Hades Hades is the Greek God of the death and the Underworld. While the underworld is associated with hell and evil, Greeks looked at the underworld as a place of darkness and Hades was regarded as the tab keeper of the deadly world laws.  He is looked upon as the jailor of the dead souls and is responsible to keep the gates of the underworld locked so that no dead soul can escape from his kingdom. Hades is depicted as a grown man with a beard and a crown holding a two-pronged staff, often with his three headed dog, Cerberus. Symbols associated with Hades include a sceptre, Cerberus, drinking horn and the cypress tree. One of Hades’ special powers is invisibility. Mortals are generally scared of him and thus he does not have many worshippers or temples. Hades wears a helmet called the Helm of Darkness that allowed him to become invisible. He once loaned his helmet out to the hero Perseus to help him defeat the monster Medusa.  The famous legend of Hades is about his relation with his wife Persephone. Persephone was Hades’ sister and Demeter’s daughter. It is said that when Persephone and her friends were plucking flowers, suddenly she saw a unique flower appear on the ground. Out of curiosity, she went to pluck the flower and suddenly the earth opened up. Hades came out of the ground in his horse-chariot and kidnapped Persephone. Demeter started searching for her daughter. Even after 9 days, she would not find Persephone and that is when she met Hekate who is the Goddess of ghosts and Helios who is the Sun God. As both Hekate and Helios had witnessed the kidnapping, they told Demeter the entire truth. To get back her daughter, Demeter disguised herself as an old woman for almost a year. As she is the Goddess of fertility, the world got famine struck and the earth and land lost it’s fertility. Zeus wanted Demeter to return to Mount Olympus and so he sent Iris with lovely gifts to tempt Demeter to come back. But Demeter was adamant that she would return only after she found her daughter. That is when Zeus intervened and sent Hermes to convince Hades to release Persephone. While Hades agreed, he tricked Persephone and gave her pomegranate seeds to eat which ensured that she was tied to the underworld for infinity. Later Zeus asked Demeter and Hades to compromise and arrive at one mutually beneficial solution. It was thus decided that Persephone would stay with Hades for 1/3rd of the year as his wife and with her mother and other Gods for 2/3rd of the year. It is because of this unique arrangement that Persephone is called a dual nature Goddess- for one part she is the queen of the underworld and for the other part she is the goddess of fertility. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Demeter Demeter is the Goddess of agriculture. She is the daughter of Kronos and Rhea and sister and wife of Zeus. Poseidon was in love with Demeter but she never reciprocated back. Demeter is not among the top Goddess in Greek mythology. She was one of the many children who was swallowed by her father basis the prophecy which said that one of Kronos’ children would be the reason for his debacle. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Hades took help from Mother Earth- Gaia and kidnapped Persephone. Later Persephone was rescued by Demeter. Demeter is often pictured as a mature woman sitting on a throne. She wears a crown and carries a torch or sheaves of wheat. She is believed to be the creator of the first grain in Sicily and then she ensured that the knowledge of harvesting is spread across the world. Whenever Demeter travels, she rides a golden chariot which is pulled by dragons. Demeter’s symbols include wheat, a cornucopia, a torch and swine. She had control over the harvest and the growing of grains. She can cause plants to grow, or not grow, and has control over the seasons and weather too. Demeter is known to be short-tempered and can get angry very quickly. There are many stories of her punishing the guilty. It is believed that Demeter transformed Ascalabus into a gecko when he mocked at her for drinking water too fast. She also is said to have turned King Lyncus into a lynx after he tried to kill one of her favourite mortals. She also rewarded the ones with whom she was happy. One mortal called Phytalus welcomed the disguised Demeter to his house and was rewarded with a fig tree. Two other mortals were rewarded with fresh crops due to their good hospitality. Hence some of the lesser known myths also link her as the Goddess of Law and Order. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next