Transliteration

Haidês

In ancient Greek literature, Hades is portrayed as a serious, stern god, his three-headed dog Cerberus often by his side. Hades dwells forever in the underworld. He hardly ever leaves. Trivia Hades is the oldest son out of Hades, Zeus, and Posedion. There's an allusion that Hades, Zeus and Dionysus were the same deity. Hades' name in Roman Mythology is Pluto, though some people confuse him with the god Dis Pater. Euripides' play 'Alkestis' states fairly clearly that.

Roman Name

Pluto, Dis

HAIDES (Hades) was the king of the underworld and god of the dead.

This page describes his various divine roles, beginning with general descriptions of the lord of the dead, followed by sections covering his role as the god of funeral rites, necromancy, the curse of the Erinyes, dreams, and the mineral wealth of the earth.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

HYMNS TO HADES

Orphic Hymn 18 to Pluton (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
'To Plouton (Pluto) [Haides]. Plouton, magnanimous, whose realms profound are fixed beneath the firm and solid ground, in the Tartarean plains remote from sight, and wrapt for ever in the depths of night. Zeus Khthonios (of the Underworld), thy sacred ear incline, and pleased accept these sacred rites divine. Earth's keys to thee, illustrious king, belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong. 'Tis thine abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care. To thee, great king, all sovereign earth assigned, the seat of gods and basis of mankind. Thy throne is fixed in Haides' dismal plains, distant, unknown to the rest, where darkness reigns; where, destitute of breath, pale spectres dwell, in endless, dire, inexorable hell; and in dread Akheron (Acheron), whose depths obscure, earth's stable roots eternally secure. O mighty Daimon, whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead, with Demeter's girl [Persephone] captive, through grassy plains, drawn in a four-yoked car with loosened reins, rapt over the deep, impelled by love, you flew till Eleusinia's city rose to view: there, in a wondrous cave obscure and deep, the sacred maid secure from search you keep, the cave of Atthis, whose wide gates display an entrance to the kingdoms void of day. Of works unseen and seen thy power alone to be the great dispending source is known. All-ruling, holy God, with glory bright, thee sacred poets and their hymns delight, propitious to thy mystics' works incline, rejoicing come, for holy rites are thine.'

KING OF THE UNDERWORLD & GOD OF THE DEAD

Haides was the king of the underworld and ruler of the shades of the dead. The following is a miscellaneous collection of references to the god in this role, excluding specific myths and cults.

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
References to Haides in the Iliad and Odyssey, which mostly describe the passage of souls to the underworld, can be found on the Realm of Haides page.

Hesiod, Theogony 453 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
'Haides, pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth.'

Theognis, Fragment 1. 244 ff (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac) (Greek elegy C6th B.C.) :
'When you go to Aides' house of wailing, down in the dark earth's depths.'

Anacreon, Frag 405 (from Scholiast on Hesiod) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (C6th B.C.) :
'Theos Khthonios (God of the Underworld) [i.e. Haides] may mean god of the lower world or sullen god.'

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1372 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'Klytaimestra (Clytemnestra) [describes her murder of Agamemnon] : Twice I struck him, and with two groans his limbs relaxed. Once he had fallen, I dealt him yet a third stroke to grace my prayer to the infernal (khthonios) Zeus [i.e. Haides], the savior of the dead (nekrôn sôtêr). Fallen thus, he gasped away his life.'

Aeschylus, Eumenides 273 ff :
'For Haides is mighty in holding mortals to account under the earth, and he observes all things and within his mind inscribes them.'

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 355 ff :
'A ruler of august majesty [King Agamemnon], distinguished even beneath the earth, and minister of the mightiest, the deities who rule in the nether world [Haides and Persephone]. For in your life you were a king of those who have the power to assign the portion of death [i.e. a king has the power of death over his subjects], and who wield the staff all mortals obey.'

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 153 ff :
'Haides, the entertainer of the dead (nekrodegmôn).'

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 227 ff :
'And how can man be pure who would seize from an unwilling father an unwilling bride? For such an act, not even in Haides, after death, shall he escape arraignment for outrage. There also among the dead, so men tell, another Zeus [Haides] holds a last judgment upon misdeeds. Take heed and reply in this manner, that victory may attend your cause.'

Aeschylus, Doubtul Fragment 243 (from Hesychius, Lexicon s.v. empedês) :
'May Haides, whose portion is the earth, seize and fetter thee!'

Aristophanes, Frogs 760 ff (trans. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.) :
'[Comedy-Play in which the shades of the dead tragedians compete for a seat beside Haides in the underworld.]
Xanthias : Phoibos Apollon! clap your hand in mine, kiss and be kissed: and prithee tell me this, tell me by Zeus, our rascaldom's own god, what's all that noise within [the house of Haides]? What means this hubbub and row?
Aiakos : That's [the ghosts of the tragic poets] Aiskhylos (Aeschylus) and Euripides.
Xanthias : Eh?
Aiakos : Wonderful, wonderful things are going on. The dead are rioting, taking different sides.
Xanthias : Why, what's the matter?
Aiakos : There's a custom here with all the crafts, the good and noble crafts, that the chief master of art in each shall have his dinner in the assembly hall, and sit by Plouton's [Haides'] side.
Xanthias : I understand.
Aiakos : Until another comes, more wise than he in the same art: then must the first give way.
Xanthias : And how has this disturbed our Aiskhylos?
Aiakos : 'Twas he that occupied the tragic chair, as, in his craft, the noblest.
Xanthias : Who does now?
Aiakos : But when Euripides came down, he kept flourishing off before the highwaymen, thieves, burglars, parricides-these form our mob in Hades-till with listening to his twists and turns, and pleas and counterpleas, they went mad on the man, and hailed him first and wisest : elate with this, he claimed the tragic chair where Aiskhylos was seated.
Xanthias : Wasn't he pelted?
Aiakos : Not he: the populace clamoured out to try which of the twain was wiser in his art . . .
Xanthias : And what does Plouton now propose to do?
Aiakos : He means to hold a tournament, and bring their tragedies to the proof.
Xanthias : But Sophokles, how came not he to claim the tragic chair?
Aiakos : Claim it? Not he! When he came down, he kissed with reverence Aiskhylos, and clasped his hand, and yielded willingly the chair to him. But now he's going, says Kleidemides, to sit third-man: and then if Aiskhylos win, he'll stay content: if not, for his art's sake, he'll fight to the death against Euripides.'

Aesop, Fables 133 (Chambry 133 & Babrius, Fabulae Aesopeae 75) (trans. Gibbs) (Greek fable C6th B.C.) :
'[A fable told in jest :] Persephone and the mighty god Plouton [Haides] were just now threatening terrible things against all the doctors, since they keep the sick people from dying.'

Plato, Cratylus 400d & 402d - 404b (trans. Fowler) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
'[Plato constructs philosophical etymologies for the names of the gods :]
Sokrates : Let us inquire what thought men had in giving them [the gods] their names . . . The first men who gave names [to the gods] were no ordinary persons, but high thinkers and great talkers . . . Let us, then, speak of his [Zeus] brothers, Poseidon and Plouton (Pluto) [Haides], including also the other name of the latter . . . Plouton, he was so named as the giver of wealth (ploutos), because wealth comes up from below out of the earth. And Haides--I fancy most people think that this is a name of the Invisible (aeidês), so they are afraid and call him Plouton. I think people have many false notions about the power of this god, and are unduly afraid of him. They are afraid because when we are once dead we remain in his realm for ever, and they are also terrified because the soul goes to him without the covering of the body. But I think all these facts, and the office and the name of the god, point in the same direction . . . Please answer this question : Which is the stronger bond upon any living being to keep him in any one place, desire, or compulsion?
Hermogenes : Desire, Sokrates, is much stronger.
Sokrates : Then do you not believe there would be many fugitives from Haides, if he did not bind with the strongest bond those who go to him there? . . . Apparently, then, if he binds them with the strongest bond, he binds them by some kind of desire, not by compulsion . . . There are many desires, are there not? . . . Then he binds with the desire which is the strongest of all, if he is to restrain them with the strongest bond .. And is there any desire stronger than the thought of being made a better man by association with some one? . . . Then, Hermogenes, we must believe that this is the reason why no one has been willing to come away from that other world, not even the Seirenes (Sirens), but they and all others have been overcome by his enchantments, so beautiful, as it appears, are the words which Haides has the power to speak; and from this point of view this god is a perfect sophist and a great benefactor of those in his realm, he who also bestows such great blessings upon us who are on earth; such abundance surrounds him there below, and for this reason he is called Plouton. Then, too, he refuses to consort with men while they have bodies, but only accepts their society when the soul is pure of all the evils and desires of the body. Do you not think this shows him to be a philosopher and to understand perfectly that under these conditions he could restrain them by binding them with the desire of virtue, but that so long as they are infected with the unrest and madness of the body, not even his father Kronos could hold them to himself, though he bound them with his famous chains? . . . And the name 'Haides' is not in the least derived from the invisible (aeides), but far more probably from knowing (eidenai) all noble things, and for that reason he was called Haides by the lawgiver.'

Plato, Cratylus 404c :
'This is the reason why Haides, who is wise, consorts with her [Persephone], because she is wise.'

Callimachus, Epigrams 2 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
'Haides, snatcher of all things, shall lay his hand [upon you].'

Callimachus, Fragment Frag 478 (from Etymologicum Florentine s.v. Klymenos) (trans. Trypanis) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
'[Persephone] the spouse of Klymenos [Haides], host of many (polyzeinos).'

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 20. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
'[Amongst the scenes depicted on a table by Kolotes dedicated in the temple of Hera at Olympia :] Plouton [Haides] holds a key, they say that what is called Haides has been locked up by Plouton, and that nobody will return back again there from.'

Orphic Hymn 18 to Pluton (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
'O mighty Daimon [Haides], whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead, with Demeter's girl [Persephone].'

Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. 260 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'Earth everywhere splits deep [when Phaethon scorches the earth] and light strikes down into Tartara (the Underworld) and fills with fear Rex Infernus (Hell's monarch) [Haides] and his consort [Persephone].'

Ovid, Metamorphoses 5. 354 ff :
'The land [of Sicily] quakes [as Typhoeus the Giant buried beneath it tries to escape] and even the king who rules the land of silence (Rex Silentum) [Haides] shudders lest the ground in gaping seams should open and the day stream down and terrify the trembling Shades (Umpire). The tyrant (Tyrannus) had left his dark domains to and fro, drawn in his chariot and sable steeds, inspected the foundations of the isle.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 603 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'I [Herakles] have seen places unapproached by any . . . those gloomy spaces which the baser pole hath yielded to infernal Jove [Haides]; and if the regions of the third estate pleased me, I might have reigned.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 658 ff :
'All the world's holy powers, and thou [Haides] who rulest the all-holding realm, and thou [Persephone] whom, stolen from Enna, thy mother [Demeter] sought in vain, may it be right, I pray, boldly to speak of powers hidden away and buried beneath the earth.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 707 ff :
'What of him who holds sway over the dark realm? Where sits he, governing his flitting tribes? . . . A plain lies round about this where sits the god [Haides], where with haughty mien his awful majesty assorts the new-arriving souls. Lowering is his brow, yet such as wears the aspect of his brothers and his high race; his countenance is that of Jove, but Jove the thunderer; chief part of that realm's grimness is its own lord, whose aspect whate'er is dreaded dreads.'

Seneca, Phaedra 625 ff :
'The overlord [Haides] of the fast-holding realm and of the silent Styx has made no way to the upper world once quitted.'

Seneca, Troades 402 ff :
'Taenarus and the cruel tyrant's [Haides] kingdom and Cerberus, guarding the portal of no easy passage.'

