Greek mythology
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External Websites
- McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Hades
- Humanities LibreTexts - Story: Hades and the Underworld
- Mythopedia - Hades
- Greek Legends and Myths - The God Hades in Greek Mythology
- Mythology.net - Hades
- Ancient Origins - Hades, God of the Underworld and His Unsung Powers
- Washington State University - Hades
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
- Hades - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
- Hades - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
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Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
External Websites
- McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Hades
- Humanities LibreTexts - Story: Hades and the Underworld
- Mythopedia - Hades
- Greek Legends and Myths - The God Hades in Greek Mythology
- Mythology.net - Hades
- Ancient Origins - Hades, God of the Underworld and His Unsung Powers
- Washington State University - Hades
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
- Hades - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
- Hades - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Also known as: Aïdes, Pluto, Pluton
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
- Greek:
- Aïdes (“the Unseen”)
- Also called:
- Pluto or Pluton (“the Wealthy One” or “the Giver of Wealth”)
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Hades, in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. Hades was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia.
After Cronus was overthrown by his sons, his kingdom was divided among them, and the underworld fell by lot to Hades. There he ruled with his queen, Persephone, over the infernal powers and over the dead in what was often called “the house of Hades,” or simply Hades. He was aided by the dog Cerberus. Though Hades supervised the trial and punishment of the wicked after death, he was not normally one of the judges in the underworld, nor did he personally torture the guilty, a task assigned to the Furies (Erinyes). Hades was depicted as stern and pitiless, unmoved by prayer or sacrifice (like death itself). Forbidding and aloof, he never quite emerges as a distinct personality from the shadowy darkness of his realm, not even in the myth of his abduction of Persephone.
Those dark and unknowable aspects were complemented by an opposite and beneficial aspect. The god of the underworld was usually worshipped under a euphemistic epithet such as Clymenus (“the Renowned”) or Eubouleus (“Good Counsellor”). He was often called Zeus with the addition of a special title (e.g., chthonios, “chthonian Zeus”). His title Pluto or Pluton (“Wealth”) may have originated through Hades’ partial amalgamation with a god of the earth’s fertility or because he gathered all living things into his treasury at death.
In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the word Hades is used for Sheol, denoting a dark region of the dead. Tartarus, originally denoting an abyss far below Hades and the place of punishment in the lower world, later lost its distinctness and became almost a synonym for Hades.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.
