In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident[5] and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.

[10] Other poetic variations of the name include Aïdōneús (Ἀϊδωνεύς) and the inflected forms Áïdos (Ἄϊδος, gen.), Áïdi (Ἄϊδι, dat.

[12] Perhaps from fear of pronouncing his name, around the 5th century BC, the Greeks started referring to Hades as Plouton (Πλούτων, Ploútōn, [ˈpluː.tɔːn]), with a root meaning "wealthy", considering that from the abode below (i.e., the soil) come riches (e.g., fertile crops, metals and so on).

Following their victory, according to a single famous passage in the Iliad (Book XV, ln.187–93), Hades and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots[22] for realms to rule.

[24] This myth is the most important one Hades takes part in;[25] it also connected the Eleusinian Mysteries with the Olympian pantheon, particularly as represented in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which is the oldest story of the abduction, most likely dating back to the beginning of the 6th century BC.

[14] Helios told the grieving Demeter that Hades was not an unworthy groom or son-in-law[a] given his status among the gods, as her own brother and king on his own right: But, Goddess, give up your strong grief; let go of your infinite anger.

While usually indifferent to his subjects, Hades was very focused on the punishment of these two people; particularly Pirithous, as he entered the underworld in an attempt to steal Persephone for himself, and consequently was forced onto the "Chair of Forgetfulness".

And while you are here, you shall rule all that lives and moves and shall have the greatest rights among the deathless gods: those who defraud you and do not appease your power with offerings, reverently performing rites and paying fit gifts, shall be punished for evermore.Afterwards, Hades readies his chariot, but not before he secretly gives Persephone a pomegranate seed to eat; Hermes takes the reins, and he and Persephone make their way to the Earth above, coming to a halt in front of Demeter's temple at Eleusis, where the goddess has been waiting.

But when the earth shall bloom with the fragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then from the realm of darkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods and mortal men.

So lovely was the music he played that it charmed even Hades (as well as his wife Persephone), who allowed him to take Eurydice to the land of the living, as long as he did not look back at her on his way out.

Hades knew of their plan to capture his wife, so he pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast; as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there.

Theseus was eventually rescued by Heracles but Pirithous was either trapped as punishment for daring to seek the wife of a god for his own or killed by Cerberus, depending on the version of the story.

[40][41] Sisyphus was a mortal king from Corinth who was punished in Tartarus for revealing to the river god Asopus the whereabouts of his daughter Aegina after Zeus abducted her,[42] and for trying to cheat death as well.

But still, Sisyphus ordered his wife Merope not to perform any funeral rites for him and what else was accustomed as tribute to the underworld gods before he was brought to Hades.

She lived out the span of her life in his realm, and when she died, the god sought consolation by creating a suitable memorial of their love: in the Elysian Fields where the pious spend their afterlife, he brought a white tree into existence.

[59] In some versions Hades is considered the master of the goddesses of Fate, not his brother Zeus and the god who designates the end and origin of all things and orders the alternation of birth and destruction, the arbiter of life and death.

[64] One of the rare occasions when he appears interacting with them is in Statius's Thebaid,[65] when Hades orders Tisiphone to punish humans for having invaded the underworld.

In this conversation Protesilaus asks him to be reunited with his (still living) lover, and brings up as example that Hades did the same for Admetus and Alcestis, Orpheus and Eurydice, and that he himself also knows what being in love is like.

[68] In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates talks about Hades as a figure capable of making everyone fall by his enchantments[69] and that is why no one ever leaves the underworld, including the sirens.

[70] Hades, as the god of the dead, was a fearsome figure to those still living; in no hurry to meet him, they were reluctant to swear oaths in his name, and averted their faces when sacrificing to him.

In addition, he was called Clymenus (Κλύμενος, Klýmenos, ' infamous', [ˈkly.me.nos]), Polydegmon (Πολυδέγμων, Polydégmon, 'host of many', [po.lyˈdeg.mɔːn]), and perhaps Eubuleus (Εὐβουλεύς, Eubouleús, 'good counsel', [eu̯.buːˈleu̯s]),[71] all of them euphemisms for a name that was unsafe to pronounce, which evolved into epithets.

While some suggest the very vehemence of the rejection of human sacrifice expressed in myth might imply an unspoken memory of some distant past, there is no direct evidence of such a turn.

These beasts were variously named as, according to Claudian: Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus and Alastor while other authors listed also: Nonius, Ametheus, Abastor, Abetor and Metheus.

This is believed to hold significance as in certain classical sources Hades ravished Kore in the guise of a snake, who went on to give birth to Zagreus-Dionysus.

[84] The philosopher Heraclitus, unifying opposites, declared that Hades and Dionysus, the very essence of indestructible life (zoë), are the same god.

[85] Among other evidence, Karl Kerényi notes in his book[86] that the Homeric Hymn To Demeter,[87] votive marble images[88] and epithets[89] all link Hades to being Dionysus.

[91] Dionysus also shared several epithets with Hades such as Chthonios ("the subterranean"),[92][93]Eubouleus ("Good Counselor"), and Euclius ("glorious" or "renowned") .

[14] In older Greek myths, the realm of Hades is the misty and gloomy[110] abode of the dead (also called Erebus[110]) where all mortals go when they die.

In Roman mythology, the entrance to the underworld located at Avernus, a crater near Cumae, was the route Aeneas used to descend to the realm of the dead.

The first region of Hades comprises the Fields of Asphodel, described in Odyssey xi, where the shades of heroes wander despondently among lesser spirits, who twitter around them like bats.