Welcome to my new internet home! To kick things off we’re bringing back Immortal Monday. And who better to reboot our favorite series than the overseer of life everlasting himself – Hades.
“The first step to eternal life, is you have to die.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk
Collect 10,000+ souls and leave life behind, you’re in the underworld – Hades domain. Hades was the Greek god of the dead and the dying, and today’s topic on #ImmortalMonday. As the god of death he oversaw funeral rituals and rites. He maintained the underworld, caring for those that had passed on, making sure they stayed where they belonged. Nothing chapped his hid more than escapees. And don’t get him started on people who attempted to steal souls from his domain.
~Ruler of the Underworld~
The eldest of Cronus’ sons, Hades was brother to Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera. As a powerful fighter, he played an important role in the long war against Cronus. The war would eventually put his brother, Zeus, in the leading position of power. The brothers divided the ruling domains between them, Hades gaining control of one third of the share.
At the end of the siege they took the skies, the seas and the underworlds. The land was left for Gaia to rule. Who got what domain was decided by the luck of the draw. As a result, Hades became the keeper of the dead. He was often feared despite being a just god. He never took life that wasn’t meant for the underworld and he believed in keeping balance more so than collecting numbers.
~Hades the Lover~
Although an Olympian, Hades chose to spend most of his time within his domain, a lonely place. He wanted a bride. The answer was Persephone. Their story has become a rather famous one. He tricked Persephone into the underworld and when her mother, Demeter, found out, she was furious – casting famine upon the earth in retaliation. Demeter refused to relent until Persephone was returned to her.
Zeus was forced to intervene for the sake of humankind and Hades agreed to allow Persephone to visit with her mother. Except Hades tricked Persephone into eating the pomegranate seed before she was allowed to leave. In so doing she bound herself to the underworld for 1/3 of the year. It was a term her mother begrudgingly agreed to. Thus, Persephone’s time with Hades became known as winter, when her mother, Demeter, mourned the absence of her daughter.
~Hades favorite accessories~
Cerberus – his pet three-headed dog .
The Helm of Darkness – A helmet that granted the wearer invisibility given to him by the Cyclops.
The bident – Similar to Poseidon’s trident, only a two-pronged tool. Much like a pitchfork.
A chariot ‒ pulled by four black horses. Doesn’t everyone travel in such style?
Interesting fact: After taking on the responsibility of the underworld, it was actually named for Hades. Divided into two regions, the upper region is known as Erebus and the lower, Tartarus, where the Titans were imprisoned. Several symbolic rivers are known to run through the lower region. They are: the river of sadness, the Acheron, the river of lamentation, the Cocytus, the river of forgetfulness, Lethe, the river of fire, the Phlegethon, and the river of hate, Styx. That last one makes you look at the band from our youth a little differently, doesn’t it?
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The relationship of Hades and Persephone have inspired many stories through the ages. He took her by force, but did she come to love him? A while back we discussed Meg Cabot’s take on this little bit of mythology. Sign up to follow this new blog location and comment any time before midnight on Friday and you’ll be entered to win a copy of her book Abandon. What would Hades and Persephone be like today?
Follow this blog and leave a comment then maybe, just maybe, I’ll end up mailing you a book very soon. Could happen. Good luck!
Surprise on me. As I kick off the re-installment of Immortal Monday, my husband is beside me, sick as a dog. My kids have another day without school. Bare with me as comment response and interaction will continue to be a challenge with the entire family home and begging for my attention. 😉
Love the new website! It’s gorgeous!
Hades is one of my favorite Greek Gods. Have you read The Goddess Test yet? It takes a different look at the Hades/Persephone story and it’s one of my favorite series.
Thank you, Rebecca! I haven’t read The Goddess Test. I’ll have to look into that one. You now have me very curious. Thanks for stopping.
I’ve always been fascinated by Hades and Persephone, but I didn’t know all that much about Hades himself until now. Thanks, Debra.
You’re always welcome! So glad you were able to swing by, Emma.
When did you start self-hosting?
I am staying as far away from Hades as possible…..Pretty creepy guy!
Laird has been working on this site for a while now. This is the first post to officially come from here. Hades isn’t such a bad guy. He’s just doing his job. Don’t give him a reason to want you in his underworld. 😉
Hello my darling friend! I love the new site. It looks gorgeous, as do you. Sorry your kids are home and your husband is sick. Boo!
But hey, you’ve got Hades to hang out with, right? Who better to keep you company than the fun guy of death, right? At least he knows how to throw a party. Everyone’s dying to get in. Bwahahaha! Get it? Okay, so it wasn’t that funny.
