Hades

Theseus and Pirithous agreed that each would marry a daughter of Zeus. Theseus first helped himself to Helen, then a child, intending to marry her when she was older. Castor and Pollux, Helen’s brothers, marched against the place where she had been taken and recovered her. They did not find Theseus there, because he had already set out with Pirithous for the underworld.

Their agreement required Pirithous to find Persephone, the wife of Hades, as his bride. In one account, the two men consulted an oracle of Zeus, whom they had called to witness their oath. The oracle answered with an ironic suggestion that they should descend to Tartarus and demand Persephone for Pirithous. Pirithous took the answer seriously, and Theseus went with him because he had sworn to help. They entered the underworld with swords in their hands. One account places their route at a cavern in Laconian Taenarus, where they avoided the ferry passage across Lethe.

They reached the gates of Hades’ palace and made their request. Hades understood their purpose. He pretended to welcome them as guests and asked them to sit down. They obeyed without suspicion. The seat was the Chair of Forgetfulness, and anyone who sat on it forgot everything and could not move. In one account, coils of snakes also held them fast. Hades therefore prevented both men from leaving. Pirithous remained imprisoned in the underworld, because Hades knew that he had planned to carry off Persephone.

When Heracles later came to the underworld, he pulled Theseus from the chair and brought him back to the living world. He tried to free Pirithous as well, but could not. Pirithous was left in Hades, while Theseus returned alone.

Cronus began to vomit after Zeus secretly gave him a powerful medicine. First came the stone that Rhea had placed in his hands instead of the newborn Zeus. Then his swallowed children came out, including Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Hera. They had grown into adults during their time inside Cronus. Zeus now joined them and prepared to oppose their father.

Zeus brought the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires to his side. The Cyclopes made weapons for the three brothers. Zeus received his thunderbolts, Poseidon received his trident, and Hades received a helmet of darkness. These weapons later helped break the deadlock in the war.

Cronus and the Titans held their stronghold on Mount Othrys. Zeus, Hades, their siblings and their allies held Mount Olympus. The conflict between the two sides lasted ten years. The Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes fought with the younger gods. Hades fought beside Zeus and the other Olympian gods as they opposed Cronus and the Titans.

Zeus and his allies eventually overthrew Cronus and the Titans. Many of the defeated Titans were confined in Tartarus. Oceanus, Helios, Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius escaped this punishment. Gaia later bore Typhon to seek revenge for the Titans who had been imprisoned.

Hades rose from the underworld in a golden chariot and seized Persephone as she gathered flowers in the Vale of Enna. Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She lived under the protection of her parents, who kept her away from suitors and danger. She spent her days in the fields, gathering flowers and helping Demeter gather seeds, pollinate plants, and sow the earth. She also danced with the wood folk, who cared for her.

One warm evening, Persephone wandered among the long grasses and flowers near a stream. Hades had seen her and wanted her as his wife. Zeus neither granted nor refused Hades’ request, since he knew that Demeter would not accept the union. Hades then carried out the abduction. He came up through a cleft in the earth, took Persephone by the wrist, and placed her in his chariot. She cried as he bore her down into the underworld, where she became his queen.

Persephone’s cries reached Demeter, who began searching for her daughter. She crossed land and sea, but no one told her what had happened. For nine days she wandered without tasting ambrosia or nectar. Another account gives ten days and says that Hecate told Demeter Persephone had been abducted, though she did not know by whom. Demeter then learned from Helios that Hades had taken Persephone to the world beneath the earth, among the dead.

Demeter’s grief and anger affected the earth. Nothing grew while she searched for her daughter and mourned her disappearance. The account ends with Demeter learning that Persephone was in Hades’ realm, after which a still greater grief entered her heart.

Hades seized Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and carried her to the Underworld. He wanted her as his wife. Zeus neither approved nor refused the request, because he knew that Demeter would reject the union. When Persephone disappeared, Demeter searched for her without knowing what had happened. On the tenth day, Hecate told Demeter that Persephone had been abducted, though she did not know by whom. Helios then told her that Hades had taken the girl.

Demeter returned to Olympus and confronted Zeus. In her grief, she neglected the earth. No crops grew, the land refused to flower or bear fruit, people starved, and the gods received no sacrifices. Zeus therefore decided that Persephone should return to her mother. He sent word to Hades, who reluctantly agreed to release his young bride.

As Persephone prepared to leave, Hades gave her a pomegranate for the journey. He presented it as a token of his love and esteem. Persephone ate several seeds, ending the fast she had kept during her time in the Underworld. At once, darkness fell upon her. Demeter was waiting just beyond the gates, but she could not reach her daughter. Anyone who ate or drank in the land of Hades was bound to remain there, and a chasm opened between mother and child.

Zeus then made a settlement between Demeter and Hades. Persephone would spend part of each year with Hades in the Underworld and the rest with Demeter in the upper world. Her return allowed the earth to flower and produce crops again, while her time below kept her connected to Hades and the realm of the dead.