God Hades

Statue of god Hades ,

handmade of alabaster,and painted in museum patina.

God Hades was the king of the under world, the god of death and the dead.

Son of the Titans Saturn and Rhea. He had three older sisters, Estia, Demeter and Hera, as well as two younger brothers, Poseidon and Zeus. After his birth he was “swallowed” by Saturn’s father as well as his brothers. The three brothers received from the Cyclops the weapons that would help them in the battle between the gods. Jupiter received lightning, Poseidon a trident and Pluto a helmet that made anyone who wore it invisible.

The war lasted 10 years and ended with the victory of the younger gods. After the victory, Pluto and his two younger brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, cast lots to determine the kingdoms they would rule. Jupiter took over the sky and ruled over everything, Poseidon over the seas and every liquid element, while Pluto took over the underworld, the invisible kingdom to which the dead go when they leave the terrestrial world.

HADES AS A KING OF THE TARTARUS.

Because of his dark and macabre personality he was not particularly liked neither by the gods nor by the people. His character is described as “savage and ruthless”, and of all the gods he was by far the most hated of mortals. However, he was not a bad god, because, although he was strict, ruthless and merciless, he was just.

Pluto ruled the underworld and was therefore more often associated with death and scary to humans, but it was not death itself. The real personification of death was Death. When the Greeks prayed to Pluto, they clapped their hands on the ground to make sure he heard them. Black animals, such as sheep, were sacrificed in his honor. The blood from the sacrifices to Pluto dripped into a pit to reach him. The person who offered the sacrifice had to turn his head. Every hundred years celebrations took place in his honor.

Pluto’s weapon was a fork, with which he dissolved whatever was in his way or whatever he did not like, almost what Poseidon did with his trident.