Statius, Thebaid 4. 520 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'Himself [Pluto-Haides] I behold, all pale upon the throne, with Stygian Eumenides [Erinyes] ministering to his fell deeds about him, and the remorseless chambers and gloomy couch of Stygian Juno [Proserpina-Persephone]. Black Mors (Death) [Thanatos] sits upon an eminence, and numbers the silent peoples for their lord; yet the greater part of the troop remains. The Gortynian judge [Minos] shakes them [the ghosts of the dead] in his inexorable urn, demanding the truth with threats, and constrains them to speak out their whole lives' story and at last confess their extorted gains.'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'The lord of Erebus [Pluto-Haides], enthroned in the midst of the fortress of his dolorous realm, was demanding of his subjects the misdoings of their lives, pitying nought human but wroth against all the Manes (Shades). Around him stand the Furiae (Furies) [Erinyes] and various Mortes (Deaths) [Thanatoi] in order due, and savage Poena (Vengeance) thrusts forth her coils of jangling chains; the Fatae (Fates) [Moirai] bring the Animas (Souls) and with one gesture [literally ‘thumb’ as in the amphitheatre] damn them; too heavy grows the work. Hard by, Minos with his dread brother [Rhadamanthys] in kindly mood counsels a milder justice, and restrains the bloodthirsty king; Cocytus and Phelgethon, swollen with tears and fire, aid in the judgement, and Styx accuses the gods of perjury. But he [Haides], when the frame of the world above was loosened [i.e. when the earth opened up and swallowed the hero Amphiaraus] and filled him with unwonted fears, quaked at the appearing stars, and thus did he speak, offended by the gladsome light : ‘What ruin of the upper world hath thrust the hateful light of day into Avernus? Who hath burst our gloom and told the silent folk of life? Whence comes this threat? Which of my brothers makes war on me? Well, I will meet him: confusion whelm all natural bounds? For whom would that please more? The third hazard hurled me defeated from the mighty heaven, and I guard the world of guilt; nor is even that mine, but lo! the dread stars search it from end to end, and gaze upon me. Does the proud ruler of Olympus spy out my strength? Mine is the prison-house, now broken, of the Gigantes (Giants), and of the Titanes, eager to force their way to the world above, and his own unhappy sire [Kronos (Cronus)] : why thus cruelly doth he forbid me to enjoy my mournful leisure and this untranquil peace, and to hate the light I lost? I will open all my kingdoms, if such by my pleasure, and veil Hyperion [Helios the Sun] with a Stygian sky. I will not send the Arcadian [Hermes] up to the gods--why doth he come and go on errands between realm and realm?--and I will keep both the sons of Tyndareus [i.e. the Dioscuri (Dioskouroi) who divided their days equally between Olympos and the Underworld]. And why do I break Ixion on the greedy whirling of the wheel? Why do the waters not wait for Tantalus? Must I so oft endure the profanation of Chaos by living strangers? The rash ardour of Pirithous provoked me, and Theseus, sworn comrade of his daring friend [the pair attempted to abduct Persephone], and fierce Alcides [Herakles], when the iron threshold of Cerberus' gate fell silent, its guardian removed. It shames me too, alas! how Tartarus opened a way to the Odyrsian plaint [Orpheus]; with my own eyes I saw the Eumenides [Erinyes] shed base tears at those persuasive strains, and the Sisters [Moirai (Fates)] repeat their allotted task; me too -, but the violence of my cruel law was stronger. Yet I have scarce ventured one stolen journey, nor was that to the stars on high, when I carried of my bride [Persephone] from the Sicilian mead: unlawfully, so they say, and forthwith comes an unjust decree from Jove [Zeus], and her mother [Ceres-Demeter] cheats me of half a year. But why do I tell all this: Go, Tisiphone, avenge the abode of Tartarus! if ever thou hast wrought monsters fierce and strange, bring forth some ghastly horror, huge and unwonted, such as the sky hath never yet beheld, such as I may marvel at and thy Sisters [Moirai] envy. Ay, and the brothers [Polynices and Eteocles] rush to slay each other in exultant combat; let there be one [Tydeus] who in hideous, bestial savagery shall gnaw his foeman's head, and one [king Creon] who shall bar the dead from the funeral fire and pollute the air with naked corpses; let the fierce Thunderer [Jupiter-Zeus] feast his eyes on that! Moreover, lest their fury harm my realms alone, seek one who shall make war against he gods [Capaneus] and with smoking shield repel the fiery brand and Jove's [Zeus'] own wrath. I will have all men fear to disturb black Tartarus no less than to set Pelion on top of leafy Ossa.’ He finished, and long since was the gloomy palace quaking at his words, and his own land and that which presses on it from above were rocking : no more mightily does Jupiter [Zeus] sway the heaven with his nod, and bow the starry poles. ‘But what shall be thy [Amphiaraus'] doom,’ he cries, ‘who rushest headlong through the empty realm on a path forbidden?’
As he threatens, the other draws nigh, on foot now and shadowy to view, his armour growing faint, yet in his lifeless face abides the dignity of augurship inviolate, and on his brow remains the fillet dim to behold, and in his hand is a branch of dying olive. ‘If it be lawful and right for holy Manes (Shades) to make utterence here, O thou to all men the great Finisher, but to me, who once knew causes and beginnings, Creator also! remit, I pray, thy threatenings and thy fevered heart, nor deem worthy of thy wrath one who is but a man and fears thy laws; 'tis for no Herculean plunder--such wars are not for me--, nor for a forbidden bride--believe these emblems--that I dare to enter Lethe : let not Cerberus flee into his cave, nor Proserpine [Persephone] shudder at my chariot. I, once the best beloved of augurs at Apollo's shrines, call empty Chaos to bear witness--for what power to receive an oath has Apollo here?--for no crime do I suffer this unwonted fate, nor have I deserved to be thus torn from the kindly light of day; the urn of the Dictean judge doth know it, and Minos can discern the truth. Sold by the treachery of my wife [Eriphyle] for wicked gold, I joined the Argive host, not unwitting--hence this crowd of new-slain ghosts thou seest, and the victims also of this right hand; in a sudden convulsion of the earth--my mind still shrinks in horror--thy darkness swallowed me up from the midst of thousands . . . content am I to receive my Shade [i.e. Amphiaraus was not yet dead for he was dropped alive into Haides], nor remember my tripods any more. For what avails thee the use of prescient augury, when the Parcae [Moirai, fates] spin thy commands? Nay, be thou softened, and prove more merciful than the gods. If ever my accursed wife come hither, reserve for her thy deadly torments : she is more worthy of thy wrath, O righteous lord!’ He [Haides] accepts his prayer, and is indignant that he yields.'

Statius, Thebaid 11. 410 ff :
'Thrice from the regions of doom thundered their [the Erinyes'] impatient monarch [Haides], and shook the depths of the earth [at the commencement of the War of Thebes] . . . The king of Tartarus [Haides] himself orders the gates to be set open [i.e. to receive the legions of the slain].'

Statius, Thebaid 11. 444 ff :
'The Warden of the Larvae (Shades) [lord Haides] and the third heir of the world, after the lot's unkind apportioning, leapt down from his chariot and grew pale, for he was come to Tartarus and heaven was lost for ever.'

Statius, Silvae 3. 3. 21 (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) :
'Let him [the shade of a father] come, and approach the awful throne of the silent monarch [Haides] and pay his last due of gratitude and anxiously request for his son a long life.'

Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 3. 380 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'Celaeneus (the Black) [Pluto-Haides], sitting sable-shrouded and sword in hand, cleanses the innocent from their error.'

Apuleius, The Golden Ass 7. 24 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
'I was pulled out of the hands of Orcus [Haides] [i.e. saved from death].'

Tryphiodorus, The Taking of Ilias 568 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C5th A.D.) :
'And Haides shuddered [at the slaughter of the Sack of Troy] and looked forth from his seat under earth, afraid lest in the great anger of Zeus Hermes, conductor of souls, should bring down all the race of men.'

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 36. 97 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
'[Poseidon and Apollon battle as the gods take sides in the war of Dionysos against the Indians :] Then Zeus Khthonios (Zeus of the Underworld) [Haides] rumbled hearing the noise of the heavenly fray above; he feared that the Earthshaker [Poseidon], beating and lashing the solid ground with the earthquake-shock of his waves, might lever out of gear the whole universe with his trident, might move the foundations of the abysm below and show the forbidden sight of earth's bottom, might burst all the veins of the subterranean channels and pour his water away into the pit of Tartaros, to flood the mouldering gates of the lower world. So great was the din of the gods in conflict, and the trumpets of the underworld added their noise.'

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 36. 200 ff :
'[During the war of Dionysos against the Indians :] Lethe was choked with that great multitude of corpses brought low and scattered on every side. Aides heaved up his bar in the darkness, and opened his gates wider for the common carnage; as they descended into the pit the banks of Kharon's river echoed the rumblings of Tartaros.'

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12. 213 ff :
'[Dionysos transforms his dead friend Ampelos into a grape vine :] ‘For you Haides himself has become merciful, for you Persephone herself has changed her hard temper, and saved you alive in death for brother Bakkhos (Bacchus). You did not die . . . You are still alive, my boy, even if you died.’'

For more specific aspects of his role as god of the dead see:
(1) Hades God of Funeral Rites (below)
(2) Hades God of Necromancy (below)
(3) Hades God of Curses (below)
For MYTHS of Haides as the god of the dead and the underworld see:
(1) Hades Myths (previous page)
(2) Hades & the Judges of the Dead (previous page)
(3) Rape of Persephone (next page)
For MORE information on the underworld see the REALM OF HADES

GOD OF FUNERAL RITES & MOURNING

Haides was god of funeral rites and mourning. Those who did not receive the proper burial rites were refused entry to the underworld.

Stesichorus, Fragment 232 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (C7th to 6th B.C.) :
'Mourning and wailing are the portion of Hades.'

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 864 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'Cry out the awful hymn of the Erinys [i.e. the shrieks and cries of the grieving women] and thereafter sing the hated victory song of Aides [i.e. the funeral dirge].'

Plato, Republic 427b (trans. Shorey) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
“The burial of the dead and the services we must render to the dwellers in the world beyond to keep them gracious.” [I.e. the gods of the dead and the ghosts of men.]

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 69. 5 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
'Of Haides it is said that he laid down the rules which are concerned with burials and funerals and the honours which are paid to the dead, no concern having been given to the dead before this time; and this is why tradition tells us that Haides is lord of the dead, since there were assigned to him in ancient times the first offices in such matters and the concern for them.'

Statius, Thebaid 12. 557 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'The father of the Eumenides [i.e. Haides, father of the Erinyes,] and the ferryman of Lethe's stream [Kharon (Charon)] debars them [i.e. the souls of the unburied] from the Stygian gate and keeps them hovering doubtfully between the worlds of heaven and hell (Erebus).'

GOD OF NECROMANCY & GHOSTLY VISITATIONS

Haides was invoked and propitiated in the rites of necromancy (nekromankia)--the summoning of ghosts of the dead. He and Persephone also presided over the oracles of the dead (nekromanteia), such as the necromantic shrines of Thesprotia and Kume (Cumae).

I. NECROMANCY OF ODYSSEUS

Odysseus was instructed in the rites of necromancy by the witch Kirke (Circe) so that he might commune with the ghost of the seer Teiresias. According to the author of the Odyssey the rites were performed at the border of the underworld. Later authors, however, say that Odysseus visited the Nekromanteion (Oracle of the Dead) at Cumae in southern Italy.

