#Hades #God #Underworld #Lord #Dead #Greek #Mythology #Explained
The collector of souls surrounded by screams the guardian of Hell precisely it seems consumes the bad devoured by wrath strong vile powers don’t enter his path lives for the pain embraces his crown watch out for the king that lay underground shortly after the Olympians defeated their father Cronus the reign
Of the Titans came to an end assuring in the new rule of the Olympians Hades and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon decided that they would divide the rule of their new kingdom amongst each other with the Zeus rule in the sky Poseidon the ocean and Hades having rule of the underworld
It is the rule of the underworld Hades that we’ll be focusing on today we know that the Titan Cronus was Hades his father and his mother was a Titan Estrella Hades was the oldest of the three male Olympians and he was the fourth born of the original six
Olympians the domain that belongs to Hades is now what we’ve come to refer to as the underworld but it was also commonly referred to as Hades in the name of its ruler the underworld is believed to be hidden deep beneath the earth and was considered to be surrounded by five
Rivers Acheron the river of woe Cocytus the river of lamentation the Phlegethon river of fire sticks the river of unbreakable oath and Lessie the river of forgetfulness past the five rivers is a diamond gate guarded by the three-headed hound Cerberus deep within the underworld there is a vast Palace that belongs to
Hades his palace was said to have rooms made entirely of silver and gold decorated of all sorts of precious metals and jewels since Hades had access to all the riches under the earth these chambers were described by Persephone as a dazzling wealth of brilliance to even rival that of Mount Olympus
One can only reach the palace if hades wishes them to those who are not welcome can walk an eternity without ever reaching it upon death one soul would be led by Hermes to the entrance of the underworld once there there was a ferry that would carry them across the river Acheron
There was only one ferry run by the boatman known as Charon he only took those across who could pay the fare in order to prepare for the payment coins would be placed in the lips of the Dead when they were buried those who could not afford the fare were trapped between
The underworld and the realm of the living once the ride had come to an end the souls were allowed to pass through the gates by Cerberus who would only ever allow souls to enter never to leave they would then appear before the three judges Rhadamanthus Minos and Akos who
Would decide the severity of their sentence based on their actions in their previous life those considered to have lived a good honest life would be sent to Elysium field the others were sentenced to be tormented for eternity it was known that Hades preferred to spend his time in the underworld and
Though he was traditionally depicted as one of the twelve Olympians he only ever ventured to Mount Olympus to commune of the gods in matters of great concern despite the underworld being he’s Dominion Hades was not considered to be the god of death that was an honor that belong to an entirely different god
Named Thanatos much like his other two brothers Hades was a greedy god and took a keen interest in growing his kingdom he took pride in the subjects he collected taken a liking to those whose actions caused death which could be why the originals were treated as honored
Guests within his kingdom the people of ancient Greece feared Hades so much that they believed even saying his name would result in death coming quicker this led to Hades being referred to by the Greeks as pluton or Pluto by the Romans Hades then became the god of wealth
Because of the precious metals that will be mined from deep within the earth this also included the wealth of fertile soil that would nourish the seeds in grain Hades was often depicted as a dark bearded Stern and stoic unyielding ruler who adamantly defended the deads right
To burial he was often seen on his ebony throne wearing a helmet given to him by the Cyclops during the War of the Titans granting the wearer invisibility you the weapon that is most commonly associated with Hades was his by dn’t a two-prong staff that resembles a pitchfork capable of shattering anything
In his path and not to be confused with the three-pronged Trident of Poseidon although not directly a weapon of Hades Cerberus is a frequent companion and often referred to as the Hound of Hades despite his immense power Hades was regarded as the least powerful of the three brothers with Poseidon being the
Second most powerful and of course Zeus the most powerful now we mentioned Persephone at the start of the video she was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and she would eventually become wife to Hades but in order to make her his wife Hades had to manipulate and trick her
But that’s a story we’ll be covering in a later video with Hades being such a predominant figure in Greek mythology he features in hundreds of stories most of these stories would involve individuals attempting to enter the underworld one of the most well known was in the 12 labors of Heracles Heracles was given
The task by King Eurystheus of venturing into the underworld and bring him back with him Cerberus in order to prove his fearlessness and strength upon arriving in the underworld Heracles asked Hades for his permission to take back Cerberus Hades was impressed by the respect and courage
Shown by Heracles to ask him such a thing the only condition Hades said was that Cerberus was not to be harmed this meant that Heracles would have to wrestle the beasts of his bare hands Heracles did eventually managed to bring back Cerberus to show King Eurystheus he
Was even able to return the Hound to the underworld unharmed another similar tale is that of Orpheus who traveled to the underworld in search of his wife Eurydice Wolfie s was a renowned musician and upon arriving he’s musical skills impressed Hades so much that he allowed him to leave with his wife on
The condition that until they reach the surface he was not allowed to look back at his wife Orpheus agreed but as a test Hades had given him the wrong soul Orpheus so eager to glance at his wife once again looked back breaking his promise and losing his wife for a second time These stories quite clearly indicate that Hades was not an evil God when individuals came to him in their time of need he chose not to turn them away but instead he gave them the chance to earn what they desire it seems that he is not against helping those in need but only
If they can prove themselves worthy The most recent depictions of Hades in movies and games often show him as being evil the villain of the story and sometimes he appears more like a demon than a man I guess we can attribute this to Hades been a dark and morbid character whether you like Hades or not
There is no denying that he is one of the most interesting gods in Greek mythology what about you guys is Hades a God that you’re fond of is he a God that you haven’t heard much about or is he a God that you do not like I personally feel
That Hades is one of the misunderstood gods there isn’t much to suggest that Hades was evil but thanks a lot of movies and games he now has his reputation of a villain in comparison to some of the other things done by other gods Hades does seem to be one of the most
Fair and just gods in Greek mythology if you’ve enjoyed this video then please consider leaving a thumbs up as it helps promote the video and allows the channel to grow if there’s anything you’d like to discuss or have any ideas for future videos then please let me know in the
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