Riordan Wiki:Featured Articles/Hades



Hades (Άδης in Ancient Greek, meaning "Unseen") is the Greek god of the dead, wealth, and the Lord of the Underworld. One of the Big Three gods, his wife is Persephone. Hades' Roman counterpart is Pluto and he is portrayed by Steve Coogan in The Lightning Thief (film).

Hades is the eldest child of the Titans, Kronos and Rhea as the first of their children. He was consumed immediately after birth by Kronos who was paranoid that he would be overthrown by one of his own children. Hades thus spent his childhood in his father's stomach along with his brother, Poseidon, and his sisters: Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. During the Titanomachy, he proved to be a ferocious warrior and greatly aided in the ultimate downfall of Kronos and his followers. Although it was Hades' birthright to be named his father's successor, he agreed to divide the Titan King's former domain with his brothers and acquiesced, albeit resentfully, to taking the Underworld as his prize.

Although he distanced himself from his family, Hades was lonely and wanted a wife to fill the void. One day, he spotted a young goddess named Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, whose great beauty and tender countenance won his admiration. Hades decided to take her as his bride despite his estrangement with her parents and his siblings, Demeter and Zeus. Hades secretly received Zeus' blessing but he knew that their overprotective sister would refuse to even consider the marriage and so promptly kidnapped Persephone. He then proceeded to woo the distressed goddess with gifts but eventually won her heart through empathy and kindness.

A distraught and grief stricken Demeter soon caused the earth to become barren when she learned of the abduction and furiously blamed Zeus for allowing Hades to court Persephone behind her back. Pressured by mortal prayers and the other gods, Zeus demanded that the lord of the dead return his daughter. Hades refused to lose his wife so easily and persuaded Persephone to eat six pomegranate seeds which would ensure that she returned to him for six months of each year.

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