Divinity · ◆ Darkness

Hades

The Host of Many · Plouton, the Rich One

majorattestedc. 650–550 BCE (Homeric Hymn to Demeter)Greek mythology

Lord of the underworld, the Host of Many, the Rich One, elder brother of Zeus, drawn the dark third of the cosmos when the brothers cast lots. He asked Zeus for Persephone and took the consent for the courtship: the abduction in the meadow is his one story, and the pomegranate seed his one, permanent, quiet victory. The Greeks preferred not to say his name; the dead, they noted, all find his house regardless.

Darkness89

Chaos78

Power78

Dread69

✦Signature powerDivine DomainHolds sovereign power over a sphere of the living world.

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Its universe

The mythic order Hades belongs to, who comes before and after in the story of this world.

Zeuswho consented in secret
- Demeterthe Grain Mother
  - Persephonethe stolen spring
    - Hadeswho gave her the seed

Voices & connections

Figures bound to Hades, family and rivals within the myth, and the thinkers and writers who shaped how we know them.

Zeussibling of Persephonemarried to The Descent (Katabasis)associated with

Relics & objects

Sacred and cursed things that belong to the world of Hades.

The Apple of DiscordCursed Pandora's JarCursed

Read the story

Illustrated chapters where Hades appears. Start reading in a click.

Illustrated storyPersephone, the Stolen SpringA girl picks a flower grown as a trap, and the earth opens. Hades takes her down to be Queen of the Dead; her mother Demeter stops the world until Olympus negotiates; and one swallowed pomegranate seed writes the terms of the seasons. The Greek descent myth, and the charter of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the ancient world’s best-kept promise about death.Begin reading →