Hades, Pluto, Dis Pater, Orcus, Plouton or any other name you wish to call him is the god of riches, souls, and the underworld as well as the eldest of the three main brothers in mythology. Hades also has many symbols which consist of Cerberus, a drinking horn, a scepter, Cypress, Narcissus, and a key. His brothers Zeus, god of the sky, and Poseidon, god of the ocean, are also sons of Cronus. Hades was not considered to be death itself, or an Olympian, however was thought to cause death and so the Greeks were not keen in uttering his name. There were also accounts of sacrificial practices made in honour of Hades, carried out at night and where the blood of victims was left to seep down into the earth to reach the underworld god.
In older Greek myths, Hades is the "misty and gloomy" abode of the dead, which is the ultimate destination of all mortals. In this conception, there was no reward or special punishment for the deceased, making it somewhat akin to the early Hebrew conception of Sheol. In later Greek tales and writings, this view evolved to include the notion of a segregated afterlife, where mortals would be assigned to either reward or punishment based …show more content…
The peculiar admixture of these two traditions is attested to in a folk etymology preserved within the text, where the name Hades was derived from "Adam" (the first man), saying that it was because he was the first to enter there. When the Greeks propitiated Hades, they banged their hands on the ground to be sure he would hear them. Black animals, such as sheep, were sacrificed to him, and it is believed that at one time even human sacrifices were offered. The blood from sacrifices to Hades dripped into a pit so it could reach him. The person who offered the sacrifice had to turn away his face. Every hundred years festivals, called the Secular Games, were held in his
In older Greek myths, Hades is the "misty and gloomy" abode of the dead, which is the ultimate destination of all mortals. In this conception, there was no reward or special punishment for the deceased, making it somewhat akin to the early Hebrew conception of Sheol. In later Greek tales and writings, this view evolved to include the notion of a segregated afterlife, where mortals would be assigned to either reward or punishment based …show more content…
The peculiar admixture of these two traditions is attested to in a folk etymology preserved within the text, where the name Hades was derived from "Adam" (the first man), saying that it was because he was the first to enter there. When the Greeks propitiated Hades, they banged their hands on the ground to be sure he would hear them. Black animals, such as sheep, were sacrificed to him, and it is believed that at one time even human sacrifices were offered. The blood from sacrifices to Hades dripped into a pit so it could reach him. The person who offered the sacrifice had to turn away his face. Every hundred years festivals, called the Secular Games, were held in his