Greek god hades biography

Overview

One of the most dreaded and fearsome deities that Greek mythology had to offer, Hades was king of the Underworld (also called Hades) and ruler of the dead.

He was a shadowy figure, both literally and metaphorically, thanks in part to a helmet of invisibility fashioned for him by Hephaestus. The only child of Cronus and Rhea who did not inhabit Mount Olympus, Hades lived alone in a dark palace within the Underworld, a subterranean region of mist and gloom.

Greek god hades biography for kids

Hades was an unusually solitary figure and seldom took part in the feuds that constantly occupied other Olympian deities. Despite his distance from mythological drama (or perhaps because of it), Hades was universally dreaded by the Greeks, who were afraid to even utter his name.

Etymology

The earliest documented version of the name “Hades” was Aïdēs (Ἀΐδης), used in the Homeric epics theIliad and theOdyssey (eighth century BCE).

The name had evolved into its more familiar form, Hades (Ἅιδης), by the Classical peri