Hades

Origin

The iconographic origin is the underworld faith of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE), and the decisive textual canon is the Theogony (Theogony) lines 453-491 of Hesiod (Hesiod) of c. 8th-7th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Kronos (Kronos), fearing the prophecy of Gaia (Gaia) and Ouranos (Ouranos), swallows his children — and lines 768-806 — the decisive canon of Hades's underworld realm and Kerberos (Kerberos). The Iliad (Iliad) Book 15 lines 187-193 of Homer (Homer) of c. 8th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Poseidon said 'we three (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades), the children of Kronos, divided heaven, sea, and underworld by lot, and earth and Olympus are shared' — and the Odyssey (Odyssey) Book 11 — the decisive canon of the Nekyia (Nekyia) in which Odysseus evoked the souls of the dead at the entrance of the underworld. The Homeric Hymns (Homeric Hymns) No. 2 Hymn to Demeter (Hymn to Demeter) lines 1-90 of c. 7th-6th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Hades, riding a golden chariot, ascended to the earth and abducted Persephone (Persephone) and took her to the underworld — and lines 334-440 — the decisive canon in which Persephone ate 4 (or 6) pomegranate seeds and had to spend 1/3 (or 1/2) of each year in the underworld. The Bibliotheca (Bibliotheke) Book 1 chapter 1 verses 4-5 of Pseudo-Apollodorus of c. 1st century BCE — the decisive mythological canon — and the Metamorphoses (Metamorphoses) Book 5 lines 341-571 of Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) of c. 1st century CE — the decisive canon of the Persephone abduction.

Features

• Mature male god clothed in darkness and dignity
• Hides his appearance with the kynee (kynee) helmet
• Commands the guard dog Kerberos (Kerberos, 3-headed dog)
• Sceptre and cornucopia (cornucopia)
• River Styx (Styx) and ferryman Charon (Charon)
• Ruler of Tartaros (Tartaros) and Elysion (Elysion)

Stories

The Bronze Age Mycenaean underworld faith is the decisive origin, and the decisive textual canon is the Hesiod Theogony lines 453-491 and 768-806 of c. 8th-7th century BCE, the Homer Iliad Book 15 and Odyssey Book 11 Nekyia of c. 8th century BCE, and the Homeric Hymns No. 2 Hymn to Demeter lines 1-90 and 334-440 of c. 7th-6th century BCE. The decisive canon that the Greeks avoided calling his true name directly and used 'Plouton (Plouton, god of wealth)' as a euphemism, and he was invoked in funerary and burial rites and in agricultural fertility (underground roots). The decisive canon of the Persephone abduction in the Bibliotheca Book 1 chapter 1 verses 4-5 of Pseudo-Apollodorus of c. 1st century BCE and the Metamorphoses Book 5 lines 341-571 of Ovid of c. 1st century CE, and the Dis (Dis) of the c. 1320 Divina Commedia (Divina Commedia) Inferno (Inferno) Canto 9 of Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321) is the decisive 14th-century canon. The Hades of the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods (Deities & Demigods) by TSR in the USA is the decisive fantasy RPG canon, and the decisive 21st-century canon is the Hades (main antagonist) played by James Woods (James Woods, b. 1947) of the Disney film Hercules (Hercules) (directed by John Musker and Ron Clements) released in the USA on 27 June 1997, and the Hades (voiced by Logan Cunningham (Logan Cunningham)) of the video game Hades (Hades) by Supergiant Games (Supergiant Games) released in the USA on 17 September 2020 are the 21st-century decisive global video canon.

