Question:
Why has Hades always been seen as evil, and Zeus a good guy?
.
2011-05-28 23:18:14 UTC
In movies, books and in Mythology, Zeus has been loved, and seen as the 'good' guy?

When He's a narcissistic, jealous, rapist?
I don't get it. Why?
And Hades has always been portrayed as evil, I might not know much about Mythology, but I know, or think, Hades has never raped anyone, or has been arrogant. :/ I mean, he never raped Persephone, he kidnapped her, sure but it said in stories she enjoyed being Goddess of the underworld. And liked Hades... so...? He's gloomy and all but I wouldn't say 'evil'...
Zeus seems a thousand times worse then him, so why is he always the 'good guy' or 'the better one' because he rules the skies? Do people get confused with Christianity or something?
Eleven answers:
pamela k
2011-05-29 04:41:06 UTC
First of all what books, and movies are you talking about? Most of the ones I have seen or watched he was not always loved and adored. Most of the time no one really liked him they just didn't want to p*** him off. Lightning not a good thing for Gods or mortals.



Now about Hades, yes he was not a clean cut God either. Also Hades was not his name. It was the name of his realm. His actual name is secret as people were afraid of summoning him. Hades was also the one people would invoke to avenge crimes against the deceased.



None of the Gods or Goddesses in any of the World Mythologies were perfect. Most of them raped. Yes the women too. Now some other posters on here stated that rape was accepted in the ancient world. That is a misconception. Yes rape was used alot and it was not something that was accepted. In the Colosseum it was not just the Gladiators that performed there. They had women raped and sometimes it was not just other humans doing it. These people were pretty hard core.



I think you are viewing some things wrong because I just do not get where you are saying that Zeus is a good guy and Hades was a bad guy. I wish you would tell me where you are getting that?



You are correct about Hell being a Christian thing. But it is important to also point out, Hell is very real in the Muslim world too. Ancient Mythology and paganism did not have "Hell" they had an Underworld. The Underworld is where people were judged, just like in the ancient Egyptian religion.
Stella
2011-05-31 02:07:36 UTC
He hasn't been. :) The ancient Greek (Hellenic) religion didn't see the gods in terms of good vs. evil, with all of them fitting on one side or another. That came with monotheistic, "One True Way" religions, who claimed everything good was from their god, and everything else must therefore be evil. Since they managed to kill off most of their competition, the world is largely Christian today, and thus sees the world through Christian bias, which filters down through Hollywood as well.



As someone who follows the religion, I don't take the myths literally. They are symbolic stories meant to convey spiritual concepts. Thus I don't think Hades raped Persephone, any more than I would think Hera was simply a jealous wife with Zeus as a serial adulterer.



Hades became "evil" because he dealt with things that made people uncomfortable, such as death and the afterlife. In fact, his realm (also called Hades) had many different levels, only one of which - Tartarus - was plagiarized (along with a few other religion's afterlife myths) to become the Christian "hell." Another, Elysium, became the Christians' "heaven."



You do have a good point though, especially when it comes to Christian bias of the myths. It really does seem like the books & movies end up portraying it as "God in the Sky = Up = Good" versus "God under the World = Down = Bad."
Hades
2011-05-29 08:42:50 UTC
It depends what you're looking at.



When Christianity comes into an area, they have a habit of equating the local gods to a Christian equivalent, to encourage the natives to take up the religion. Usually, that means finding someone to fill the 'Satan' roll, and since Hades also lived in an underworld he got stuck with it.



The Greeks didn't openly worship Hades, except sometimes as a god of wealth (which can be connected to greed and therefore Satan again), because of their own superstitions about death. That probably didn't help.



Modern media, when dealing with other mythologies, often tries to make it as Christianity-like as possible, which again requires a Satan figure.



With all the Hades=Satan stuff in media, it's no surprise that people tend to buy it, and it's accepted as Hades is evil by people who don't know much about the actual mythology. The fact that he's gloomy never even comes into it, and the thing with Persephone will usually lead to people finding out that Hades isn't a Greek Satan.



Zeus may not have been nice, but he was also god of justice and stuff like that - even if he screwed up (and around) he wasn't evil. He's also rather similar to the Christian god - and there's no way anyone in a Christian country is going to be allowed to publish something that might suggest that Yahweh is evil.



Hell itself is partially derived from the Greek underworld - it's sort of a mix of different afterlifes (the name Hell actually comes from the Norse religion) - and is also underground, so their similarities do seem quite similar.
?
2011-05-29 10:32:37 UTC
It is very much to do with this Christianised view of Greek mythology. The Greco-Roman underworld was a very different place to the Christian vision of Hell: It was a gloomy, mournful place - in some senses, a dark reflection of the upper world - and while it could be a place of punishment (see: Tantalus, Ixion, the Danaides, Tityos, Sisyphus), its landscape had very little in common with the fiery landscape of the Christian Hell (the only place fire comes into play is in the river of fire, the Phlegethon). And indeed, the underworld could be a happy/peaceful place for those who lived virtuous lives and were received into Elysium or the Fortunate Isles.