Ah, Persephone. She’s one of my favorite. I have a painting of her in my bedroom. Such a sad/romantic story there. I believe she DID come to love Hades, eventually. I have to believe that, otherwise it’s too tragic.
I hope you get some time to to yourself today. Enjoy the new digs. I love, love, love the look.
You had me laughing out loud with your bad joke. I love it! 😀
You should share your picture of Persephone. Sounds like a true fan if I ever heard of one. I’m with you, though. I like to believe in the romantic notion that they eventually found love.
Sent the sick hubby off the the docs. Now I’m just dealing with the kiddos until he comes back and needs more nursing.
Oh that Hades. Gotta love him. Who knew there were rivers in the underworld? I thought it was hot and dry for some reason.
Love the cool new site. Looking forward to more Immortal Mondays.
I’m a little off my game today. I forgot to put my name on my post.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
There – that looks better.
Much better. We all want to see your beautiful name. 🙂
I think it’s still hot and dry, only with rivers running through it. Uninviting rivers, if I might add.
I’m so glad you like the site. Laird worked hard on it.
I love your new site, Deborah. It looks fab! So sorry your hubby is sick. I hope he feels better soon. This is an interesting post about Hades. Years ago I bought a picture book titled Persephone and the Pomegranate. The illustrations are awesome.
I’m looking forward to a visit from Thor! 🙂
Thank you, Lynn. Today the hubby was feeling good enough to head back to work. Now I’m the one who is sick. Family loves to share, don’t we? 😉 Sounds like a wonderful picture book! Maybe you’ll share it with us some time?
Can’t wait to see what kind of mischief you and Thor get into.
Yay for another installment of Immortal Monday! I didn’t know much about Hades, although I remember reading something about Persephone and the pommegranate. Love your new site design- it’s very different and pretty! Unfortunately, my Android phone doesn’t like it so much, so I’ll be commenting later in the day.
Can you share with me what kind of Android phone you have? It would help Laird a lot in fixing any issues. There are so many apps for each type.
I’m so pleased that I could bring you a little new bit of info this time around. Glad you’re happy to see the return of Immortal Monday and like the blog design. Thanks for stopping by, Jennette!
It’s a Droid X2 running Android 3.2 and using the standard browser that came with it. What happens when I click the Name box is it starts scrolling up and down, all over – crazy! Can’t enter anything. That’s going directly to a blog page from my RSS reader. If I go to the home page, I just see the background and header–nothing else, and no scrollbars. I wouldn’t worry about fixing it on my account (esp. since my phone is old) but wanted you to know. Hopefully newer Androids with the Google Chrome browser would work better. 🙂
I used to have the Droid X2. I have the Droid Razor now. It helps Laird if she knows which apps are experiencing issues. Thanks so much for the in depth response. I wouldn’t have known enough to be so thorough.
Your site looks awesome! Love the fox and wolf in the mushrooms at the bottom. Hades and Persephone have always fascinated me…so many layers to that story, just like the Underworld.
Ah, the fox and wolf decided to show up for you? Very fun. They change every time. You never know which critter you might get. Hades and Persephone are a complicated couple to be sure. I think that’s what draws so many to them. I appreciate you stopping by, Debra!
Awww, everybody needs a little love, even Hades 😀 Website is looking great!
I couldn’t agree with you more! What is an existence without love? I hope Hades and Persephone found theirs.
Thank you, Melinda!
The Helm of Darkness-I’d never heard of that! Always cool to learn something new. 🙂
Yes. I think that we’ve all experienced a time or two when we wished we had one of those. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Coleen.
Just getting around to commenting…I love, love the new look and feel. 🙂
Hades is so misunderstood, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him.
Aw, poor Hades. 🙁 He doesn’t have your sympathy.
Just playing with you. He is misunderstood, though. I’ll give you that. He was just a guy doing his job and everyone disliked him for it. Bummer.
So happy you like the place. I think I’ll keep it for a while.
Yay, Immortal Mondays are back. And congrats on the new website. It looks gorgeous. I second Rebecca’s recommendation of The Goddess Test novel (or well, novels, since there are three out so far). I really enjoyed them. The author has also written a collection of short stories from the perspective of the various Greek gods as they appear in her world. Really good stuff. Her Hades is definately a good guy.
I just checked it out. One of the ebooks is currently free. How cool is that? I nabbed it. I’d love to read a story that shows Hades in a positive light. It’s a little confusing as to the order of the books, though. That might just be my headache. I’m happy to see Immortal Monday so well received. Thanks, Reetta! Ooh! Thanks for the linky too! I need to go check that out.
Thanks, Debra… as always, Immortal Monday is an eyeful…
Thanks, Ted!