Do you think Hades from Greek Mythology is evil?

Question

Do you think Hades from Greek Mythology (not the Disney movie) is evil, or just bitter towards his brothers for having drawn the short straw and getting the Underworld?
Personally I think he's just bitter, but I would like other opinions.

Answer 1

Hades is not the divine personification of evil in Greek mythology. That would more appropriately be ascribed to Kronos - although even that is not a perfect fit. Hades was certainly bitter but when you compare his behavior to that of his brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews in the Greek pantheon - he is probably the best one of the lot. Hades was tricked into taking a grim and unpleasant job by his brothers (Zeus and Poseidon). As ruler of the underworld he was responsible for a) judging the dead to make sure that the good people went to the nice parts while the bad people went to the bad parts and b) act as warden to the jail of the gods. The underworld was the prison for many of the titans and practically anyone else the gods really wanted to get rid of. Not exactly fun. In fact, it was a lot of work. While the rest of the gods were frolicking about in the sunshine on Mt Olympus Hades was hard at work. The poor guy only got one day of vacation per year.



Now the whole Persephone thing was a bit out of line by today's standards. That much is true. You need to remember that things were done a little differently back then. If you were a powerful noble you really did have total power over those lower on the totem pole than you were. Also, women had almost no political power beyond what influence they had on their husbands. They didn't even get to choose their husbands in most cases. That was the priviliage of their fathers and the Greek gods were lousy parents. Consider that Zeus married Aphrodite (Goddess of love and beauty) to his lame son Hephastus (God of the Forge) for two reasons and neither of them were for love. The first was because Hera insisted that Aphrodite be married immediately. Hera was afraid that Zeus wanted to bang the young goddess and she was hoping that he would hesitate to have an affair with the wife of another god. The second reason for the marriage was that Zeus did want to bang her and he figured that if Aphrodite was stuck with an ugly and lame god that she would jump into his bed. It backfired on him because Aphrodite was so upset by the match that she refused to have anything to do with Zeus. Finally, if you were a King you pretty much married whoever you wanted to and that was that, regardless of your new bride's feelings on the matter. Each of the big three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) were considered kings in their own right. Zeus was the big cheese as King of the Gods but Poseidon was "King of the Seas" and Hades was "King of the Dead." So it was not unreasonable to the Greeks for Hades to just "claim" his bride. Maybe it wasn't real polite but it wasn't the crime that we would see it as today.



Persephone never really warmed up to her husband but neither did many other wives of Greek nobles and her lot was better than most. In most of the stories Hades was devoted to his wife and while Zeus was turning into swans and bulls and shafts of light to bang anything in a skirt; Hades was happily spending a little quality time at home with the missuz.



On the whole, the Greeks didn't see Hades as evil. They saw him as being stern but mostly fair. He was like the cranky boss that you never wanted to annoy.

Answer 2

Hades Mythology

Answer 3

I think he's just bitter. He's always associated with being evil because he rules over the most grim place of the world. However I've read lots of stories that describe Hades as delighting in human torture and suffering :-S



Hehe so in conclusion I'm not sure but I think if he is evil it's because he is bitter for drawing the short straw.

Answer 4

The gods of greek mythology are not really moral figures. They do "good" things and "bad" things, but they are not good or evil. The gods are promiscuous and have many other "human" qualities. They each perform a role, and just because Hades is lord of the underworld does not mean he is evil.

Answer 5

Haides was not evil. He is often depicted in such a manner in pop culture because of his name (Hades having come to be another word used for the Christian Hell over time). Haides was considered strict, but fair. He was greatly feared in Ancient Greece, but it wasn't because he was evil. He was feared because if he was giving someone his attention, they were mostly likely dead, and thus the fear of Haides was based upon the basic human fear of death. I think it is actually rather sad that he is treated as evil in the modern day by pop culture, because it shows either a lack of understanding, or an unwillingness to treat the figure or culture fairly so that the predominant Christian definition of the word can be maintained.

Answer 6

Whether it be mythology, modern fiction or real life, "evil" is relative. Morality is relative, if you really want to dig deeper.



A lot of 'villains' in most stories have what, in their own minds, is a noble cause. They just see themselves as 'revolutionary', with non-conventional methods and thusly misunderstood by the people who would deem them "evil".



There are plenty of examples in real life, too. There have been more than a few issues and/or arguments that made me struggle with moral relativism, before I recognized there was really no answer.

Answer 7

A lot of people just assume he's evil because he rules over the underworld which is stereotypically bad (which isn't necessarily true it depends on where you are) like hell in the jewish/Christian religion and people think he's evil like satan/lucifer/the devil. In reality he was one of the nicest. He was faithful to his wife, he punished bad dead people and rewarded good dead people. However he did kidnap his wife (like most kings and gods back then) but that's it. Looking at this in perspective he was really one of the best gods unlike Zeus and Poseidon who were very unfaithful to their wife's and Athena who overreacted and turned poor medusa into a Gorgon because Poseidon forced himself upon her in Athena's temple.

Answer 8

I think he's just bitter. Some people think he's evil since he rules over the Land of the Dead, but I'd be a bit angry at my brothers, too, if they forced me to stay down in hell all the time.

Answer 9

Officially No hes just greedy, hes not bitter and delights his domain. Ultimately no hes not evil.

Answer 10

I think maybe a bit of both. I've read a lot Mythology, and i think he evil, mostly that's down neglect etc! Thats why he probley took Persephone!

Answer 11

He wasn't an evil figure, like the devil. He simply had the souls of the dead in his keeping, and judged them fairly, in accordance with Greek ideas of justice. The classical underworld wasn't hell. It contained both the Elysian fields, where the souls of the blessed went, and Tartarus for the wicked. In between were the Asphodel meadows, for people who had been neither exceptionally good or particularly bad in their lives. There was also a belief in reincarnation in Greek culture, so it was possible to return to the upper world, after drinking the waters of Lethe (forgetfulness).



Regarding the Persephone myth , Greek mythology is full of stories of gods carrying off and then abandoning young maidens.Most of them show no responsibilities for their actions at all (see Euripides' play Ion, for an example involving Apollo.) Almost alone among the gods, Hades comes to realise that he can't act with impunity, and that he has to treat his wife with respect, and come to a compromise. The Homeric hymn to Demeter, the first account of the myth, shows him offering her respect and equality with him in their domain. In art, they are usually depicted as quite an affectionate couple. And don't forget,the myth also had an allegorical interpretation in the famous Eleusinian mysteries.

Answer 12

he's misunderstood, he's the god of the underworld he's probably just mad that he drew the short straw. he's a good guy at heart!

Answer 13

How can James Woods be evil?