And I think people are prone to simplifying the Rape of Persephone - they think of Hades as the evil creature of darkness who stole away the young maiden and condemned her spend half her days in the Underworld. What many fail to understand is how the Rape of Persephone can also be seen as a story of initiation and coming of age - indeed, many of the motifs in that story are reflective of the ancient Greek wedding ceremony.



One can't apply the Christian concepts of "good" and "evil" to these ancient myths. Neither Hades nor Zeus is a clear-cut positive or negative figure.



Hades was a fearsome god to the Greeks, who were in no rush to visit his realm, but of the three sons of Kronos his behaviour was perhaps the least objectionable. In some accounts of the myth he was genuinely in love with Persephone, and having married her he never strayed (although he did lust after Minthe before Persephone put a stop it) - whereas Zeus and Poseidon were notorious rapists who were frequently unfaithful to their lives. And he was a fair ruler - somebody else mentioned his trickery in trapping Theseus and Pirithoos in the Underworld, but that was only after they tried to kidnap his wife!



And Zeus, for all that he could be cruel, violent, inconsiderate, narcissistic and unfaithful, also displayed genuine heroism in overthrowing the Titans and rescuing his imprisoned siblings. He was the god of law, order and fate, and in this role he is capable of showing wisdom and foresight.



But again, there's this Christian mindset that leads to simplification - in Zeus, the sky father and king of gods and men, people see God and assume that he must be good and virtuous; and in Hades, lord of the underworld, they see Satan and assume that he must be purely evil.
Oiras E.
2011-05-29 07:01:02 UTC
I agree with you that Hades doesn't deserve the bad reputation he has right now. But he's not blameless either. You need to get your facts straight:



Hades DID rape Persephone. Only in mellowed down version of the myths did Hades just kidnapped Persephone. If you read the true and unrevised myth, Hades actually raped Persephone before abducting her into the underworld. She never "enjoyed' being in the underworld. She just came into the realization that her foolish actions led to her imprisonment and that she should come into terms with the consequences.



Hades rules the underworld. Tartarus, the Greek equivalent of the Christian hell, is part of the underworld. Ergo, Hades does rule hell. The same otherwise for Zeus who rules Olympus. That's why the latter is often portrayed to be the good guy and the former as the villain.



While it is true that Hades is generally a passive god who just abides to the rules of his domain (the underworld), he was also sometimes a deceptive god. He tricked Theseus and Perithous into taking seats of forgetfulness from which they could not get up until Heracles came to rescue them.



On the other hand, in defense of Hades:

Hades has been closely associated with death due to his domain over the underworld. In fact, he does not have any control over death. It is Thanatos, god of death, who's responsible for the death of mortals.

..........................................................................................................................................

None of the Greek gods are what they truly are according to their popular media portrayal. Hades is not an exception.
?
2011-05-29 07:02:53 UTC
Hades raped Persephone and kept her hostage in the underworld.



Rape was kinda common and acceptable in those days though.



The reason Hades got a worse rep than any other Gods is because he rules the Underworld... which to the Greeks is just where you go when you die. To Christians, the Underworld is associated with hell and by virtue Hades became associated with Satan.



Hades was not considered evil to pre-Christian Greeks.
Kaitee
2011-05-29 09:22:35 UTC
Well i dont know if you know that there are 3 sons of kronos then sOme people say that thats it when actually aphrodite was born from the sea some people think that she is the daughter of posidion. The 3 brothers are zues god of the sky posidion god of sea and ,hades the god of the underworld... Ok well hades got tricked he didnt want to take the underworld but he had to so thats when sorta like a bad aura of blackness surrounded him.. So i guess it easy to say that if hades apperance changes so will the other gods so zues had a kinda bright glow... Well theres ur answer also in the stories hades decived people so people were more wary around hades than they are around Zeus becuse they dont trust hades
DisneyDiva5
2011-05-29 07:18:20 UTC
People associate death and the underworld with sadness and just in general: a bad thing. thus the ruler being a bad guy. also i think that the movie hercules(which i love!!!) has had a large influence.
2011-05-29 06:20:33 UTC
That's just how it was in ancient mythology!



Hades was an evil looking guy in hell, and Zeus was a wizard looking fellow, who shined bright.

Even though Zeus was just as bad as Hades if not worse, he was still the "good guy".
2011-05-29 13:06:42 UTC
I am not sure I agree with your basic assumption.
?
2011-05-29 06:35:38 UTC
You are correct


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