Homer, Odyssey 10. 495 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
'[Kirke (Circe) instructs Odysseus in the rites of necromancy :] ‘You must visit the house of dread Persephone and of Haides, and there seek counsel from the spirit of Theban Teiresias (Tiresias). The blind seer's thought is wakeful still, for to him alone, even after death, Persephone has accorded wisdom; the other dead are but flitting shadows . . .
‘And when you have sailed through the river Okeanos (Oceanus), you will see before you a marrow strand and he groves that are Persephone's--the tall black poplars, the willows with their self-wasted fruit; then beach the vessel beside deep-eddying Okeanos and pass on foot to the dank domains of Haides. At the entrance there, the stream of Akheron (Acheron) is joined by the waters of Pyriphlegethon and a branch of Styx, Kokytos (Cocytus), and there is a rock where the two loud-roaring rivers meet. Then, lord Odysseus, you must do as I enjoin you; go forward, and dig a trench a cubit long and a cubit broad; go round this trench, pouring libation for all the dead, first with milk and honey, then with sweet wine, then with water; and sprinkle white barley-meal above. Then with earnest prayers to the strengthless presences of the dead you must promise that when you have come to Ithaka you will sacrifice in your palace a calfless heifer, the best you have, and will load a pyre with precious things; and that for Teiresias and no other you will slay, apart, a ram that is black all over, the choicest in all the flocks of Ithaka.
‘When with these prayers you have made appeal to the noble nations of the dead, then you must sacrifice a ram and a black ewe; bend the victims' heads down towards Erebos, but turn your own head away and look towards the waters of the river. At this, the souls of the dead and gone will come flocking there. With commanding voice you must call your cmorades to flay and burn the two sheep that now lie before them, killed by your own ruthless blade, and over them to pray to the gods, to resistless Haides and dread Persephone. As for yourself, draw the keen sword from beside your thight; then, sitting down, hold back the strengthles presences of the dead from drawing nearer to the blood until you have questioned Teiresias. Then, King Odysseus, the seer will come to you very quickly, to prophesy the path before you, the long stages of your travel, and how you will reach home at last over the teeming sea.’'

Homer, Odyssey 11. 10 ff :
'[Odysseus journeys to the underworld to consult the ghost of the seer Teiresias :] The vessel came to the bounds of eddying Okeanos (Oceanus), where lie the land and city of the Kimmeroi (Cimmerians), covered with mist and cloud. never does the resplendent sun look on this people with his beams . . . dismal gloom overhangs these wretches always. Arriving there, we beached the vessel, took out the sheep and then walked onwards beside the stream of Okeanos until we came to the place that Kirke (Circe) had told us of.
There, Perimedes and Eurylokhos (Eurylochus) seized the victims and held them fast, while I myself drew the keen sword from besie my thigh and cut a trench a cubit long and a cubit broad. Round it I poured a libation for all the dead, first with milk and honey, then with sweet wine, then with water; over this I sprinkled white barley-meal. Then with earnest prayers to the strengthless presences of the dead I promised that when I came to Ithaka I would sacrifice in my palace a calfless heifer, the best I had, and would load a pyre with precious things; and that for Teiresias and no other I would slay, apart, a ram that was black all over, the choicest in all the flocks of Ithaka.
When with my prayers and invocations I had called on the peoples of the dead, I seized the victims and cut their throats over the trench. The dark blood flowed, and the souls od the dead and gone came flocking upwards from Erebos--brides and unmarried youths, old men who had suffered much, tender girls with the heart's distress still keen, troops of warriors wounded with brazen-pointed spears, men slain in battle with blood-stained armour still upon them. With unearthly cries, from every quarter, they came crowding about the trench until pale terror began to master me.
Then with urgent voice I called my comrades to flay and burn the two sheep that now lay before them, killed by my own ruthless blade, and over them to pray to the gods, to resistless Haides and dread Persephone. As for myself, I drew the keen sword from beside my thigh, seated myself and held back the strengthless preseences of the dead from drawing nearer to the blood before I had questioned Teiresias.'

Homer, Odyssey 11. 210 & 11. 386 :
'[Odysseus performs the necromantic rites and is approached by the ghost of his mother whom he queries :] ‘Is this some wraith that august Persephone has sent me to increase my sorrowing and my tears?’
So I spoke, and the queen my mother answered me : ‘Alas, my child, ill-fated beyond all other mortals, this is no mockery of Persephone's; it is all men's fortune when they die. The sinews no longer hold flesh and bones together; these are all prey to the resistless power of fire when once the life has left the white bones; the soul takes wing as a dream takes wing, and thereafter hovers to and fro . . .’
Meanwhile there appeared a whole company of women [before Odysseus], sent by Persephone the august; and these were the wives or the daughters of great men. They gathered flocking round the dark blood [of the sacrificed black sheep] all together. So they came forward one after another, and each in turn told me her lineage, for I left none of them unquestioned . . . Then, when chaste Persephone had dispersed this way and that the souls of those many women, there came before me in bitter sorrow the soul of Agamemon . . . Then there came before me the soulds of Akhilleus (Achilles) and Patroklos (Patroclus), of noble Antilokhos (Antilochus) and of Aias (Ajax) . . . The soul of the fleet-foot son of Peleus went pacing forth over the field of asphodel . . . Other souls of the dead and gone still stood there sorrowfully, each of them questioning me on whatever touched them the most . . . Indeed I might then have seen [more of] those men of past days I wished to see, but before I could, there came before me with hideous clamour the thronging multitudes of the dead, and ashly terror seized hold of me. I feared that august Persephone might send against me from Haides' house the Gorgoneion (the gorgon's head) of some grisly monster. I made for my ship at once, telling my comrades to step aboard and to loose the cables.'

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E7. 7 & 34 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'He [Odysseus] sailed Okeanos (Oceanus), and offered sacrifices to the souls, and by Kirke's (Circe's) advice consulted the soothsayer Tiresias, and beheld the souls both of heroes and of heroines. He also looked on his mother Antikleia and Elpenor, who had died of a fall in the house of Kirke . . .
[Upon returning to Ithaka, Odysseus slew the suitors and then :] After sacrificing to Haides, and Persephone, and Teiresias, he journeyed on foot through Epiros (Epirus), and came to the Thesprotians, and having offered sacrifice according to the directions of the soothsayer Teiresias, he propitiated Poseidon.'

Lycophron, Alexandra 697 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
'The grove of Obrimo [i.e. the grove of Persephone near Avernos in Italy], Kore (Core, Maiden) who dwells beneath the earth, and Pyriphleges (the Fiery Stream), where the difficult Polydegmon hill [in Italy] stretches its head to the sky . . . and the lake Aornos [i.e. lake Avernus near Cumae] rounded with a noose and the waters of Kokytos wild and dark, stream of black Styx . . . he [Odysseus] shall offer up a gift to Daeira [Persephone] and her consort, fastening his helmet to the head of a pillar.'

II. NECROMANCY OF TEIRESIAS

In Statius' Thebaid the seer Teiresias (Tiresias) performs necromancy to commune with the dead for King Oidipous would learn the cause of the plague inflicting Thebes.

Seneca, Oedipus 395 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'[The seer Tiresias declares that he will perform necromancy :] ‘We must unseal the earth, must implore the implacable divinity of Dis [Haides], must draw forth hither the people [ghosts] of infernal Styx.’'

Statius, Thebaid 4. 410 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'He [the seer Tiresias] prepares the rites of Lethe [i.e. nekromankia], and makes ready beforehand to evoke the monarch [Pluto-Haides] sunk below the confines of [the river] Ismenos where it mingles with the deep, and makes purgation all around with the torn entrails of sheep and the strong smell of sulphur, and with fresh herbs and the long mutterings of prayer . . . [Tiresias] bids the dark-fleeced sheep and black oxen be set before him . . . Then he entwined their fierce horns with wreaths of dusky hue, handling them himself, and first at the edge of that well-known wood [i.e. one sacred to the goddess Hekate] he nine times spills the lavish draughts of Bacchus into a hollowed trench, and gifts of vernal milk and Attic rain [i.e. honey] and propitiatory blood to the Shades below; so much is poured out as the dry earth will drink. Then they roll tree trunks thither, and the sad priest bids there be three altar-fires for Hecate and three for the maidens born of cursed Acheron [the Erinyes]; for thee, lord of Avernus [Pluto-Haides], a heap of pinewood though sunk into the ground yet towers high into the air; next to this an altar of lesser bulk is raised to Ceres of the Underworld [Proserpina-Persephone]; in front and on every side the cypress of lamentation intertwines them. And now, their lofty heads marked with the sword and the pure sprinkled meal, the cattle fell under the stroke; then the virgin Manto [daughter of Tiresias], catching the blood in bowls, makes first libation, and moving thrice round all the pyres, as her holy sire commands, offers the half-dead tissues and yet living entrails, nor delays to set the devouring fire to the dark foliage. And when Tiresias heard the branches crackling in the flames and the grim piles roaring--for the burning heat surges before his face, and the fiery vapour fills the hollows of his eyes--he exclaimed, and the pyres trembled, and the flames cowered at his voice : ‘Abodes of Tartarus and awful realm of insatiable Mors (Death) [Thanatos], and thou, most cruel of the brothers [Pluto-Haides], to whom the Shades are given to serve thee, and the eternal punishments of the damned obey thee, and the palace of the underworld, throw open in answer to my knowing the silent places and empty void of stern Persephone, and send forth the multitude that lurk in hollow night.’'

Statius, Thebaid 4. 520 ff :
'[The blind Tiresias describes the visions he receives as he performs necromancy :] ‘Himself [Pluto-Haides] I behold, all pale upon the throne, with Stygian Eumenides [Erinyes] ministering to his fell deeds about him, and the remorseless chambers and gloomy couch of Stygian Juno [Proserpina-Persephone].’'

III. NECROMANCY OF AESON & ALKIMEDE

Aeson and his wife, the witch Alkimede (Alcimede), perform necromancy to learn the fate of their son Jason and to bring down a curse upon King Pelias who plots their death.

Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1. 730 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'[Alcimede the mother of Jason, who has departed in his quest for the Golden Fleece, performs necromancy to summon the ghosts of the dead :] Unto the lord of Tartarus [Pluto-Haides] and unto the Stygian ghosts was Alcimede [mother of Jason] bringing holy offerings in fear for her mighty son, if Shades summoned forth might give her surer knowledge. Even Aeson [her husband] himself, who shares her anxiety but who hides such unmanly fears in his heart, yields and is led by his wife. In a trench stands blood and plenteous offering to hidden Phlegethon and with fierce cries the aged witch calls upon her departed ancestors and the grandson of great Pleione [i.e. Mercury-Hermes as guide of the dead]. And now at the sound of the spell rose a face, insubstantial, and [the ghost of] Cretheus [father of Aeson] gazed upon his mournful son and daughter-in-law, and when he had sipped the blood he began to utter these words . . . [The ghost reports that Jason is safe but that King Pelias plots Aeson's death.]
He [Aeson] returns to the holy rites [i.e. the necromancy]. Beneath the gloom of an ancient cypress, squalid and ghastly with darksome hue, a bull still stood, dark blue fillets on his horns, his brow rough with the foliage of yew; the beast too was downcast, panting and restless, and terrified at the sight of the shade. The witch [Alcimede], according to the custom of her evil race had kept him, chosen above all others, to use him now at last for these hellish practises. When Aeson saw that the bull still remained at the hour of the awful rites unslain, he dooms him to death, and with one hand upon the horns of the fated victim speaks for the last time ‘O ye [ghost of Cretheus] who received from Jupiter [Zeus] your reign and the light of life not idly spent . . . my father, summoned forth from the shades to view my death and to endure again the forgotten sorrows of men on earth, O grant me entry to the abode of quiet [Haides], and may the victim that I send before me win favour for me in your dwelling. Thou, O maid [Dike lady Justice], that dost report guilty deeds to Jove [Zeus], who lookest down upon earth with unerring eyes, ye avenging goddesses [Erinyes], thou Divine Law, and thou Retribution (Poena), aged mother of the Furiai (Furies) [Erinyes], enter into the sinful palace of the king [Pelias], and bring upon him your fierce torches. Let accursed fear ravish his maddened heart; nor let him deem that my son alone will come with grim weapons in his bark . . . [and take vengeance on the king.]’
Then he appeased the goddess of triple form [i.e. Hecate, goddess of earth-bound ghosts], and with his last sacrifice offers a prayer to the Stygian abodes, rehearsing backward a spell soon, soon to prove persuasive; for without that no thin shade will the dark ferryman [Kharon] take away, and bound they stand at the mouth of Orcus [Haides].'

IV. NECROMANCY OF MEDEA

Witches such as Medea were also practitioners of necromancy. Medea employs these powers in a spell to restore Aeson's youth.

