4. History of Hell, The Greek Hades

Ancient Greek Land of the Dead

Introduction

Hades is the most complex and fascinating of all the different “hells” represented in various religions. Coincidentally, it is also when the modern concept of hell essentially commenced. Hades has its origins in Greek mythology circa the eighth century BC when it was initially denoted as a god of the underworld. Over time, it became more recognized as a place rather than a specific god. This blog entry will look at the god first, then the place of Hades in Greek thought. It is not designed to be completely exhaustive because the amount of literature is so vast, but will give a good overview about the beginnings of Hades.

Hades the God

Hades has his introduction as a god back in Hesiod’s Theogony and Homer’s The Odyssey. Both works were written around the seventh to eighth centuries BC and were more poetic and philosophical rather than an attempt to be sacred writing. In those works, the god Hades was part of the Olympians (second generation pantheon of gods) who went to war with, and overthrew, the original pantheon of gods (the Titans) and subsequently had them bound in the Greek mythological hell of Tartarus (more on that HERE).

After the defeat of the Titans, the Olympians took control of the entire cosmos and began their reign. Zeus was deemed the “lead god” and was the ruler of the sky along with his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades, who ended up ruling the sea and the underworld, respectively. Some accounts say that Hades was not exactly thrilled with his allotment but could do nothing about it, so he became resigned to his fate to rule the underworld where he is now in charge of all the souls who arrive.

Hades Biography

Hades is not a prototype evil character like Satan. He has never been described as evil or malicious but rather gloomy and depressed. This is not to say he is a good guy, though, because he did in fact, kidnap his wife, Persephone. In this story, Kore the Maiden (who is later called Persephone) was out picking flowers when she was seized by Hades and taken to the underworld where she was kept, like everyone else, for all eternity. Later, when a large famine came upon the land, Zeus sent his son Hermes to the underworld to speak with Hades about letting Persephone go for a little while since she was the goddess of vegetation and could assist the people in getting food. Hades agreed and, on their way up to the land, he forces her to eat a pomegranate seed which ties her to Hades forever.

Zeus ends up striking a deal that lets her stay for 1/3 of the year with her husband, which is when winter hits, and the other 2/3 of the year up on the land, when spring and summer arrive. The story serves as a mythological explanation for why we have seasons, and Hades is responsible since he is the god of the underworld. Ruling the land underneath has many responsibilities, including plants and vegetation, since they come up from the ground, represented by the co-ruler Persephone. There is much more to this fascinating story, and I would highly recommend anyone who is even remotely interested in the subject to read a little more about Hades the god. One good site is found HERE.

Hades as a Place

Though a great deal more can be said about the god Hades himself, the place of Hades as the underworld is an intriguing story as well. Besides what many people may think, Hades is not hell, and has never been thought of in that way (for the most part). Hades is the place where everyone will go after death. From there, one’s final destination can be reached whether it be Tartarus (similar to hell) or the Elysian Fields (similar to heaven).

Hades is more of a cavern with many places, compartments, and even rivers that flow through it. It can also be described similar to that of a typical county where many areas, cities, and rivers are located within its boundaries. Many different maps from people who have read Greek Mythology attempt to show the layout of Hades and they are all slightly different from each other, so there is no one specific arrangement of how it should look or how it is organized. Regardless, it is a large area with many subdivisions within its walls where all the dead arrive.

Hades as Torment?

Hades was not a place of torment but rather a place where everyone goes when they die, and it is within Hades that a soul goes on to either Tartarus or the Elysian Fields based on what they have done in this life. However, another aspect of death is having a proper burial procedure to assure that the deceased individual arrives into the proper place in the afterlife. In ancient Greece, when a person dies, they are supposed to be buried with an obol—a coin used to bribe the ferryman Charon (pronounced CAR-on) for passage across the river Styx to arrive into the realm of the dead safely.

However, if one is not prepared for the journey into the afterlife by means of a proper burial by loved ones, or there is no obol left with the body upon burial, they can be left on the shore of the river Styx because they do not have the appropriate funds to pay Charon. In this case, they will be left on the shore to be wandering for eternity with no place to rest. Though, some accounts have those who lack payment wandering the shores only for a hundred years before crossing if they did not receive the proper burial procedures from their family and loved ones. Therefore, correct burial procedures are essential to those living in the ancient near east, and a lack of attention to detail could prove costly for the deceased in Hades.

Hades Interpreted

Over time, and in various cultures, though, Hades would lose its place in mythology and become associated as simply the repository of lost souls or just the “realm of the dead.” Similar to how Sheol is seen in ancient Judaism (blog post HERE) Hades became a neutral gloomy, almost boring place that lacked both the torments of hell and the joys of heaven and was likewise treated as a synonym for death. Similar to how a modern individual would use the phrase “the grave” or simply “death,” Hades is now seen in much the same fashion, and the Biblical authors (with a few exceptions) appear also to use it in this sense.

Hades and the Bible

There is much, much more to be said about the relationship between Hades and the biblical authors, which I have previously written about HERE. This post is simply about the history of Hades and can be viewed as part 1 of a 2-part series with the post I just linked to about how this Greek mythological underworld has a place within the biblical text.

Previous blog post on Zoroastrianism’s hell is found HERE

Next blog post on the Greek hell Tartarus is found HERE