King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 177

Afterword – Namu Wiki Hades (1)

Hades.

God of the Underworld, wealth, fairness, and mercy.

1. Overview

A god from Greek mythology who rules the Underworld. Also known by another name, Pluto.

He governs the world of the dead, filled with deceased souls. Although he is not one of the 12 gods who sit on the golden throne of Olympus,

he is one of the three chief gods, along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon.

To the ancient Greeks, Hades and Pluto were considered the same god, but they were treated as having different focuses depending on the name.

Hades was invoked when discussing the Underworld and fairness, while Pluto’s name was used when speaking of wealth and mercy.

However, from the perspective of the ancients, death and the Underworld were considered very fearful things. Therefore, official state documents and records used the name Pluto much more often than Hades.

2. Characteristics

The symbol of Hades is mint, a plant.

According to tradition, mint was created by Menthe, a nymph loved by Hades, and offered to him. He, as the god of mercy, recognized the plant’s efficacy and usefulness and spread it to the world of the living.

Also known as Pluto’s grace, mint was used to mask the smell of corpses or as an herb.

He holds quite a few divine roles. Perhaps because of his treasure, the Horn of Plenty (Cornucopia), he was called the god of wealth.

The concept of judging the dead after death was added, integrating the divine roles of fairness and mercy. Perhaps because of this, the Hades faith continues to this day, despite him being the eerie god of the Underworld.

The Underworld was regarded as a completely isolated space from the world of the living, and the authority of Hades, the king of the Underworld, is truly immense.

Zeus, the king of all gods, could not interfere in the affairs of the Underworld and respected Hades, who managed both the Underworld and Tartarus [the deepest abyss of the Underworld] with enormous responsibilities.

3. Status / Combat Power

The moment the king of the Underworld fully donned his helmet, even Hermes, who boasted the fastest speed in Olympus, completely lost sight of him from the eyes of Typhon [a monstrous giant], who could perceive him.

[Iliad] (Ploutos Translation 18. 267-268.)

You are qualified to stand upright before the heavens.

Uranus (Ancient History, Record of the Gigantomachy [a war between the Olympian gods and the Giants]. 2024. Ploutos Translation)

Well, if it’s the current brother, he would be stronger than Poseidon.

Zeus (Iliad. 35. 562-563.)

The strongest in Olympus, excluding Zeus.

To the ancients, the Underworld was considered as fearful as the bottomless sea and the striking lightning.

In early epics such as Homer’s Iliad, Zeus, the king of the gods, is said to be stronger than all other gods living on Olympus.

However, this only discusses gods other than Poseidon and Hades, who are also part of the three chief gods.

When Poseidon rebelled against Zeus, he stated that victory was certain if he brought in Hades, suggesting that two of the three chief gods could defeat Zeus if they joined forces.

In the first place, his status was already that high with just the divine role of the Underworld, but as time passed and the divine roles of mercy and fairness were added, his status rose even further.

As the perception that he was superior to Poseidon spread, Poseidon is often seen backing down in conversations between Hades and Poseidon, and this is precisely why.

(In the first place, he enters with an advantage in justification as the god of fairness and mercy.

This is why Zeus, including all the gods, often struggles with him.)

Judging from the anecdote of King Perseus, he can twist small destinies like Zeus, the king of the gods.

However, it is presumed that he cannot change destinies that bring great changes to the world, such as Zeus initiating the Trojan War because it was a predetermined fate.

During the lengthy Gigantomachy, when Cronus [the Titan king] descended upon a Gigas’ [Giant’s] body near Thebes, where Hades is worshiped as the chief god,

he went directly to the world of the living to stop his father. This fact allows us to glimpse the ancient belief that even time cannot overcome death, and no one can escape it.

In the process of obtaining the cooperation of Nyx [the goddess of the night], the goddess of the night, to prepare for the Gigantomachy, he briefly confronts Uranus [the primordial god of the sky], the primordial god.

Uranus, upon seeing Hades who came to him, lightly waves his hand,

releasing an interstellar wind (the wind blowing between stars), which Hades directly withstands, safely returning even the Pegasus he was riding to the ground.

The words of Uranus who saw this are the highlight. His statement that Hades is qualified to stand upright before him (the heavens) reveals Hades’ strength.

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Furthermore, when Charybdis [a sea monster], Poseidon’s daughter and the next most powerful sea god, who survived even Zeus’s lightning, tried to devour humans…

he created a black pillar that annihilated everything between the sea and the sky, giving her a slight scolding.

Since humans disappearing in whirlpools in the sea disappeared after that, the attack must have been quite painful for Charybdis.