Ovid, Metamorphoses 7. 242 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'[Medea uses her magic to restore Aeson's youth :] Two turf altars she built [for the ritual], the right to Hecate, the left to Juventas (Youth) [Hebe], wreathed with the forest's mystic foliage, and dug two trenches in the ground beside and then performed her rites. Plunging a knife into a black sheep's throat she drenched the wide ditches with blood; next from a chalice poured a stream of wine and from a second chalice warm frothing milk and, chanting magic words, summoned the Deities of Earth (Numina Terrena) and prayed the sad shades' monarch (Rex Umbrarum) [Pluto-Haides] and his stolen bride [Proserpina-Persephone] that, of their mercy, from old Aeson's frame they will not haste to steal the breath of life . . . [and she then applied her potions to the body of the man.] And Aeson woke and marvelled as he saw his prime restored of forty years before.'

V. THE NECROMANCY OF WITCHES

Witches in general were regarded as practitioners of the necromancy.

Statius, Thebaid 3. 140 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'The gloomy councils of the Shades complain [at being summoned from Haides by a witch], and black Avernus' sire [lord Pluto-Haides] waxes indignant.'

VI. THE ORACLES OF THE DEAD

The Oracles of the Dead (Nektromanteion) in Thesprotia and Kyme (Cumae) were shrines dedicated to the gods Haides and Persephone. The oracles of the daimones Amphiaraus and Trophonios in Boiotia were also necromantic in nature.

For MORE information on the necromantic oracles see Cult of Hades

VII. NECROMANTIC CURSES

See Hades God of Curses, Master of the Erinyes (below)

GOD OF CURSES & MASTER OF THE ERINYES

Haides was the god of the most potent curses, those which invoked the fury of the Erinyes. The god was sometimes described despatching an angry ghost from the underworld accompanied by an Erinys to avenge a crime, especially patricide or matricide.

Aeschylus, Supplianet Women 154 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'[The Danaides speak :] ‘Yet, if she [the realm of Argos] will not [protect us], we, a dark, sun-burned race, with suppliant boughs will invoke the underworld (khthonios) Zeus [i.e. Haides], Zeus the great host of the dead (polyxenos); for if the gods of Olympos hear us not, we will hang ourselves.’' [I.e. The maidens threaten to commit suicide if they are not granted refuge. Their death-curse would bring some calamity to the land.]

I. ERINYES & THE VENGEFUL GHOST

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 380 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'[The ghost of the murdered king Agamemnon is invoked :] This has pierced the earth and reached your [the ghost's] ear as if it were an arrow. O Zeus, O Zeus [i.e. Haides, the Zeus of the underworld], who send long-deferred retribution up from below [i.e. in the form of the Erinyes] onto the reckless and wicked deeds done by the hands of mortals.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 100 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'Begin, [Erinyes] handmaids of Dis [Haides], make haste to brandish the burning pine.'

Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 3. 380 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'We [the souls of the dead] are not dissolved into the breezes or into mere bones at the last: anger abides and grief endures. Thereafter when they are come to the throne of Awful Jove [Pluto-Haides] and have set forth all the sorrowful story of their dreadful end, the gate of death is opened for them and they may return a second time [i.e. to the earth as vengeful ghosts]; one of the Sisters [i.e. the Erinyes] is given them as a companion, and they range together over lands and seas. Each involved in penalties the guilty souls of his own foes; they rack them with various terrors after their deserving. But those whose hands have dripped with blood unwillingly--or were it cruel mischance, though nigh to guilt, that swept away the wretches--these men their own minds harry in divers ways, and their own deeds vex the doers; languid now and ventureless they decline into tears and spiritless alarms and sickly sloth [i.e. in their grief at having accidentally killed someone]: such thou dost here behold . . .
Celaeneus (the Black) [Pluto-Haides], sitting sable-shrouded and sword in hand, cleanses the innocent from their error, and remitting their fault unwinds a spell to appease the angry Shades. He it was who taught me [the seer Mopsos] what lustrations should be made to the slain, he of his good pleasure opened the earth to Erebus below. When therefore the orient sets the crimson seas aflame, do thou summon thy comrades to sacrifice, and bring two steers to the mighty gods; for me were it wrong meanwhile to approach your gathering, until I spend the night in cleansing prayers [i.e. in preparation for the ceremony of purification to cleanse a man of the crime of murder and drive away the Erinyes and the avenging ghost of the dead].'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'[Pluto-Haides commands the Erinys :] ‘Go, Tisiphone, avenge the abode of Tartarus! if ever thou hast wrought monsters fierce and strange, bring forth some ghastly horror, huge and unwonted, such as the sky hath never yet beheld, such as I may marvel at and thy Sisters [Moirai] envy.’'

II. VENGEFUL GHOSTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 4. 258 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'At their [ghosts of the men slain by the wrestler Ampycus] entreaty father Tartarus [Haides] sends forth in a hollow cloud the Shades of the slain to view at last the well-earned retribution [Ampycus' own death]; the mountain-tops grow black with them.'

Statius, Thebaid 11. 410 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'The king of Tartarus [Haides] himself orders the gates to be set open [ready to receive the legions of newly dead from war], and the Ogygian Manes (Ghosts) to attend their kindred's monstrous deeds [in the internecine War of the Seven Against Thebes]. Seated upon their native hills they pollute the day with grisly band, and rejoice that their own crimes should be surpassed.'

III. CURSE OF THE ERINYES

Homer, Iliad 9. 450 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
'[Phoinix tells the tale of his father's curse :] ‘I [Phoinix] first left Hellas . . . running from the hatred of Ormenos' son Amyntor, my father; who hated me for the sake of a fair-haired mistress. For he made love to her himself, and dishonoured his own wife, my mother; who was forever taking my knees and entreating me to lie with this mistress instead so that she would hate the old man. I was persuaded and did it; and my father when he heard of it straightway called down his curses, and invoked against me the dreaded Erinyes that I might never have any son born of my seed to dandle on my knees; and the divinities, Zeus Khthonios (of the Underworld) [i.e. Haides] and Persephone the honoured goddess, accomplished his curses.’'

Homer, Iliad 9. 565 ff :
'Meleagros (Meleager) lay mulling his heart-sore anger, raging by reason of his mother's [Althaia's] curses, which she called down from the gods upon him, in deep grief for the death of her brother, and many times beating with her hands on the earth abundant she called on Haides and on honoured Persephone, lying at length along the ground, and the tears were wet on her bosom, to give death to her son; and Erinys, the mist-walking, she of the heart without pity, heard her out of the dark places.'

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. 401 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
'[Khalkiope (Chalciope) addresses her sister Medea :] ‘I implore you . . . not to stand by while they [her sons, who are accompanying the Argonauts] are mercilessly done to death. If you do so, may I die with my dear sons and haunt you afterwards from Haides like an avenging Erinys (Fury) . . .’
[Medea replies :] ‘Sister you left me speechless when you talked of curses and avenging Erinyes (Furies).’'

Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 7. 311 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'[The witch Medea] wearies heaven above and Tartarus beneath with her complaints [about her love for Jason]; she beats upon the ground, and murmuring into her clutching hands calls on the Queen of Night [Hecate] and Dis [Haides] to bring her aid by granting death, and to send him who is the cause of her madness down with her to destruction.'

Statius, Thebaid 1. 46 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'[Oidipous (Oedipus) blinds himself when he learns he has killed his father and married his mother. His sons afterwards treat him with cruel disdain and so he calls upon the Erinyes to punish them :] Oedipus with avenging hand probed deep his sinning eyes and sunk his guilty shame in eternal night . . . yet with unwearied wings the fierce daylight of the mind hovers around him, and the avenging Dirae [Erinyes] of his crimes assail his heart. Then he displays to heaven those empty orbs, the cruel, pitiful punishment of his own lie, and with blood-stained hands beats upon the hollow earth, and in dire accents utters this prayer : ‘Gods [Pluto-Haides, Persephone and the Erinyes] who hold sway over guilty souls and over Tartarus crowded with the damned, and thou O Styx, whom I behold, ghastly in thy shadowy depths, and thou Tisiphone, so oft the object of my prayer, be favourable now, and further my unnatural wish . . . Sightless though I was and driven from my throne, my sons, on whatever couch begotten, attempted not to give me guidance or consolation in my grief . . . and they mock my blindness, they abhor their father's groans . . . Do thou at least, my due defender, come hither, and begin a work of vengeance that will blast their seed for ever!’'

Suidas s.v. Persephone (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
'Persephone : An Underworld spirit (katageios daimon). Elektra says : ‘O house of Haides and Persephone! O Hermes of the Underworld and holy Ara (Curse) and divine Erinnyes (Furies)! You who watch over those dying unjustly and those being robbed of a marriage bed: Come! Help avenge the murder of our father!’'

IV. CURSE-OATHS BOUND BY HAIDES & THE ERINYES

Haides was invoked in binding oaths with the connotation 'let me be cursed if I dare to break the oath.'

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 259 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
'[King Phineos swears an oath to the Argonauts :] ‘By the Powers below [i.e. Haides, Persephone and the Erinyes]--and may they blast me if I die forsworn--that you will not incur the wrath of Heaven by helping me.’'

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Seneca, Oedipus 247 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'[King Oedipus swears an oath :] ‘Now at Heaven's command let the crime be expiated [i.e. the murder of king Laius]. Whoever of the gods dost look with favour upon kingdoms--thou [Jupiter-Zeus], thou whose are the laws of the swift-revolving heavens; and thou [Sol-Helios the Sun], greatest glory of the unclouded sky . . . and thou, his sister [Luna-Selene the Moon] . . . thou [Neptune-Poseidon] whom the winds obey . . . and thou [Pluto-Haides] who dost allot homes devoid of light--do ye all attend : Him by whose hand Laïus fell may no peaceful dwelling, no friendly household gods, no hospitable land in exile entertain.’'

Seneca, Oedipus 868 ff :
'[Oedipus curses himself upon discovering he has killed his father and married his mother :] ‘Yawn, earth! And do thou [Pluto-Haides], king of the dark world, ruler of shades, to lowest Tartarus hurl this unnatural interchange ‘twixt brood and stock.’'

MASTER OF THE DREAMS

Haides was the master of dreams in particular those believed to have been sent by the ghosts of the dead. The two-doored gate of dreams--one false, the other true--was located in Haides' realm.

Homer, Odyssey 24. 12 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
'So did these ghosts travel on together squeaking, while easeful Hermes led them down through the ways of dankness. They passed the streams of Okeanos (Oceanus), the White Rock, the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, and soon they came to the field of asphodel, where the souls, the phantoms of the dead have their habitation.'

Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments 963 (from Demetrius, On Style) (trans. Campbell) (Greek lyric B.C.) :
'Plouton (Pluto) [Haides], master of the black-winged Oneiroi (Dreams).'

GOD OF MINING & PRECIOUS METALS

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 804 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'The Grypes (Griffins), and the one-eyed (monôpoi) Arimaspoi (Arimaspians), mounted on horses, who dwell about the flood of Plouton's [i.e. Haides, as god of wealth's] stream that flows with gold.'

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1. 136 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'The bowels of the world were forced [by men] and wealth deep hidden next the Umbrae Stygiae (Ghosts of Hell) dug out, the spur of wickedness and sin.'

Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2. 26 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
'The entire bulk and substance of the earth, was dedicated to father Dis [Haides] (that is, Dives, ‘the rich’, and so in Greek Plouton), because all things fall back into the earth and also arise from the earth.'

Statius, Silvae 4. 7. 14 (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) :
'The miner returns all pale at the sight of Dis [Haides] and yellow as the gold he has unearthed.'

GOD OF THE EARTH'S FERTILITY

Haides was the god of the fertile earth who released Persephone--a goddess symbolising the sprouting of shoots of grain--from his subterranean realm in spring. He was often depicted holding a cornucopia bursting with sheafs of grain.

Hesiod, Works and Days 465 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
'Pray to Zeus Khthonios (of the Earth) [Haides] and to pure Demeter to make Demeter's holy grain sound and heavy, when first you begin ploughing, when you hold in your hand the end of the plough-tail and bring down your stick on the backs of the oxen as they draw on the pole-bar by the yoke-straps.'

