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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.

Voices & connections

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

Zeussibling ofPersephonemarried to

Relics & objects

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

The Apple of DiscordCursedPandora'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 →