To: alt.mythology
From: rdiller@quads.uchicago.edu (Mark Diller)]
Subject: [Hades: Was] Re: Kid needs Hades info _ take 2
Date: 13 Dec 1994 06:12:48 GMT

Hades was both the name of the Underworld in ancient Greece and the name of
the god who oversaw it.  It's not sure who was named after the other.  There
is some speculation, though, that the name develops from the Greek a + ides,
meaning roughly "the unseen," which would be a pretty good name for a horror
movie.

Hades the god was the brother of Zeus, equal in status to his other brother
Poseidon.  After the defeat of the Titans Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon drew
lots to divide up authority over the heaven and the earth.  Poseidon drew
the sea, Hades the underworld, and Zeus the sky and the surface of the earth.
After this Hades sunk into his realm and was pretty much never seen anywhere
else again.

His wife was Persephone, daughter of Demeter.  The famous "rape of Persephone"
details Hades' abduction of same so that he might marry her;  he had obtained
the permission of Zeus, Persephone's father, beforehand, but no one bothered
to inform Demeter.  See the Homeric Hymn to Demeter for the full text of this
myth.

Hades' characteristic implement was a cap of invisibility, matching the
probably origins of his name.  He was known by another name, Ploutos, meaning
wealth, in recognition that all earthly things eventually pass into his hands.

Mark
-- 
Mark Diller - Univ. Chicago Divinity School - aka zagreus@aol.com