Editing Hades (section)

==Mythology==
===Early years===
[[File:Pinax with Persephone and Hades Enthroned, 500-450 BC, Greek, Locri Epizephirii, Mannella district, Sanctuary of Persephone, terracotta - Cleveland Museum of Art - DSC08242.JPG|thumb|left|Pinax with Persephone and Hades Enthroned, 500–450 BC, Greek, Locri Epizephirii, Mannella district, Sanctuary of Persephone, terracotta – Cleveland Museum of Art]]

In [[Greek mythology]], Hades, the god of the Greek underworld, was the first-born son of the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]]s [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]. He had three older sisters, [[Hestia]], [[Demeter]], and [[Hera]], as well as a younger brother, [[Poseidon]], all of whom had been swallowed whole by their father as soon as they were born. [[Zeus]] was the youngest child and through the machinations of their mother, Rhea, he was the only one that had escaped this fate. Upon reaching adulthood, Zeus managed to force his father to disgorge his siblings. After their release, the six younger gods, along with allies they managed to gather, challenged the elder gods for power in the [[Titanomachy]], a divine war. Armed with the [[Cap of invisibility|helm of invisibility]] forged for him by the [[Cyclopes]], Hades with his siblings and other divine allies defeated the Titans and became rulers in their place The war lasted for ten years and ended with the victory of the younger gods. 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<ref>[[Walter Burkert]], in ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age'', 1992, (pp 90ff) compares this single reference with the Mesopotamian ''[[Atra-Hasis]]'': "the basic structure of both texts is astonishingly similar." The drawing of lots is not the usual account; [[Hesiod]] (''[[Theogony]]'', 883) declares that Zeus overthrew his father and was acclaimed king by the other gods. "There is hardly another passage in Homer which comes so close to being a translation of an [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] epic," Burkert concludes (p. 91).</ref> for realms to rule. Zeus received the sky, Poseidon received the seas, and Hades received the underworld,<ref>Poseidon speaks: "For when we threw the lots I received the grey sea as my abode, Hades drew the murky darkness, Zeus, however, drew the wide sky of brightness and clouds; the earth is common to all, and spacious Olympus." ''Iliad 15.187''</ref> the unseen realm to which the souls of the dead go upon leaving the world as well as any and all things beneath the earth.

Hades obtained his wife and queen, [[Persephone]], through abduction at the behest of Zeus.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=Michael|last2=Hazel|first2=John|year=2002|page=412|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKRDEAeout8C&pg=PA412|title=Who's who in Classical Mythology|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415260411|access-date=June 14, 2024}}</ref> This myth is the most important one Hades takes part in;<ref>Grant and Hazel, [https://books.google.com/books?id=IKRDEAeout8C&pg=PA236 p. 236].</ref> it also connected the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] with the Olympian pantheon, particularly as represented in the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Demeter]]'', which is the oldest story of the abduction, most likely dating back to the beginning of the 6th century BC.<ref name=":0" /> [[Helios]] told the grieving Demeter that Hades was not an unworthy groom or son-in-law{{efn|The word used in the ancient text, {{lang|grc|{{math|γαμβρός}} }}, translates to both "son-in-law" and "bridegroom".<ref>See [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dgambro%2Fs {{lang|grc|{{math|γαμβρός}} }}].</ref>}} given his status among the gods, as her own brother and king on his own right:

{{Blockquote|
But, Goddess, give up your strong grief; let go<br/>
of your infinite anger. Hades isn't an unsuitable<br/>
son-in-law among the gods: Lord of the Many Dead,<br/>
your own brother from the same seed. As for honor,<br/>
he won the third share back when the division was made<br/>
and now lives among those whom he was allotted to rule."
|title=''[[Homeric Hymn]] to [[Demeter]]'' 82–86<ref>Rayor, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=BbQwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 19–20]</ref>}}

===King of the underworld===
[[File:Aidoneus & Persephone.png|thumb|Hades and Persephone, 1864]]

Despite modern [[connotation]]s of death as evil, Hades was actually more [[altruism|altruistically]]<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172%3Atext%3DCrat.%3Apage%3D403 |author=Plato |author-link=Plato |title=Cratylus |page=403}}</ref> inclined in mythology. Hades was portrayed as passive and never portrayed negatively; his role was often maintaining relative balance. That said, he was also depicted as cold and stern, and he held all of his subjects equally accountable to his laws.<ref>Grant and Hazel, [https://books.google.com/books?id=IKRDEAeout8C&pg=PA235 p. 235].</ref> Any other individual aspects of his personality are not given, as Greeks refrained from giving him much thought to avoid attracting his attention.<ref name=":3">Tripp, p. 257.</ref>