In addition, he made the great hero Heracles [also known as Hercules] feel cosmic horror when their eyes met, and in the battle of the Plesra Plain, no Gigas could block Hades’ chariot as it charged.

There are more than enough records to glimpse his strength. (In the first place, one of the three chief gods can never be weak.)

3.1. Weapons

His main weapons include the Kynee [a helmet of invisibility] received from the three Cyclops brothers, the bident (a spear with two prongs), and the Styx Sword, a gift from his wife, the goddess Styx.

He used the Kynee, a transparent helmet that conceals his appearance, to play an active role in the Titanomachy [war between the Titans and the Olympians] and Gigantomachy.

According to legend, even Cronus and Typhon could not recognize him when he wore the Kynee.

The bident is an easy-to-wield spear that Hephaestus [the god of blacksmiths], the god of blacksmiths, personally presented to Hades.

It contains the ability to appear in Hades’ hand no matter how far away it is. He regretted not having a weapon like Poseidon’s trident or Zeus’s lightning, but he was very satisfied after receiving this bident.

The Styx Sword is a famous sword with a dark blade and a chilling aura, forged with the power of the Styx River, which the goddess Styx, who later became one of his wives, personally gifted him when he drove out the Titans and became the god of the Underworld.

Later, when Hades proposed to the goddess Styx, he made the sword into a ring and presented it as a gift.

4. Relationship with the Gods

Hades married the goddess Styx, the goddess Lethe who governs the River of Forgetfulness, and Persephone, the goddess of spring and seeds.

He has only one concubine, Menthe, the nymph of mint mentioned earlier.

Hera [the goddess of marriage and family], the goddess of the household, did not criticize him for having three official wives, not just concubines.

Perhaps she did not find fault because all three wives genuinely loved Hades and turned a blind eye to his harem. (The alpha male of ancient Greece)

The relationship with the other 12 Olympians is a bit complex and subtle.

He was respected as a fair and merciful god to all, but looking at the anecdotes in mythology… when the gods did something wrong, they were dragged to the Underworld by Hades to work. (Work hell)

More than half of the 12 Olympian gods have caused accidents and been dragged to the Underworld, and it is recorded that they showed a considerably more subdued appearance afterward.

This is also why he was given the divine role of fairness.

Dike [the goddess of justice], the goddess of justice, who is known as almost the only god among the Olympian gods to look after mortals with compassion, visited him and asked him to become the god of fairness.

(From the standpoint of Dike, who protects law and justice, it would have been difficult to point out the faults of gods stronger than herself, so she seems to have sought Hades’ protection.)

Persephone, the goddess of spring and seeds, whom Hades kidnapped after falling in love with her while patrolling near Mount Etna, where Typhon’s body was buried.

Some people thought that she harbored resentment for being kidnapped and fed food from the Underworld,

but according to the Iliad, the fact that anyone who ate food from the Underworld had to stay there was so well-known that no deity was unaware of it.

It is argued that Persephone intentionally ate the pomegranate after falling in love with Hades, who saved her from the Gigas’ attack.

In fact, it is more persuasive to argue that Hades, who holds the divine roles of fairness and mercy and does not condone the act of tormenting mortals even if they are fellow Olympian gods, would not have kidnapped the goddess.

The relationship with Demeter [the goddess of agriculture], Persephone’s mother, was also amicable. Naturally, this is more reliable.

One peculiar point is that his relationship with the Protogenoi [primordial deities], the primordial gods, is not bad.

Some primordial gods, excluding Gaia [the Earth Mother], the Earth Mother who antagonized Olympus, were favorable to him. Nyx, the goddess of the night, cherished Hades, and Tartarus allowed him to imprison sinners within himself.

Uranus, who was transformed into a goddess after having his genitals cut off, also shows a degree of recognition towards Hades, who withstood his attack.

Gods belonging to the Underworld, such as Thanatos [god of death], Charon [ferryman of the Underworld], Moros [god of doom], Keres [spirits of violent death], and Morpheus [god of dreams], maintained a somewhat horizontal and friendly relationship with Hades.

However, everyone followed Hades in the Gigantomachy, and although he usually spoke respectfully to old gods like Thanatos, the god of death also accepted the punishments he handed down without complaint, suggesting that his leadership as the king of the Underworld was not bad.

(In fact, it may be obvious since all the gods belonging to the Underworld combined do not match up to Hades alone…)

In addition, there are records that he was close to Limos [goddess of starvation], the goddess of starvation, Eris [goddess of discord], the goddess of discord, and the three goddesses of revenge.

His character, or rather, his divine character, which forged friendships with gods that everyone shuns, unknowingly became an element that supported Hades’ status.