Plato, Cratylus 400d & 402d - 404b (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
'[Plato constructs philosophical etymologies for the names of the gods :]
Sokrates : Let us inquire what thought men had in giving them [the gods] their names . . . The first men who gave names [to the gods] were no ordinary persons, but high thinkers and great talkers . . . Plouton [Haides], he was so named as the giver of wealth (ploutos), because wealth comes up from below out of the earth . . . [and] he also bestows such great blessings upon us who are on earth; such abundance surrounds him there below, and for this reason he is called Plouton.'

Orphic Hymn 18 to Pluton (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
'Zeus Khthonios (of the Underworld) [i.e. Haides], thy sacred ear incline, and pleased accept these sacred rites divine. Earth's keys to thee, illustrious king, belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong.'Tis thine abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care. To thee, great king, all sovereign earth assigned, the seat of gods and basis of mankind.'

Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2. 26 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
'The entire bulk and substance of the earth, was dedicated to father Dis [Haides] (that is, Dives, ‘the rich’, and so in Greek Plouton), because all things fall back into the earth and also arise from the earth. He is said to have married Proserpina (really a Greek name, for she is the same as the goddess called Persephone in Greek)--they think that she represents the seed of corn, and fable that she was hidden away, and sought for by her mother. The mother is Ceres [Demeter].'

For MYTHS of Haides as the god keeper of earth's fertility see:
The Rape of Persephone (the tale of the abduction of the seed-goddess)

SOURCES

GREEK

• Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
• Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
• Hesiod, Theogony- Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
• Hesiod, Works and Days- Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
• Aesop, Fables - Greek Fables C6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric II Anacreon, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric III Stesichorus, Fragments - Greek Lyric C7th - 6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments - Greek Lyric B.C.
• Greek Elegaic Theognis, Fragments - Greek Elegaic C6th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Agamemnon - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Eumenides - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Libation Bearers - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Suppliant Women - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Fragments - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aristophanes, Frogs - Greek Comedy C5th - 4th B.C.
• Plato, Cratylus - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
• Plato, Republic - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
• Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
• Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.
• Callimachus, Fragments - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
• Lycophron, Alexandra- Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History- Greek History C1st B.C.
• The Orphic Hymns- Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.
• Tryphiodorus, The Taking of Ilias- Greek Epic C5th A.D.
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca- Greek Epic C5th A.D.

ROMAN

• Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Rhetoric C1st B.C.
• Seneca, Hercules Furens- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Oedipus- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Phaedra- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Troades- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Valerius Flaccus, The Argonautica- Latin Epic C1st A.D.
• Statius, Thebaid- Latin Epic C1st A.D.
• Statius, Silvae - Latin Poetry C1st A.D.
• Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.

BYZANTINE

• Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Transliteration

Haidês

Roman Name

Pluto, Dis

HAIDES (Hades) was the king of the underworld and god of the dead. He presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead to due burial. Haides was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil with nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals.

Haides was devoured by Kronos (Cronus) as soon as he was born, along with four of his siblings. Zeus later caused the Titan to disgorge them, and together they drove the Titan gods from heaven and locked them away in the pit of Tartaros. When the three victorious brothers then drew lots for the division of the cosmos, Haides received the third portion, the dark dismal realm of the underworld, as his domain.

Haides desired a bride and petitioned his brother Zeus to grant him one of his daughters. The god offered him Persephone, the daughter of Demeter. However, knowing that the goddess would resist the marriage, he assented to the forceful abduction of the girl. When Demeter learned of this, she was furious and caused a great dearth to fall upon the earth until her daughter was returned. Zeus was forced to concede lest mankind perish, and the girl was fetched forth from the underworld. However, since she had tasted of the pomegranate seed, she was forced to return to him for a portion of each year.

Haides was depicted as a dark-bearded, regal god. He was depicted as either Aidoneus, enthroned in the underworld, holding a bird-tipped sceptre, or as Plouton (Pluton), the giver of wealth, pouring fertility from a cornucopia. The Romans named him Dis, or Pluto, the Latin form of his Greek title Plouton, 'the Lord of Riches.'

FAMILY OF HADES

PARENTS

[1.1] KRONOS & RHEA(Hesiod Theogony 453, Homer Iliad 15.187, Apollodorus 1.4, Diodorus Siculus 5.68.1, Hyginus Pref)

OFFSPRING

[1.1] THE ERINYES (by Persephone) (Orphic Hymns 29.6 70.3)
[1.2] THE ERINYES(Statius Thebaid 12.557 & 11.47)
[2.1] ZAGREUS(Aeschylus Frag 124)
[3.1] MELINOE (by Persephone) (Orphic Hymn 71)
[4.1] MAKARIA(Suidas s.v. Makaria)

ENCYCLOPEDIA

HADES or PLUTON (Haidês, Ploutôn or poetically Aïdês, Aidôneus and Ploutens), the god of the lower world. Plato (Cratyl. p. 403) observes that people preferred calling him Pluton (the giver of wealth) to pronouncing the dreaded name of Hades or Aides. Hence we find that in ordinary life and in the mysteries the name Pluton became generally established, while the poets preferred the ancient name Aides or the form Pluteus. The etymology of Hades is uncertain: some derive it from a-idein, whence it would signify 'the god who makes invisible,' and others from hadô or chadô; so that Hades would mean 'the allembracer,' or 'all-receiver.' The Roman poets use the names Dis, Orcus, and Tartarus as synonymous with Pluton, for the god of the lower world.

Hades is a son of Cronus and Rhea, and a brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was married to Persephone, the daughter of Demeter. In the division of the world among the three brothers, Hades obtained 'the darkness of night,' the abode of the shades, over which he rules. (Apollod. i. 1. § 5, 2. § 1.) Hence he is called the infernal Zeus (Zeus katachthonios), or the king of the shades (anae enerôn, Hom. Il. ix. 457, xx. 61. xv. 187, &c.). As, however, the earth and Olympus belonged to the three brothers in common, he might ascend Olympus, as he did at the time when he was wounded by Heracles. (Il. v. 395; comp. Paus. vi. 25. § 3; Apollod. ii. 7. § 3; Pind. Ol. ix. 31.) But when Hades was in his own kingdom, he was quite unaware of what was going on either on earth or in Olympus (Il. xx. 61, &c.), and it was only the oaths and curses of men that reached his ears, as they reached those of the Erinnyes. He possessed a helmet which rendered the wearer invisible (Il. v. 845), and later traditions stated that this helmet was given him as a present by the Cyclopes after their delivery from Tartarus. (Apollod. i. 2. § 1.) Ancient story mentions both gods and men who were honoured by Hades with the temporary use of this helmet. (Apollod. i. 6. § 2, ii. 4. § 2.) His character is described as fierce and inexorable, whence of all the gods he was most hated by mortals. (Il. ix. 158.) He kept the gates of the lower world closed (whence he is called Pulartês, Il. viii. 367; comp. Paus. v. 20. § 1.; Orph. Hymn. 17. 4), that no shade might be able to escape or return to the region of light. When mortals invoked him, they struck the earth with their hands (Il. ix. 567), and the sacrifices which were offered to him and Persephone consisted of black male and female sheep, and the person who offered the sacrifice had to turn away his face. (Od. x. 527; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ii. 380.)

The ensign of his power was a staff, with which, like Hermes, he drove the shades into the lower world (Pind. Ol. ix. 35), where he had his palace and shared his throne with his consort Persephone. When he carried off Persephone from the upper world, he rode in a golden chariot drawn by four black immortal horses. (Orph. Argon. 1192, Hymn. 17. 14; Ov. Met. v. 404; Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 19; Claudian, Rapt. Proserp. i. in fin.) Besides these horses he was also believed to have herds of oxen in the lower world and in the island of Erytheia, which were attended to by Menoetius. (Apollod. ii. 5. §§ 10, 12.) Like the other gods, he was not a faithful husband; the Furies are called his daughters (Serv. ad Aen. i. 86); the nymph Mintho, whom he loved, was metamorphosed by Persephone into the plant called mint (Strab. viii. p. 344; Ov. Met. x. 728), and the nymph Leuce, with whom he was likewise in love, was changed by him after her death into a white poplar, and transferred to Elysium. (Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vii. 61.) Being the king of the lower world, Pluton is the giver of all the blessings that come from the earth: he is the possessor and giver of all the metals contained in the earth, and hence his name Pluton. (Hes. Op. et Dies, 435; Aeschyl. Prom. 805; Strab. iii. p. 147; Lucian, Tim. 21.) He bears several surnames referring to his ultimately assembling all mortals in his kingdom, and bringing them to rest and peace; such as Polydegmon, Polydectes, Clymenus, Pankoitês, &c. (Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 9; Aeschyl. Prom. 153 ; Soph. Antig. 811; Paus. ii. 35. § 7.) Hades was worshipped throughout Greece and Italy. In Elis he had a sacred enclosure and a temple, which was opened only once in every year (Paus. vi. 25. § 3) ; and we further know that lie had temples at Pylos Triphyliacus, near Mount Menthe, between Tralles and Nysa, at Athens in the grove of the Erinnyes, and at Olympia. (Strab. iii. p. 344, xiv. p. 649 Paus. i. 28. § 6, v. 20. § 1.) We possess few representations of this divinity, but in those which still exist, he resembles his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, except that his hair falls down his forehead, and that the majesty of his appearance is dark and gloomy. His ordinary attributes are the key of Hades and Cerberus.

In Homer Aides is invariably the name of the god; but in later times it was transferred to his house, his abode or kingdom, so that it became a name for the lower world itself. We cannot enter here into a description of the conceptions which the ancients formed of the lower world, for this discussion belongs to mythical geography.

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

ALTERNATE NAME SPELLINGS

Transliteration

Haidês, Hadês

Aidês, Aidôneus

Translation

Unseen One

Unseen One

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

BIRTH OF HADES

Hesiod, Theogony 453 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
'But Rhea was subject in love to Kronos (Cronus) and bare splendid children, Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Haides (Hades), pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth . . . and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker [Poseidon], and wise Zeus . . . These great Kronos swallowed as each came forth from the womb to his mother's knees . . . Therefore he kept no blind outlook, but watched and swallowed down his children [all except Zeus] . . .As the years rolled on, great Kronos the wily was beguiled by the deep suggestions of Gaia (Gaea, Earth), and brought up again his offspring, vanquished by the arts and might of his own son [Zeus], and he vomited up first the stone which he had swallowed last.'

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 4 - 6 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'He [Kronos (Cronus)] then married his sister Rhea. Because both Ge (Earth) and Ouranos (Uranus, Heaven) had given him prophetic warning that his rule would be overthrown by a son of his own, he took to swallowing his children at birth. He swallowed his first-born daughter Hestia, then Demeter and Hera, and after them Plouton [Hades] and Poseidon . . .
[Zeus alone escaped] When Zeus was grown, he engaged Okeanos' (Oceanus') daughter Metis as a colleague. She gave Kronos a drug, by which he was forced to vomit forth first the stone and then the children he had swallowed.'

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 68. 1 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
'To Kronos (Cronus) and Rhea, we are told, were born Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, and Zeus, Poseidon, and Haides.'

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 70. 1 :
'There was delivered to Kronos (Cronus) an oracle regarding the birth of Zeus which stated that the son who would be born to him would wrest the kingship from him by force. Consequently Kronos time and again did away with the children whom he begot; but Rhea, grieved as she was, and yet lacking the power to change her husband’s purpose, when she had given birth to Zeus, concealed him in Ide.'

Pseudo-Hyginus, Preface (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'From Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)] and Ops [Rhea]: Vesta [Hestia], Ceres [Demeter], Juno [Hera], Jupiter [Zeus], Pluto [Hades], Neptunus [Poseidon].'

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 139 :
'After Opis [Rhea] had borne Jove [Zeus] by Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)], Juno [Hera] asked her to give him to her, since Saturnus and cast Orcus [Hades] under Tartarus, and Neptunus [Poseidon] under the sea, because he knew that his son would rob him of the kingdom.'

Ovid, Fasti 4. 197 (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)] received this oracle : ‘Best of kings, you shall be knocked from power by a son.’ Jabbed by fear, he devours his offspring as each was born, and entombs them in his bowels. Rhea often complained of much pregnancy and no motherhood, and mourned her fertility.'

Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 17 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
'You reckon Jupiter [Zeus] and Neptunus [Poseidon] gods, therefore their brother Orcus [Haides] is also a god.'

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 27. 50 (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
'Kronos (Cronus) who banqueted on his own young children in cannibal wise.'

For MORE information on the birth and devouring of the gods see KRONOS

HADES & THE WAR OF THE TITANS

Haides and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon battled the Titanes for the rule of the cosmos.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 6 - 7 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'When Zeus was grown, he engaged Okeanos' (Oceanus') daughter Metis (Counsel) as a colleague. She gave Kronos (Cronus) a drug, by which he was forced to vomit forth first the stone and then the children he had swallowed. With them Zeus fought a war against Kronos and the Titanes. After ten years of fighting Ge (Gaea, Earth) prophesied a victory for Zeus if he were to secure the prisoners down in Tartaros as his allies. He thereupon slew their jail-keeper Kampe (Campe), and freed them from their bonds. In return the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) gave Zeus thunder, lightning, and a thunderbolt, as well as a helmet for Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] and a trident for Poseidon. Armed with these the three gods overpowered the Titanes, confined them in Tartaros, and put the Hekatonkheires (Hecatoncheires) in charge of guarding them. The gods then drew lots for a share of the rule. Zeus won the lordship of the sky, Poseidon that of the sea, and Plouton the rule of Haides' realm.'

For MORE information on the Titanomachia see THE TITANES

HADES & THE DIVISION OF THE COSMOS

After the Titanes were vanquished the three brothers, Zeus, Haides and Poseidon drew lots for the division of the cosmos. Haides received the underworld as his share.

Homer, Iliad 15. 187 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
'We are three brothers born by Rheia to Kronos (Cronus), Zeus, and I [Poseidon], and the third is Aides [Haides] lord of the dead men. All was divided among us three ways, each given his domain. I [Poseidon] when the lots were shaken drew the grey sea to live in forever; Aides drew the lot of the mists and the darkness, and Zeus was allotted the wide sky, in the cloud and the bright air. But earth and high Olympos are common to all three.'

Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :
'Aidoneus Polysemantor (Ruler of Many), is . . . your [Demeter's] own brother and born of the same stock : also, for honour, he has that third share which he received when division was made at the first, and is appointed lord of those among whom he dwells.'

Plato, Gorgias 523a ff (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
'By Homer's account, Zeus, Poseidon, and Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] divided the sovereignty amongst them when they took it over from their father [Kronos (Cronus)].'

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 7 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'The three gods [Zeus, Poseidon and Haides] overpowered the Titanes, confined them in Tartaros . . . The gods then drew lots for a share of the rule. Zeus won the lordship of the sky, Poseidon that of the sea, and Plouton (Pluto) the rule of Hades' realm.'

Ovid, Fasti 4. 443 (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'[Zeus speaks :] ‘My rank is no greater [than Haides]. I hold court in the sky; another rules the sea [Poseidon], and one the void [Haides].’'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 53 (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'Dis [Haides] himself, who drew a lot equal to Jove's [Zeus's].'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 833 :
'The king [Haides] of the third estate.'

Seneca, Phaedra 1210 :
'Heaven, hell, and ocean . . . there remains no further lot; three kingdoms know me.'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'The third hazard [drawn lot] hurled me [Haides] defeated from the mighty heaven, and I guard the world of guilt.'

Statius, Thebaid 11. 444 ff :
'The Warden of the Larvae (Shades) [Haides] and the third heir of the world, after the lot's unkind apportioning, leapt down from his chariot and grew pale, for he was come to Tartarus and heaven was lost for ever.'

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 31. 56 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
'Lord Zeus holds the starry hall on Olympos; he has given the briny sea to his brother [Poseidon] the water king for his prerogotive; he has given the cloudy house of darkness to your [Persephone's] consort [Haides].'

HADES & THE GIANT TYPHOEUS

When the monster Typhoeus battled Zeus for heaven, Haides remained in the underworld.

Hesiod, Theogony 820 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
'And through the two of them [Zeus battling Typhoeus] . . . through the thunder and lightning, and through the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing thunderbolt . . . Haides trembled where he rules over the dead below.'

For MORE information on this giant see TYPHOEUS

HADES & THE RAPE OF PERSEPHONE

Zeus betrothed his daughter to Haides without the prior consent of her mother Demeter. The god seized the girl as she was playing in a flowery meadow and carried her off to his Underworld realm. Demeter later compelled Zeus to return her for part of the year with the threat of earthly famine.

For the MYTH of the myth of Haides & Persephone see: The Rape of Persephone

HADES & THE APPOINTMENT OF THE JUDGES OF THE DEAD

Plato, Gorgias 523a ff (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
'Sokrates (Socrates) : Give ear then, as they say, to a right fine story, which you will regard as a fable, I fancy, but I as an actual account; for what I am about to tell you I mean to offer as the truth. By Homer's account, Zeus, Poseidon, and Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] divided the sovereignty amongst them when they took it over from their father [Kronos (Cronus)]. Now in the time of Kronos there was a law concerning mankind, and it holds to this very day amongst the gods, that every man who has passed a just and holy life departs after his decease to the Isles of the Blest (Nesoi Makaron), and dwells in all happiness apart from ill; but whoever has lived unjustly and impiously goes to the dungeon of requital and penance which, you know, they call Tartaros. Of these men there were judges in Kronos' time, and still of late in the reign of Zeus--living men to judge the living upon the day when each was to breathe his last; and thus the cases were being decided amiss. So Plouton [Haides] and the overseers from the Isles of the Blest came before Zeus with the report that they found men passing over to either abode undeserving. Then spake Zeus : ‘Nay,’ said he, ‘I will put a stop to these proceedings. The cases are now indeed judged ill and it is because they who are on trial are tried in their clothing, for they are tried alive. Now many,’ said he, ‘who have wicked souls are clad in fair bodies and ancestry and wealth, and at their judgement appear many witnesses to testify that their lives have been just. Now, the judges are confounded not only by their evidence but at the same time by being clothed themselves while they sit in judgement, having their own soul muffled in the veil of eyes and ears and the whole body. Thus all these are a hindrance to them, their own habiliments no less than those of the judged. Well, first of all,’ he said, ‘we must put a stop to their foreknowledge of their death; for this they at present foreknow. However, Prometheus has already been given the word to stop this in them. Next they must be stripped bare of all those things before they are tried; for they must stand their trial dead. Their judge also must be naked, dead, beholding with very soul the very soul of each immediately upon his death, bereft of all his kin and having left behind on earth all that fine array, to the end that the judgement may be just. Now I, knowing all this before you, have appointed sons of my own to be judges; two from Asia, Minos and Rhadamanthys, and one from Europe, Aiakos (Aeacus). These, when their life is ended, shall give judgement in the meadow at the dividing of the road, whence are the two ways leading, one to the Isles of the Blest (Nesoi Makaron), and the other to Tartaros. And those who come from Asia shall Rhadamanthys try, and those from Europe, Aiakos; and to Minos I will give the privilege of the final decision, if the other two be in any doubt; that the judgement upon this journey of mankind may be supremely just.’'

OFFSPRING OF HADES

Haides was usually regarded as an infertile god, for a god of the dead should, by his very nature, be incapable of siring children.

In Orphic myth, it is heavenly Zeus rather than Haides who impregnates Persephone, sometimes in the guise of an earthly dragon, sometimes in the form of her own husband.

I. THE ERINYES

The three goddesses of earthly wrath were sometimes represented as daughters of Haides. The usual account, however, describes them as earth-born.

Orphic Hymn 70 to the Eumenides (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
'[Erinyes] from Zeus Khthonios (Chthonius) [Haides] born, and Phersephone, whom lovely locks adorn.'

Statius, Thebaid 12. 557 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'[Hades] the father of the Eumenides [Erinyes].'

II. ZAGREUS

Aeschylus, Fragment 124 Sisyphus (from Etymologicum Gudianum 227. 40) (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
'Now [I came] to bid farewell to Zagreus and to his sire, the hospitaler.'
[N.B. In this fragment Sisyphos describes his departure from the lower world. Haides, the 'hospitaler of the dead,' is the husband of Persephone, and so the 'father' of the chthonic Zagreus. His putative father however was Zeus.]

III. MELINOE

Melinoe was a chthonian goddess identified with Hekate. In Orphic myth she was born when Persephone was seduced by Zeus in the guise of her husband Haides.

Orphic Hymn 71 to Melinoe (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
'Melinoe, saffron-veiled, terrene, who from Phersephone dread venerable queen, mixt with Zeus Kronion, arose, near where Kokytos' (Cocytus') mournful river flows; when, under Plouton's (Pluton's) [Haides'] semblance, Zeus divine deceived with guileful arts dark Phersephone. Hence, partly black thy limbs and partly white, from Plouton dark, from Zeus ethereal bright.'

IV. MACARIA (MAKARIA)

Suidas s.v. Makariai (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.) :
'Makaria (Macaria, Blessed). Death. A daughter of Haides. And a proverb : ‘Go to blessedness’, instead of go to misery and utter destruction. Or ‘Go to blessedness’ is said by euphemism. Since even the dead are called ‘blessed ones.’'

HADES LOVES : MINTHE

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 14 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'Near Pylos, towards the east, is a mountain named after Minthe, who, according to myth, became the concubine of Haides, was trampled under foot by Kore (Core) [Persephone], and was transformed into garden-mint, the plant which some call Hedyosmos. Furthermore, near the mountain is a precinct sacred to Haides.'

Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 728 (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'Persephone of old was given grace to change a woman's [Mintha's] form to fragrant mint.'

Oppian, Halieutica 3. 485 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.) :
'Mint (Mintha), men say, was once a maid beneath the earth, a Nymphe of Kokytos (Cocytus), and she lay in the bed of Aidoneus [Haides]; but when he raped the maid Persephone from the Aitnaian hill [Mount Etna in Sicily], then she complained loudly with overweening words and raved foolishly for jealousy, and Demeter in anger trampled upon her with her feet and destroyed her. For she had said that she was nobler of form and more excellent in beauty than dark-eyed Persephone and she boasted that Aidoneus would return to her and banish the other from his halls: such infatuation leapt upon her tongue. And from the earth spray the weak herb that bears her name.'

For MORE information on this nymphe see MINTHE

HADES LOVES : LEUCE

R. E. Bell, Women of Classical Mythology (sourced from Servius on Virgil's Eclogues 4. 250) (C20th Mythology encyclopedia) :
'Leuke (Leuce) was a nymph, a daughter of Okeanos (Oceanus), who was carried off by Hades. After her death she was changed into a white poplar in Elysium. The white poplar was sacred to Hades. When Herakles returned form the underworld, he was crowned with poplar leaves.'

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 14. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
'Herakles (Heracles) found the white poplar (leukê) growing on the banks of the Akheron (Acheron), the river in Thesprotia . . . It is no wonder that the white poplar grew first by the Akheron.'

For MORE information on this nymph see LEUKE

HADES & THE HERO ORPHEUS

When Orpheus came to the underworld seeking the return of his dead love Eurydike (Eurydice), Haides and Persephone were moved by his pleas and agreed to let her return.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 14 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'When his [Orpheus'] wife Eurydike (Eurydice) died from a snake-bite, Orpheus descended into Haides' realm with the desire to bring her back up to earth, and persuade Plouton (Pluton) [Hades] to release her. Plouton promised to do this if on the return trip Orpheus would not turn round before reaching his own home. But he disobeyed, and turned to look at his wife, who thereupon went back down again.'

Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 7 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'Orpheus . . . was passionately devoted to music. It is thought that by his skill he could charm even wild beasts to listen. When, grieving for his wife Eurydice, he descended to the Lower World, he praised the children of the gods in his song.'

Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 8 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'The new-wed bride [Eurydike (Eurydice), wife of Orpheus] . . . fell dying when a serpent struck her heel. And when at last the bard Rhodopeius [Orpheus] had mourned his fill in the wide world above, he dared descend through Taenaria's dark gate to Styx to make trial of the Umbrae (Shades); and through the thronging wraiths and grave-spent ghosts he came to pale Persephone and him, Dominus Umbrarum (Lord of the Shades) [Haides], who rules the unlovely realm, and as he struck his lyre's sad chords he said : ‘Ye deities who rule the world below, whither we mortal creatures all return, if simple truth, direct and genuine, may by your leave be told, I have come down not with intent to see the glooms of Tartara, nor to enchain the triple-snaked necks of Medusaeum [Kerberos (Cerberus)], but for my dear wife's sake, in whom a trodden viper poured his venom and stole her budding years. My heart has sought strength to endure; the attempt I'll not deny; but love has won, a god whose fame is fair in the world above; but here I doubt, though here too, I surmise; and if that ancient tale of ravishment is true, you too were joined in love. Now by these regions filled with fear, by this huge Chaos, these vast silent realms, reweave, I implore, the fate unwound too fast of my Eurydice. To you are owed ourselves and all creation; a brief while we linger; then we hasten, late or soon to one abode; here on road leads us all; here in the end is home; over humankind your kingdom keeps the longest sovereignty. She too, when ripening years reach their due term, shall own your rule. The favour that I ask is but to enjoy her love; and, if fate will not reprieve her, my resolve is clear not to return: may two deaths give you cheer.’
So to the music of his strings he [Orpheus] sang, and all the bloodless spirits wept to hear; and Tantalus forgot the fleeing water, Ixion's wheel was tranced; the Belides [Danaides] laid down their urns; the vultures left their feast, and Sisyphus sat rapt upon his stone. Then first by that sad ringing overwhelmed, the Eumenides' [Erinyes'] cheeks, it's said, were wet with tears; and the queen [Persephone] and he whose sceptre rules the underworld could not deny the prayer, and called Eurydice. She was among the recent ghosts and, limping from her wound, came slowly forth; and Rhodopeius [Orpheus] took his bride and with her this compact that, till he reach the world above and leave Valles Avernae [Valleys of Hell], he look not back or else the gift would fail. The track climbed upwards, steep and indistinct, through the hushed silence and the murky gloom; and now they neared the edge of the bright world, and, fearing lest she faint, longing to look, he turned his eyes--and straight she slipped away. He stretched his arms to hold her--to be held--and clasped, poor soul, naught but the yielding air. And she, dying again, made no complaint (for what complaint had she save she was loved?) and breathed a faint farewell, and turned again back to the land of spirits whence she came. The double death of his Eurydice stole Orpheus' wits away . . . He longed, he begged, in vain to be allowed to cross the stream of Styx a second time. The ferryman [Kharon (Charon)] repulsed him. Even so for seven days he sat upon the bank, unkempt and fasting, anguish, grief and tears his nourishment, and cursed Erebus' cruelty.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 569 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'Orpheus had power to bend the ruthless lords of the shades [Haides and Persephone] by song and suppliant prayer, when he sought back his Eurydice. The art which had drawn the trees and birds and rocks, which had stayed the course of rivers, at whose sound the beasts had stopped to listen, soothes the underworld with unaccustomed strains, and rings out clearer in those unhearing realms. Eurydice the Thracian brides bewail; even the gods, whom no tears can move, bewail her; and they [the Erinyes] who with awful brows investigate men's crimes and sift out ancient wrongs, as they sit in judgment bewail Eurydice. At length death's lord [Haides] exclaims : ‘We own defeat; go forth to the upper world, yet by this appointed doom--fare thou as comrade behind thy husband, and thou, look not back upon thy wife until bright day shall have revealed the gods of heaven, and the opening of Spartan Taenarus shall be at hand.’ True love hates delay and brooks it not; while he hastes to look upon his prize, 'tis lost. The realm which could be overcome by song, that realm shall strength have power to overcome.'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'Must I [Haides] so oft endure the profanation of Chaos by living strangers? . . . It shames me too, alas! how Tartarus opened a way to the Odyrsian plaint [Orpheus]; with my own eyes I saw the Eumenides [Erinyes] shed base tears at those persuasive strains, and the Sisters [the Moirai or Fates] repeat their allotted task; me too--, but the violence of my cruel law was stronger.'

HADES & THE ADVENTURES OF HERACLES

Haides played a role in several of the adventures of Herakles (Heracles).

I. HERACLES & CERBERUS (KERBEROS)

Haides permitted Herakles to fetch Kerberos from Hell, when the hero presented him with his petition.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 125 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'[Herakles (Heracles) on his journey to the underworld] Desiring to supply the souls with blood, he slaughtered one of Haides' cattle. Their keeper Menoites (Menoetes), son of Keuthonymos (Ceuthonymus), challenged Herakles to a wrestling match. Herakles hugged his torso and broke his ribs, but set him down at the request of Persephone . . .Herakles asked Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] for Kerberos (Cerberus), and was told to take the hound if he could overpower it without using any of the weapons he had brought with him.'

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 79 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'When Hercules came to lead out the three-headed dog, they [Peirithoos and Theseus, trapped in the underworld] begged his promise of protection. He obtained the favor from Pluto [Haides], and brought them out unharmed.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 45 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'[Hera complains about Herakles :] ‘Nor is earth vast enough for him [Herakles]; behold, he has broken down the doors of infernal Jove [Haides], and brings back to the upper world the spoils of a conquered king [i.e. the hound Kerberos (Cerberus)]. I myself saw, yes, saw him, the shadows of nether night dispersed and Dis [Haides] overthrown, proudly displaying to his father [Zeus] a brother's spoils. Why does he not drag forth, bound and loaded down with fetters, Pluto [Haides] himself, who drew a lot equal to Jove's? Why does he not lord it over conquered Erebus and lay bare the Styx? It is not enough merely to return; the law of the shades has been annulled, a way back has been opened from the lowest ghosts, and the mysteries of dread Death lie bared. But he, exultant at having burst the prison of the shades, triumphs over me, and with arrogant hand leads through the cities of Greece that dusky hound.’'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 760 ff :
'Now tell my son's [Herakles] famous struggle. Is it [the hound Kerberos (Cerberus)] his willing uncle's [Haides'] gift, or his spoil, he brings? . . . here appears the palace of greedy Dis [Haides]. Here the savage Stygian dog frightens the shades . . . At last the dog, vanquished [by the club of Herakles] ceases his threatenings and, spent with struggle, lowers all his heads and yields all wardship of his cavern. Both rulers [Haides and Persephone] shiver on their throne, and bid lead the dog away. Me [Theseus] also they give as boon to Alcides' [Herakles'] prayer.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 830 ff :
'Eurystheus . . . had bidden thee [Herakles]explore the world's foundations; this only was lacking to thy tale of labours, to despoil the king [Haides] of the third estate.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 888 ff :
'He [Herakles] has crossed the streams of Tartarus [i.e. Haides], subdued the gods of the underworld [Haides and Persephone], and has returned. And now no fear remains; naught lies beyond the underworld.'

Seneca, Troades 721 ff :
'He [Herakles], fierce warrior, to whose vast strength all savage creatures yielded, who burst through the doors of Dis [Haides] and made the dark retraceable.'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'Must I [Haides] so oft endure the profanation of Chaos by living strangers? . . . fierce Alcides [Herakles], when the iron threshold of Cerberus' gate fell silent, its guardian removed.'

For the story of Herakles' rescue of Theseus from the underworld, at the same time as the Kerberos adventure, see: Hades Wrath: Pirithous (Peirithoos) (below)
For MORE information on Herakles and the Hound of Haides see KERBEROS

II. HERACLES & ALCESTIS (ALKESTIS)

Herakles was sometimes described as battling Haides for the life of Queen Alkestis (Alcestis), who had agreed to die in place of her husband Admetos (Admetus).

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 106 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'[Apollon] obtained from the Moirai (Fates) a privilege for [King] Admetos , whereby, when it was time for him to die, he would be released from death if someone should volunteer to die in his place. When his day to die came . . . [his wife] Alkestis (Alcestis) died for him. Kore [Persephone], however sent her back, or, according to some, Herakles battled Haides and brought her back up to Admetos.'

III) HERACLES & THE SIEGE PYLOS

Herakles wounded Haides during his seige of the town of Pylos. The god was probably originally imagined present collecting the souls of the battlefield dead, though he was later depicted as a defender of the town.

Homer, Iliad 5. 382 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
'[Dione consoles her daughter Aphrodite after the goddess is wounded :] ‘For many of us who have our homes on Olympos endure things from men, when ourselves we inflict hard pain on each other . . . Hera had to endure it when [Herakles] the strong son of Amphitryon struck her beside the right breast with a tri-barbed arrow, so that the pain he gave her could not be quieted. Haides the gigantic had to endure with the rest the flying arrow when this self-same man, the son of Zeus of the aigis (aegis) struck him among the dead men at Pylos, and gave him to agony; but he went up to the house of Zeus and to tall Olympos heavy at heart, stabbed through and through with pain, for the arrow was driven into his heavy shoulder, and his spirit was suffering. But Paieon (Paeon), scattering medicines that still pain, healed him, since he was not made to be one of the mortals. Brute, heavy-handed, who though nothing of the bad he was doing, who with his archer hurt the gods who dwell on Olympos!’'

Pindar, Olympian Ode 9 str 2 (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
'The hands of Herakles could wield his club against the Trident's power, when by the walls of Pylos stood Poseidon and pressed him hard; and with his silver bow Phoibos Apollon menaced him close in battle; and Haides too spared not to ply him with that sceptred staff, which takes our mortal bodies down along the buried road to the dead world.'

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 142 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'In the course of the battle [against the polis of Pylos] Herakles wounded Haides as he helped out the Pylians.'

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 25. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
'It is said that, when Herakles was leading an expedition against Pylos in Elis, Athena was one of his allies. Now among those who came to fight on the side of the Pylians was Hades, who was the foe of Herakles but worshipped at Pylos. Homer is quoted in support of the story, who says in the Iliad : And among them huge Haides suffered a wound from a swift arrow, when the same man, the son of aegis-bearing Zeus, hit him in Pylos among the dead, and gave him over to pains.'

Seneca, Hercules Furens 559 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'He [Haides] who as king lords it o'er countless peoples, what time thou [Herakles] wast making war on Pylos, Nestor's land, brought to combat with thee his plague-dealing hands, brandishing his three-forked spear, yet fled away, with but a slight wound smitten, and, though lord of death, feared he would die.'

HADES FAVOUR & WRATH : SISYPHUS

Aeschylus, Sisyphus the Runaway (lost play) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
Weir Smyth (L.C.L.) discusses the plot of this lost play : 'Sisyphos drapetês (the Runaway) was satyric; its theme, the escape from Haides of the crafty Korinthian (Corinthian) king. According to the fabulous story told by Pherekydes (Frag. 78 in Müller, Fragmenta Historicum Graecorum) . . . [Zeus] sent Thanatos (Death) against the babbler [Sisyphos]; but Sisyphos (Sisyphus) bound Thanatos (Death) fast, so that men ceased to die, until Ares came to the rescue, released Thanatos, and gave Sisyphos into his power. Before he died, however, Sisyphos directed his wife Merope to omit his funeral rites, so that Haides, being deprived of his customary offerings, was persuaded by the cunning trickster to let him go back to life in order to complain of his wife's neglect. But, once in the upper world, he refused to return, and had to be fetched back by Hermes.--The Satyroi (Satyrs) forming the Chorus were probably represented as initiates if the play was a parody of the Dionysiac-Orphic mysteries. Sisyphos petrokylistês (the Stone-Roller) is probably identical with the Sisyphos drapetês; and the conclusion of the single drama may have been the famous punishment inflicted on the 'craftiest of men.'

In another VERSION of this myth it is Persephone who releases Sisyphos from the underworld see Persephone Favour: Sisyphus

HADES WRATH : PIRITHOUS & THESEUS

The hero Peirithoos (Pirithous) sought to abduct Persephone, the bride of Haides. As punishment the god trapped him on a stone chair and eternal torment. Theseus, who accompanied him on the expedition, was freed at the request of Herakles.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E1. 23 - 24 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'Theseus and Peirithoos (Pirithous) agreed with each other to marry daughters of Zeus, so Theseus with the other's help kidnapped twelve-year-old Helene (Helen) from Sparta, and went down to Haides' realm to court Persephone for Peirithoos . . . Theseus, arriving in Haides' realm with Peirithoos, was thoroughly deceived, for Haides on the pretense of hospitality had them sit first upon the throne of Lethe (Forgetfulness). Their bodies grew onto it, and were held down by the serpent's coils. Now Peirithous remained fast there for all time, but Herakles led Theseus back up.'