[[File:Red figure volute krater with scene of the Underworld, follower of the Baltimore Painter, Hermitage.JPG|thumb|Red figure volute krater with scene of the underworld, follower of the Baltimore Painter, Hermitage|alt=|left]]

Hades ruled the dead, assisted by others over whom he had complete authority. The House of Hades was described as full of "guests," though he rarely left the underworld.<ref>Gayley, [https://archive.org/stream/classicmythsinen1911gayl#page/46/mode/2up p. 47].</ref> He cared little about what happened in the world above, as his primary attention was ensuring none of his subjects ever left his domain.

He strictly forbade his subjects to leave his domain and would become quite enraged when anyone tried to leave, or if someone tried to steal the souls from his realm. His wrath was equally terrible for anyone who tried to cheat death or otherwise crossed him, as [[Sisyphus]] and [[Pirithous]] found out to their sorrow. 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".<ref name=":3" /> Another myth is about the Greek god [[Asclepius]] who was originally a demigod, son of [[Apollo]] and [[Coronis (mythology)|Coronis]], a Thessalian princess. During his lifetime, he became a famous and talented physician, who eventually was able to bring the dead back to life. Feeling cheated, Hades persuaded Zeus to kill him with a thunderbolt. After his death, Asclepius was brought to Olympus where he became a god.<ref>Gayley, [https://archive.org/stream/classicmythsinen1911gayl#page/104/mode/2up p. 104].</ref> Hades was only depicted outside of the underworld once in myth, and even that is believed to have been an instance where he had just left the [[Gates of hell#Gates in the Greco-Roman world|gates of the underworld]], which was when [[Heracles]] shot him with an arrow as Hades was attempting to defend the city of Pylos.<ref name=":6">Tripp, p. 256.</ref> After he was shot, however, he traveled to Olympus to heal. Besides [[Heracles]], the only other living people who ventured to the underworld were also [[Greek hero|hero]]es: [[Odysseus]], [[Aeneas]] (accompanied by the [[Cumaean Sibyl|Sibyl]]), [[Orpheus]], to whom Hades showed uncharacteristic mercy at Persephone's urging, who was moved by Orpheus's music,<ref>Gayley, [https://archive.org/stream/classicmythsinen1911gayl#page/164/mode/2up pp. 165–166].</ref> [[Theseus]] with [[Pirithous]], and, in a late romance, [[Cupid and Psyche|Psyche]]. None of them were pleased with what they witnessed in the realm of the dead. In particular, the Greek war hero [[Achilles]], whom Odysseus conjured with a blood [[libation]], said:
{{Blockquote|<poem>O shining Odysseus, never try to console me for dying.
I would rather follow the plow as thrall to another
man, one with no land allotted to him and not much to live on,
than be a king over all the perished dead.</poem>|source=Achilles's soul to Odysseus. [[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' 11.488–491 (Lattimore translation)}}

===Abduction of Persephone===
{{Main|Rape of Persephone}}
[[File:Proserpina kidnapped Kircheriano Terme.jpg|thumb|left|Cinerary altar with tabula representing the rape of Proserpina. White marble, Antonine Era, 2nd century CE.]]
[[Image:Persephone Hades BM Vase E82.jpg|thumb|Persephone and Hades: tondo of an Attic red-figured [[kylix (drinking cup)|kylix]], ca. 440–430&nbsp;BC]]
[[File:Hades and Persephone, Vergina.jpg|thumb|A fresco showing Hades and Persephone riding in a [[chariot]], from the tomb of Queen [[Eurydice I of Macedon]] at [[Vergina]], Greece, 4th century BC]]
[[File:Hates abduction.jpg|thumb|Oil painting of Hades abducting Persephone. 18th Century. Oil on wood with gilt background. Property of Missing Link Antiques.]]

