtered, such as sheep or goats. The blood that was offered to Hades would seep into the ground, often in a pit or hole. The Greeks dreaded Hades so much that they avoided saying his name out of fear of drawing his unwanted attention.
Continuing on, Hades had many different items and various names given to him. A great example would be the following. When Cronus reigned, he imprisoned the Cyclopes in the hellish Tartarus, a part of the Underworld reserved to punish the most malevolent of souls. Zeus released the Cyclopes, and in return they rewarded Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades with gifts in the hope that their aid would help the Olympians in defeating the Titans. Hades was rewarded with the helm of invisibility. As the name hints, the helm would make whomever put it on completely invisible. The helm helped Hades and the Olympians greatly in their struggle with the Titans. As the time after the war began to pass, Hades would occasionally loan his helm out to mortals and other gods who needed it. Another symbol often associated with Hades is the guard dog Cerbeus, who guards anyone from escaping the Underworld. It was written that Cerbeus would greet those who enter the Underworld, often times with his tail wagging. But should one attempt to escape, the dog would instantly devour them whole. Cerbeus is usually depicted as having three heads, however Greek mythology contradicts itself when it comes to the exact number of heads on the dog, ranging from one, or two, and up to fifty. Hades was given many euphemisms by the Greeks because of the negative associations with his name. Hades’ name has been substituted with Clymenus, which means notorious. Polydegmon which means “who receives many", and also “the Rich One” due to the fact that the all of the riches of the Earth are underground, giving him ownership over them. But according to Greek tragedian Sophocles, Hades’ title had a much more sinister meaning. Referring to Hades’ nick name as “the Rich One,” he explained, "the gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears.”
Also famous for the numerous amount of stories surrounding him, Hades had great literature written about his punishing of the deceased, how he gained his wife, and of those who came into his realm and attempted to leave it. Hades didn’t rule over the Underworld alone, for he had a wife name Persephone. How he courted was anything but ordinary however for he kidnapped her. The founder-king of Athens,Theseus and the king of Lapiths, Pirthous both pledged to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus picked Helen, however Pirthous dared to kidnap Persephone, the wife of Hades. They both descended to perform the task but were tricked by Hades who lured them into eating at a feast that he had prepared for them. As the mortals took their seats, snakes coiled and wrapped around their legs, holding the men in place. There they sat for some time. It was only until the Greek hero Heracles saved Theseus while on the final task of his labors, to capture Cerbeus. Pirthous however continued to be held prisoner for eternity as punishment for the attempted capture of Hades’ beloved. While this was hard fate for Pirthous, Hades showed true mercy to only one mortal. Orpheus was an extremely talented musician who lost his wife when she was bitten by a snake. Distraught, Orpheus descended to the Underworld to ask Hades to give his wife a second chance. In a show of mercy, Hades accepted but on one condition. Orpheus was to lead the way back to the surface and his wife would follow behind him. But by no conditions would he be allowed to look back to check on her. Orpheus agreed and began on his way back to the surface and for a while it was working, but soon he began to doubt Hades. Thinking that Hades had tricked him, Orpheus looked back to look at his wife. By doing this, his oath not to look back was broken and his wife was forever stuck in the Underworld.
In conclusion, Hades fit his role as the King of the Dead very well. He was cunning. determined and just in his judgment over the deceased. Some might say that he was an evil deity; others would say that he was the cruelest of gods. But upon truly analyzing the mythology written about him, once comes to the conclusion that he was in fact just, not evil. No matter how he is referred too, the King of the Dead, the Rich One, Ruler of the Underworld, or Hades. The Greeks hit a stroke of mythological genius when they broth Hades into existence, and how could we forget him? We’re reminded of the fact that death is an inevitability, and perhaps one day, we will wall come face to face with the one who rules those have parished.

Bibliography
Homer. The Odyssey. Tans. W. H. D. Rouse. New York: Penguin, 1937. Print.
Kerény, C. The Heroes of the Greeks. Great Britain: Thames, 1978. Print.
Lindemans, Micha F. Encyclopeidia Mythica. March 5, 2004. Web. March 15, 2011.