Weakness

Hades's weaknesses are: (1) obsession with Persephone — the decisive canonical weakness — the decisive canon of the Persephone abduction in the c. 7th-6th century BCE Homeric Hymns No. 2 Hymn to Demeter; (2) cannot directly intervene in the fate of death — the decisive canon; (3) firm wrath at the escape of souls — the decisive canon of the Orpheus (Orpheus) and Eurydice (Eurydice) myth and the decisive canon of the capture of Kerberos in the 12 Labours of Heracles (Heracles); (4) miserliness — the decisive canon; (5) binding of the true name — the decisive canon of the euphemism 'Plouton' to avoid calling his true name; (6) binding of the lot — the decisive canon in the c. 8th century BCE Homer Iliad Book 15 lines 187-193 in which he received the underworld by lot; (7) binding of the earth — the decisive canon that he rarely ascends to the earth; (8) binding of the sacred domain — the decisive canon. The decisive canonical finale is lines 334-440 of the c. 7th-6th century BCE Homeric Hymns No. 2 Hymn to Demeter — the decisive mythological canon in which Persephone ate 4 (or 6) pomegranate seeds and had to spend 1/3 (or 1/2) of each year in the underworld.

Cultural Significance

Hades is not merely an underworld-god icon but the canonical iconographic figure of the decisive Greek canon, traversing the Bronze Age Mycenaean underworld faith, the c. 8th-7th century BCE Hesiod Theogony lines 453-491 and 768-806, the c. 8th century BCE Homer Iliad Book 15 and Odyssey Book 11 Nekyia, the c. 7th-6th century BCE Homeric Hymns No. 2 Hymn to Demeter lines 1-90 and 334-440, the c. 1st century BCE Pseudo-Apollodorus Bibliotheca Book 1 chapter 1 verses 4-5, the c. 1st century CE Ovid Metamorphoses Book 5 lines 341-571, the c. 1320 Dante Divina Commedia Inferno, the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods, the 1997 Disney Hercules, and the 2020 Supergiant Hades. The underworld faith of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE) settled as the decisive canon in lines 453-491 of the c. 8th-7th century BCE Hesiod Theogony — the decisive canon in which Kronos swallows his children — and lines 768-806 — the decisive canon of Hades's underworld realm. The decisive mythological canon is the decisive canon in Book 15 lines 187-193 of the c. 8th century BCE Homer Iliad in which Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the three brothers, divided heaven, sea, and underworld by lot, and the decisive canon in the c. 7th-6th century BCE Homeric Hymns (Homeric Hymns) No. 2 Hymn to Demeter in which Hades, riding a golden chariot, ascended to the earth and abducted Persephone (Persephone) and took her to the underworld. The decisive 21st-century canon is the main antagonist Hades played by James Woods (James Woods, born 18 April 1947 in Utah, USA) of the Disney film Hercules (Hercules) (directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, worldwide box office about 252 million dollars) released in the USA on 27 June 1997, and the Hades (voiced by Logan Cunningham (Logan Cunningham)) of the roguelike video game Hades (Hades) (winner of the BAFTA Games Award 2021 Best Game) by Supergiant Games (Supergiant Games) released in the USA on 17 September 2020 is the 21st-century decisive global video canon, and the Hades played by Steve Coogan (Steve Coogan) of the film Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson) released in the USA on 12 February 2010 is also the 21st-century decisive film canon.

In Popular Culture

Mycenaean Bronze Age underworld faith (Bronze Age) — decisive origin canonHesiod Theogony lines 453-491 and 768-806 (c. 8th-7th century BCE) — decisive birth and realm canonHomer Iliad Book 15 lines 187-193 (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive heroic-epic canonHomer Odyssey Book 11 Nekyia (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive death canonHomeric Hymns No. 2 Hymn to Demeter lines 1-90 and 334-440 (c. 7th-6th century BCE) — decisive Persephone abduction canonPseudo-Apollodorus Bibliotheca Book 1 chapter 1 verses 4-5 (c. 1st century BCE) — decisive mythological canonOvid Metamorphoses Book 5 lines 341-571 (c. 1st century CE) — decisive Latin canonDante Divina Commedia Inferno Canto 9 Dis (c. 1320) — decisive 14th-century literary canonTSR D&D Deities & Demigods, Hades (1980) — decisive fantasy RPG canonDisney film Hercules, Hades James Woods (1997) — 21st-century decisive film canonSupergiant Games Hades, Logan Cunningham (2020) — 21st-century decisive video-game canon