The consort of Hades was [[Persephone]], daughter of [[Zeus]] and [[Demeter]].<ref>Guirand, p. 190.</ref> Persephone did not submit to Hades willingly, but was abducted by him while picking flowers in the fields of [[Nysa (mythology)|Nysa]] (her father, Zeus, had previously given Persephone to Hades, to be his wife, as is stated in the first lines of the ''Homeric Hymn to Demeter''). In protest of his act, Demeter cast a curse on the land and there was a great famine; though, one by one, the gods came to request she lift it, lest mankind perish and cause the gods to be deprived of their receiving gifts and sacrifices, Demeter asserted that the earth would remain barren until she saw her daughter again. Zeus then sends for his son, [[Hermes]], and instructs him to go down to the underworld in hopes that he may be able to convince Hades to allow Persephone to return to Earth, so that Demeter might see Persephone and cause the famine to stop. Hermes obeys and goes down to Hades's realm, wherein he finds Hades seated upon a couch, Persephone seated next to him. Hermes relays Zeus's message, and Hades complies, saying, 
{{Blockquote|Go now, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother, go, and feel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down; for I shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless gods, that am own brother to father Zeus. 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.|sign=|source=''Homeric Hymn to Demeter''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg002.perseus-eng1:360-369|title=Hymn 2 to Demeter, line 347|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}

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. Demeter and Persephone run towards each other and embrace one another, happy that they are reunited. Demeter, however, suspects that Persephone may have [[Taboo#In religion and mythology|eaten food while down in the underworld]], and so she questions Persephone, saying:
{{Blockquote|My child, tell me, surely you have not tasted any food while you were below? Speak out and hide nothing, but let us both know. For if you have not, you shall come back from loathly Hades and live with me and your [[Zeus|father]], the dark-clouded son of Cronos and be honored by all the deathless gods; but if you have tasted food, you must go back again beneath the secret places of the earth, there to dwell a third part of the seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall be with me and the other deathless gods. 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. And now tell me how he rapt you away to the realm of darkness and gloom, and by what trick did the strong Host of Many beguile you?|sign=|source=''[[Homeric Hymn]] to [[Demeter]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg002.perseus-eng1:398-448|title=Hymn 2 to Demeter, line 398|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}

[[File:Hades abducting Persephone.jpg|thumb|Hades abducting [[Persephone]], fresco in the small [[Kingdom of Macedonia|Macedonian]] royal tomb at [[Vergina]], [[Macedonia, Greece]], {{Circa|340 BC}}]]
Persephone does admit that she ate the food of the dead, as she tells Demeter that Hades gave her a pomegranate seed and forced her to eat it. Persephone's eating the pomegranate seed binds her to Hades and the underworld, much to the dismay of Demeter. Zeus, however, had previously proposed a compromise, to which all parties had agreed: of the year, Persephone would spend one third with her husband.<ref>Guirand, p. 175.</ref>

It is during this time, when Persephone is down in the underworld with her husband, that [[winter]] falls upon the earth, "an aspect of sadness and mourning."<ref>Guirand, p. 176.</ref>

===Visitors in the underworld===
The hero [[Orpheus]] once descended into the underworld in search of his late wife [[Eurydice]], who died when a snake bit her. 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.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph10.htm#484521418 10.1-85]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apolldorus]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.3.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.3.2]; Hyginus, ''[[De astronomia]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.7.1 2.7.1]; [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Hercules (Seneca)|Hercules Furens]]'' [[s:Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/156|569]]; [[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/StatiusThebaidVIII.php#anchor_Toc342643142 8.63].</ref>

In another story, [[Theseus]] and [[Pirithous]] pledged to kidnap and marry daughters of [[Zeus]]. Theseus chose [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] and together they kidnapped her and decided to hold onto her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose [[Persephone]].<ref>[[Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ''Epitome'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+Epit.+E.1.23&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.23]</ref> They left Helen with Theseus's mother, [[Aethra (Greek mythology)#Mother of Theseus|Aethra]], and traveled to the underworld. 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.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Epitome]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DEpitome%3Abook%3DE%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D24 1.24]</ref><ref name="plutarchtheseus">Plutarch, Theseus 31 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0067%3Achapter%3D31]</ref>