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 124 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'As he [Herakles] approached the gates of Haides' realm [in his quest to fetch Kerberos (Cerberus)], he came across Theseus along with Peirithoos (Pirithous), who had courted Persephone with matrimonial intentions and for this reason was held fast as was Theseus. When they saw Herakles they stretched forth their hands as if to rise up with the help of his strength. He did in fact pull Theseus up by the hand, but when he wanted to raise Peirithoos, the earth shook and he let go.'

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 63. 4 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
'Peirithoos (Pirithous) [after helping Theseus abduct Helene] now decided to seek the hand of Persephone in marriage, and when he asked Theseus to make the journey with him Theseus at first endeavoured to dissuade him and to turn him away from such a deed as being impious; but since Peirithoos firmly insisted upon it Theseus was bound by the oaths to join with him in the deed. And when they had at last made their way below to the regions of Haides, it came to pass that because of the impiety of their act they were both put in chains, and although Theseus was later let go by reason of the favour with which Herakles regarded him, Peirithoos because of the impiety remained in Haides, enduring everlasting punishment; but some writers of myths say that both of them never returned.'

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 26. 1 :
'Herakles then, according to the myths which have come down to us, descended into the realm of Haides, and being welcomed like a brother by Persephone brought Theseus and Peirithoos (Pirithous) back to the upper world after freeing them from their bonds. This he accomplished by the favour of Persephone, and receiving the dog Kerberos (Cerberus) in chains he carried him away to the amazement of all and exhibited him to men.'

Plutarch, Life of Theseus 31.2 & 35. 1 (trans. Perrin) (Greek historian C1st to C2nd A.D.) :
'[Theseus] to return the service of Peirithoos (Pirithous), [who helped him abduct Helene] journeyed with him to Epiros, in quest of the daughter of Aidoneus the king of the Molossians. This man called his wife Phersephone, his daughter Kora (Core), and his dog Kerberos (Cerberus), with which beast he ordered that all suitors of his daughter should fight, promising her to him that should overcome it. However, when he learned that Peirithoos and his friend were come not to woo, but to steal away his daughter, he seized them both. Peirithoos he put out of the way at once by means of the dog, but Theseus he kept in close confinement . . .
Now while Herakles was the guest of Aidoneus the Molossian, the king incidentally spoke of the adventure of Theseus and Peirithoos, telling what they had come there to do, and what they had suffered when they were found out. Herakles was greatly distressed by the inglorious death of the one, and by the impending death of the other. As for Peirithoos, he thought it useless to complain, but he begged for the release of Theseus, and demanded that this favour be granted him.Aidoneus yielded to his prayers, Theseus was set free, and returned to Athens, where his friends were not yet altogether overwhelmed.'

Aelian, Historical Miscellany 4. 5 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
'Benefits were remembered, and thanks for them given, by Theseus to Herakles. Aïdoneus king of the Molossians put Theseus in chains when he came with Pirithous to kidnap the king's wife [i.e. Persephone]. Theseus did not want to marry the woman himself but did this as a favour to Pirithous. Herakles came to the country of the Molossians and rescued Theseus, in return for which the latter set up an altar to him.'

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 79 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'When Jove [Zeus] saw that they [Theseus and Peirithous] had such audacity [kidnapping Helene] as to expose themselves to danger, he bade them in a dream both go and ask Pluto on Pirithous' part for Proserpina [Persephone] in marriage. When they had descended to the Land of the Dead through the peninsula Taenarus, and had informed Pluto [Haides] why they had come, they were stretched out and tortured for a long time by the Furies. When Hercules came to lead out the three-headed dog, they begged his promise of protection. He obtained the favor from Pluto, and brought them out unharmed.'

Ovid, Heroides 2. 67 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
'With record of his [Theseus'] deeds. When men shall have read of . . . the knocking at the gloomy palace of the darksome god.'

Seneca, Phaedra 93 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
'Through the deep shades of the pool which none recrosses is he [Theseus] faring, this brave recruit of a madcap suitor [Peirithoos (Pirithous)], that from the very throne of the infernal king [Haides] he may rob and bear away his wife [Persephone]. He hurries on, a partner in mad folly; him nor fear nor shame held back. And there in the depths of Acherontis [i.e. the underworld] he seeks adultery and an unlawful bed.'

Seneca, Phaedra 147 ff :
'Suppose that Theseus is indeed held fast [in the underworld], hidden away in Lethean depths, and must suffer Stygia [i.e. the underworld] eternally.'

Seneca, Phaedra 222 ff :
'Trust not in Dis [Haides]. Though he bar his realm, and though the Stygian dog [Kerberos (Cerberus)] keep guard o’er the grim doors, Theseus alone finds out forbidden ways.'

Seneca, Phaedra 625 ff :
'The overlord of the fast-holding realm and of the silent Styx has made no way to the upper world once quitted; and will he let the robber [Theseus] of his couch go back? Unless, perchance, even Pluton [Haides] sits smiling upon love!'

Seneca, Phaedra 951 :
'[Theseus was] in depths of Tartarus, in presence of dread Dis [Haides], and imminent menace of hell's lord.'

Seneca, Phaedra 1149 ff :
'Theseus looks on sky and upper world and has escaped from the pools of Stygia, chaste one, thou owest naught to thine uncle, the all-devouring; unchanged the tale remains for the infernal king [i.e. he keeps his bride].'

Seneca, Phaedra 1217 ff :
'[Theseus returned from the underworld laments his unhappy lot :] ‘Alcides, give back his boon to Dis [Haides]; give me up again to the ghosts whom I escaped. Impiously, I make vain prayers for the death I left behind.’'

Statius, Thebaid 8. 21 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
'Must I [Haides] so oft endure the profanation of Chaos by living strangers? The rash ardour of Pirithous provoked me, and Theseus, sworn comrade of his daring friend [when the pair attempted to abduct Persephone].'

HADES WRATH : ASCLEPIUS

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 71. 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
'It was believed that he [Asklepios (Asclepius)] had brought back to life many who had died. Consequently, the myth goes on to say, Haides brought accusation against Asklepios, charging him before Zeus of acting to the detriment of his own province, for, he said, the number of the dead was steadily diminishing, now that men were being healed by Asklepios. So Zeus, in indignation, slew Asklepios with his thunderbolt.'

Aesop, Fables 133 (from Chambry & Babrius, Fabulae Aesopeae 75) (trans. Gibbs) (Greek fable C6th B.C.) :
'[This fable by Aesop contains an allusion to the story of Asklepios (Asclepius) :] There was once a doctor who knew nothing about medicine. One of his patients was feeling quite weak, but everyone insisted, ‘Don't give up, you will get well; your illness is the sort that lasts for a while, but then you will feel better.’
The doctor, however, marched in and declared : ‘I'm not going to play games with you or tell you lies: you need to take care of all your affairs, because you are going to die; you are not going to last more than another day.’
Having said this, the doctor did not even bother to come back again. After a while the patient recovered from his illness and was venturing out of doors, although he was not yet fully steady on his feet. When the doctor ran into the patient, he greeted him, and asked how all the people down in Haides were doing. The patient said, ‘They are taking it easy, drinking the water of Lethe. But Persephone and the mighty god Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] were just now threatening terrible things against all the doctors, since they keep the sick people from dying. Every single doctor was denounced, and they were ready to put you at the top of the list. This scared me, so I immediately stepped forward and grasped their royal sceptres as I solemnly swore that this was simply a ridiculous accusation, since you are not really a doctor at all.’ '

For MORE information on the medicine-god see ASKLEPIOS

HADES WRATH : THEBES, & FAVOUR : CORONIDES

Haides and Persephone inflicted Thebes with a deadly plague, probably as punishment for King Kreon's (Creon's) refusal to allow the burial of the dead warriors of the army of the Seven Against Thebes. When the maiden Koronides (Coronides) sacrificed themselves to appease the gods, they were pitied and transformed into a pair of comets.

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 25 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
'When plague seized Aonia [Boeotia] and many died, there were sent officers to consult Apollon's oracle at Gortyne. The god replied that they should make an appeal to the two gods of the underworld [Haides and Persephone]. He said that they would cease from their anger if two willing maidens were sacrificed to the two.
Of course not one of the maidens in the city complied with the oracle until a servant-woman reported the answer to the daughters of Orion [the two Koronides (Coronides)]. They were at work at their loom and, as soon as they heard about this, they willingly accepted death on behalf of their fellow citizens before the plague epidemic had smitten them too. They cried out three times to the gods of the underworld saying that they were willing sacrifices. They thrust their bodkins into themselves at their shoulders and gashed open their throats.And they both fell down into the earth. Persephone and Hades took pity on the maidens and made their bodies disappear, sending them instead up out of the earth as heavenly bodies. When they appeared, they were borne up into the sky. And men called them comets.'

For MORE information on these maidens see THE KORONIDES

ANCIENT GREEK ART

K14.1 Hades & Persephone

Apulian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C.

K14.4 Hades & Persephone

Apulian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C.

K14.5 Hades & Persephone

Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C.

K14.8 Hades & Sisyphus

Athenian Black Figure Vase Painting C6th B.C.

K14.3 Hades & Persephone

Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C.

K14.7 Hades & Persephone

Apulian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C.

T16.6 The Return of Persephone

Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C.

K14.2 Hades & Persephone

Apulian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C.

K14.6 Hades & Persephone

Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C.

F14.1 Hades & Persephone

Greek Macedonia Wall Fresco C4th B.C.

SOURCES (ALL HADES PAGES)

GREEK

• Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
• Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
• Hesiod, Theogony- Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
• Hesiod, Works and Days- Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
• Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles- Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
• The Homeric Hymns- Greek Epic C8th - 4th B.C.
• Aesop, Fables - Greek Fables C6th B.C.
• Pindar, Odes - Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
• Greek Lyric I Sappho, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric II Anacreon, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric III Stesichorus, Fragments - Greek Lyric C7th - 6th B.C.
• Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Fragments - Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
• Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments - Greek Lyric B.C.
• Greek Elegaic Theognis, Fragments - Greek Elegaic C6th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Agamemnon - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Eumenides - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Libation Bearers - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Suppliant Women - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Fragments - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Aristophanes, Frogs - Greek Comedy C5th - 4th B.C.
• Herodotus, Histories - Greek History C5th B.C.
• Plato, Cratylus - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
• Plato, Gorgias - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
• Plato, Republic - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
• Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
• Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.
• Callimachus, Fragments - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
• Lycophron, Alexandra- Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
• Greek Papyri III Euphorion, Fragments - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History- Greek History C1st B.C.
• Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece- Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
• Plutarch, Lives - Greek Historian C1st - 2nd A.D.
• The Orphic Hymns- Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.
• Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
• Aelian, Historical Miscellany - Greek Rhetoric C2nd - 3rd A.D.
• Oppian, Halieutica - Greek Poetry C3rd A.D.
• Tryphiodorus, The Taking of Ilias- Greek Epic C5th A.D.
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca- Greek Epic C5th A.D.

ROMAN

• Hyginus, Fabulae- Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
• Hyginus, Astronomica- Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
• Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Ovid, Fasti - Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Ovid, Heroides- Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Propertius, Elegies - Latin Elegy C1st B.C.
• Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Rhetoric C1st B.C.
• Seneca, Hercules Furens- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Oedipus- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Phaedra- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Seneca, Troades- Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.
• Valerius Flaccus, The Argonautica- Latin Epic C1st A.D.
• Statius, Thebaid- Latin Epic C1st A.D.
• Statius, Achilleid- Latin Epic C1st A.D.
• Statius, Silvae - Latin Poetry C1st A.D.
• Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.

BYZANTINE

• Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.

OTHER SOURCES

Other references not currently quoted here: Argonautica Orphica 1192, et. al.

BIBLIOGRAPHY