The myth of how Hades got Persephone for his wife is perhaps the most famous one about him. Among the most prevalent ones, however, are that Cerberus’ name means “spotted” or “growly”.Ĭheck out: Animal symbols of the Greek gods. There are many attempts to analyze what Cerberus’ name means, but none of them have gained common consensus. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon. Cerberus guards the gates of the Underworld, not allowing anyone to leave.Ĭerberus had three heads and the tail of a snake. Hades has a dog, the monstrous and giant Cerberus. Hades seems content to stay in his kingdom, where everyone eventually ends up. He is not (always) one of the 12 Olympiansīecause Hades’ kingdom is so far away from Olympus, he isn’t always considered as one of the 12 Olympian gods who live or spend most of their time in the divine quarters at the top of the mountain. Thanatos is who sweeps down to take the soul and cause a person to die and become a member of Hades’ kingdom. That is Thanatos, a primordial winged god who was the twin of the god of sleep, Hypnos. Though Hades is the god of the dead, he is not the god of death.

The earth was considered common possession of all the gods, unless one of the three brothers intervened. Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon got the sea, water, and earthquakes, and Hades got the kingdom of the dead, the Underworld. Together with Hades and Poseidon they divided up the world into separate kingdoms. After a huge war that lasted ten years, Zeus won and became the new king of the gods. Zeus and his siblings, including Hades, fought against Cronus and the other Titans ruling with him. In fact, he wouldn’t give up his throne to Zeus without a war, and that war was called the “Titanomachy”, the battle of the Titans. He got his kingdom after the TitanomachyĬronus wouldn’t give up the throne without a fight.

You might also like: Popular Greek Mythology Stories. Hades emerged along with his siblings, now fully grown, and joined Zeus in the war against the Titans. With the help of the Titan Metis, the goddess of wisdom, Zeus tricked Cronus into drinking a potion that forced him to vomit out all his children. When Zeus was old enough, he rose against his father. She disguised a big stone as a newborn baby and gave it to Cronus while she hid Zeus away. Tired of giving birth to children but having none to raise, Rhea decided to go against Cronus when Zeus, the youngest, was born. So after Hades, five of his siblings followed down Cronus’ gullet. Overcome with fear that he would lose his power, Cronus set out to eat every single one of his children the moment his wife Rhea gave birth to them. The moment he was born his father, Cronus, swallowed him whole for fear of a prophecy by Gaia, the primordial goddess of the Earth and Cronus’ mom, that one of his children would topple him and steal his throne. You might also like: Family tree of the Olympian Gods. So, Hades is the older brother of Zeus, king of the gods, and Poseidon, king of the seas! In fact, he is the firstborn! After him, his siblings Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Chiron, and Zeus were born.

Hades is the son of Cronus and Rhea, the king and queen of the Titans. 'clearly seen,' fiuss 'knowledge ' Welsh gwyn, Gaulish vindos, Breton gwenn 'white ' Gothic, Old Swedish, Old English witan 'to know ' Gothic weitan 'to see ' English wise, German wissen 'to know ' Lithuanian vysti 'to see ' Bulgarian vidya 'I see ' Polish widzieć 'to see,' wiedzieć 'to know ' Russian videt' 'to see,' vest' 'news,' Old Russian vedat' 'to know.1.14 His and Persephone’s names were not mentioned 14 Fun Facts About the Greek God Hades He is the oldest brother It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit veda 'I know ' Avestan vaeda 'I know ' Greek oida, Doric woida 'I know,' idein 'to see ' Old Irish fis 'vision,' find 'white,' i.e.

It forms all or part of: advice advise belvedere clairvoyant deja vu Druid eidetic eidolon envy evident guide guidon guise guy (n.1) 'small rope, chain, wire ' Gwendolyn Hades history idea ideo- idol idyll improvisation improvise interview invidious kaleidoscope -oid penguin polyhistor prevision provide providence prudent purvey purview review revise Rig Veda story (n.1) 'connected account or narration of some happening ' supervise survey twit unwitting Veda vide view visa visage vision visit visor vista voyeur wise (adj.) 'learned, sagacious, cunning ' wise (n.) 'way of proceeding, manner ' wisdom wiseacre wit (n.) 'mental capacity ' wit (v.) 'to know ' witenagemot witting wot. Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to see.'

Hades greek