[[File:Allard Pierson Museum Hades and Persephone 7768.jpg|thumb|left|Hades abducts Persephone, pot made and found in [[Taranto]], 350-325 BC]]
[[Sisyphus]] was a mortal king from [[Corinth]] who was punished in [[Tartarus]] for revealing to the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river god]] [[Asopus]] the whereabouts of his daughter [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]] after [[Zeus]] abducted her,<ref>Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.9.3]</ref> and for trying to cheat [[death]] as well. Zeus, angry at Sisyphus for revealing the secret, sent [[Thanatos]] to Sisyphus, but he cleverly cast Death into his own bonds, and as a result no one could die until [[Ares]] freed Thanatos and delivered Sisyphus to him. But still, Sisyphus ordered his wife [[Merope (Pleiad)|Merope]] not to perform any funeral rites for him and what else was accustomed as tribute to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]] gods before he was brought to Hades. After some time that Merope had not offered proper honours, Hades learnt of this, and allowed Sisyphus to return to the world of the living so that he could punish his wife, with the understanding that he would return afterwards. Sisyphus, however, never returned as promised until years later, when he died of old age. Hades punished Sisyphus by making him roll a boulder up a hill in the underworld; but every time he reached the top, the boulder would roll down again and again.<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=-9EIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA249 6.153]</ref><ref>Morford, Mark P. O.; Lenardon, Robert J. (1999). ''Classical Mythology''. Oxford University Press, pg [https://books.google.com/books?id=ecGXcMRAPXcC&pg=PA491 491]</ref> In another version, it is Persephone who lets him out.<ref>[[Theognis]], frags [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=1.11.2+699-718&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0479 699-718]</ref>

[[Heracles]]'s final labour was to capture Cerberus. First, Heracles went to [[Eleusina#Ancient Eleusina|Eleusis]] to be initiated into the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. He did this to absolve himself of guilt for killing the [[centaur]]s and to learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive. He found the entrance to the underworld at [[Taenarum]]. [[Athena]] and [[Hermes]] helped him through and back from Hades. Heracles asked Hades for permission to take Cerberus. Hades agreed as long as Heracles did not harm Cerberus. When Heracles dragged the dog out of Hades, he passed through the cavern [[Acherusia]].
In the myth of [[Admetus]] and [[Alcestis]], after Alcestis chose to die in place of her husband [[Admetus]] in order to save him, [[Heracles]] brought her back from the dead by fighting and defeating Hades.<ref>Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.15&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.9.15]</ref> In other versions, like [[Euripides]]'s play ''[[Alcestis]]'', Heracles fought [[Thanatos]] instead.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0088%3Acard%3D1118 1140]</ref> At another time, [[Heracles]] sieged the town of [[Pylos]] and during the fight he wounded Hades, who had sided with the Pylians.<ref>Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.7.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 2.7.3]; [[Pindar]], ''Olympian Odes'' [[s:Odes of Pindar (Myers)/Olympian Odes/9|9.2]]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+6.25.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 6.25.2]; [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Hercules (Seneca)|Hercules Furens]]'' [[s:Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/155|559]]</ref> In great pain, Hades went to [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]] to be healed by the physician of the gods, [[Paean (god)|Paean]].<ref>[[Homer]], the ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/2#5.395 5.395-404]</ref>

===Lovers of Hades===
[[Leuce (mythology)|Leuce]] was the most beautiful of the nymphs and a daughter of [[Oceanus]]. Hades fell in love with her and abducted her to the underworld. 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 [[Elysium|Elysian Fields]] where the pious spend their afterlife, he brought a white tree into existence. It was this tree with which Heracles crowned himself to celebrate his [[Descent to the underworld|return from the underworld]].<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], note to ''[[Eclogues|Eclogue]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0091%3Apoem%3D7%3Acommline%3D61 7.61]: ''Leuce, Oceani filia, inter nymphas pulcherrima fuit. hanc Pluton adamavit et ad inferos rapuit. quae postquam apud eum completo vitae suae tempore mortua est, Pluton tam in amoris, quam in memoriae solacium in Elysiis piorum campis leucen nasci arborem iussit, ex qua, sicut dictum est, Hercules se, revertens ab inferis, coronavit.''</ref>

[[Minthe]] was a [[nymph]] of the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river]] [[Cocytus]] who became Hades's mistress.<ref>[[Photius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]], ''Lexicon'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=RoRiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA572 μίνθα]</ref> A jealous [[Persephone]] trampled the nymph under her foot, transforming her into [[Mentha|garden mint]] in the process.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+8.3.14 8.3.14]</ref><ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi006.perseus-eng1:10.652 10.728–730].</ref> According to a scholiast on [[Nicander]], Hades turned his dead lover into the [[Mentha|mint]] herb after Persephone tore her into pieces for sleeping with him.<ref>[[Scholia]] ad [[Nicander|Nicandri]] ''Alexipharmaca'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy2LWzF4v3oC&pg=PA212 375]</ref><ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D26%3Aentry%3Dmintha-bio-1 Mintha]</ref> In another version, Hades had kept Minthe as his mistress before he married Persephone, and set her aside afterwards. Minthe boasted of being more beautiful than Persephone, and that Hades would soon take her back. In anger over the [[hubris]] directed toward her daughter, [[Demeter]] trampled Minthe and turned her into mint.<ref>[[Oppian]], ''Halieutica'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Oppian/Halieutica/3*.html#482 3.485]</ref>

Theophile was a girl who claimed that Hades loved her and that she was better than Persephone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/182847|title=CIRB 130 - PHI Greek Inscriptions|website=epigraphy.packhum.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2020/03/17/hades-newest-bride-a-remarkable-epitaph-2/|title = Hades' Newest Bride: A Remarkable Epitaph|date = 17 March 2020}}</ref>

===Other works===
[[File:The Abduction of Persephone by Pluto, Amphipolis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The Abduction of Persephone by Pluto'', [[Amphipolis]], [[Greece]].]]

Once, when a plague hit [[Aonia]], a region in [[Boeotia]], the people consulted an oracle, and the [[Apollo|god]] replied to them that they needed to make an appeal to the gods of the Underworld and sacrifice two willing young maidens to appease the anger of Hades and Persephone. The girls that were chosen were [[Menippe and Metioche]], the daughters of [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]], who solemnly offered their lives in order to save their countrymen. After invoking the chthonic deities three times, they took their own lives with the shuttles of their looms. Hades and Persephone then took pity in both of them, and transformed their corpses into [[comet]]s.<ref>[[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''Metamorphoses'' [https://topostext.org/work/216#25 25]</ref>

In some versions Hades is considered the master of the goddesses of [[Moirai|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. This relationship is very clear in Roman epics like [[Statius]]'s ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'',<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/StatiusThebaidVIII.php#anchor_Toc342643142 8.28-29]</ref> where they are mentioned taking souls to be judged by Hades and inflicting severe punishments or in [[Claudian]]'s ''De raptu Proserpinae''<ref>[[Claudian]], ''De raptu Proserpinae'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Claudian/De_Raptu_Proserpinae/1*.html#p297 1.32-48]</ref> where they appear begging their master not to release the [[Titans]] and saying everything they do is for him, after Hades threatens Zeus to release the Titans against him if he does not give him a wife.

Hades is considered the father of the [[Furies]] in some versions, but the mother's identity varies. in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' their mother is the night goddess [[Nyx]]<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Aabo%3Aphi%2C0690%2C003%3A7%3A339 6.250]</ref> and in the ''[[Orphic Hymns]]'' their mother is Persephone<ref>''[[Orphic Hymns]] 29 to [[Persephone]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 11]</ref> by Hades.<ref>''[[Orphic Hymns]] 70 to the [[Erinyes|Furies]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 4-5]</ref> One of the rare occasions when he appears interacting with them is in [[Statius]]'s ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'',<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/StatiusThebaidVIII.php#anchor_Toc342643142 8.73-77]</ref> when Hades orders Tisiphone to punish humans for having invaded the [[Greek underworld|underworld]]. He is said to hate [[Alecto]], even though she is one of his children.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/245#7.286 7.328]</ref>

In contrast to many of his other classical representations the satirical author [[Lucian]] of [[Samosata]] presents Hades in a more positive and even comic way. In his ''Dialogues of the Dead'', he is represented trying to solve problems of some famous mythological figures and one of the most outstanding dialogues is with [[Protesilaus]], one of the Greek heroes killed in the [[Trojan War]]. 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. Hades is skeptical, but Persephone manages to persuade him.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogues of the Dead'' [https://pt.calameo.com/read/000107044fc0f01286992 Protesilaus, Pluto and Persephone]</ref>

According to [[Hesiod]], when the monstrous [[Typhon]] attacked the Olympian gods, Hades is said to have trembled in fear in the underworld while [[Zeus]] fought Typhon above.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D820 850]</ref>

In one of [[Plato]]'s dialogues, Socrates talks about Hades as a figure capable of making everyone fall by his enchantments<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172%3Atext%3DCrat.%3Apage%3D403 403c]</ref> and that is why no one ever leaves the underworld, including the sirens.<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172%3Atext%3DCrat.%3Asection%3D403d 403d]</ref>