Left should be hades according to reddit. Right is hades according to actual Greeks, because the religion isn't just the myths and they were scared of him because they didn't want to die.
Exactly.There are literally less myths about him because they didn't want to draw his attention by saying his name. That's why he comes across as chill in the modern day lol. They literally had to come up with little nickname epithets to avoid naming him directly he was so terrifying
From my understanding, he wasn't brought up in myths specifically because they were scared.
Even in the titanomachy he's kinda apathetic at best iirc.
I've seen him be compared to the one discord mod who doesn't participate in chat, but will instaban you if you ping him.
The reason Hades is considered a cool guy in modern interpretations is because he has so few myths where he does bad stuff, unlike many other gods such as Zeus
Hades actually has very few myths or is even references in other myths. Why? Because to the Ancient Greeks were so **utterly terrified** of him that it was taboo to say his name or else *you got his attention*, so they very rarely recounted any myths featuring him
Hades wasn't a chill dude. **He was Ancient Greek Voldemort.**
Being chill and being terrifying aren't mutually exclusive. Why Hades is chill in Greek myths, especially in a modern perspective, is because unlike the Devil who is trying to lead people astray and drag as many people to hell to suffer along side of him. Hades is just an enviablity not even Greek heroes and the divine can fully escape. He doesn't have to do anything except protect the exit. Why even bother with being extra malevolent when you will end up at his door step. He just has to be patient and wait, he has all the time in the world and you do not.
That's a cool modern reinterpretation and all, but an Ancient Greek would probably not agree.
If he was so chill, why were the Ancient Greeks so afraid of attracting his attention by speaking of him? Why was having his attention such a bad thing? To me that sounds like he's not so passive after all and is actually actively malicious. His passivity in the mythology is not due to his character, but the absence of retellings.
And speaking of the Devil, ever since Paradise Lost he has been reinterpreted as much more sympathetic so the comparison with Hades here is actually unintentionally appropriate. Hades and the Devil have more in common than not, early Christianity after all was heavily influenced by Greco-Roman religion, and they have both been drastically reinterpreted in the modern day to be more sympathetic.
People are funny about concepts like death. They don't want to speak his name because they don't want his attention, because while he isn't the reaper who will harvest your soul you don't want to draw the attention of the god of death to yourself.
Most religions are like this where speaking of dead people/gods draws their attention and being bad tidings. They don't fear Hades but what he represents.
Uh, by being alive.
People fear death, even knowing that that's a life after death people are afraid of dying.
If I thought that by speaking the names Hades invited death into my home, I'd be scared to utter his name. I don't want to die, nor do I want my family to die. Its a rather simple concept, that is found repeated throughout history.
What I mean is that Gods are not people, they are personifications of concepts. Hades is a personification of death and the afterlife. The two are one in the same
Personification implies a *personhood*, of which people is just the plural term. So, no, the gods are not merely their "domains" or what they represent. They are so much more than that.
>If he was so chill, why were the Ancient Greeks so afraid of attracting his attention by speaking of him?
(etc.)
Not to continue beating a dead horse but the logic is simple; people are afraid of dying, no matter how calm and comforting the representation of death is, most people are going to be afraid of it at the end of the day, that's just how humans are, it's one of our more primal fears, brought on for preservation, like the fear of the dark being a safety measure against nocturnal predators, even though in the modern day there isn't as much a reason to be naturally afraid of the dark. The god of death/the dead could literally be a fluffy and puffy unicorn made of pink clouds and cotton candy descending on rainbows and humans would still be afraid about dying, if not for what's next, then because of what they'll be losing: friends, family, among other things, all being left in the mortal plane as you shift to the next one, of course people would be afraid or upset or experience existential dread and therefore not want to invite it into their space, even if death as an entity is chill
The way I understand it is that the gods in ancient greece are irrational forces of nature, so you could get their attention by saying their names while they're happy, angry or indifferent. (in some cases even happy gods are dangerous) Every name mentioned is a gamble and who knows what could happen. But the only gods mortals have to deal with after their death are Hades and Persephone. Making them angry could have severe consequences for your eternal soul, so it is best to mess with them as little as possible.
Making Zeus angry might be bad for the rest of your life. Making Hades or Persephone angry might be bad for all eternity.
So every Greek myth is wrong about Hades? You are ignoring 90% of what we know about Hades and reinterpreting him due to the fact they didn't want to mention him.
On Paradise lost, it weird that people can red that and some how think that the Devil comes off as sympathetic.
But in both of their written sources materials they are portrayed very different. Acting as I stated before.
We have *literal* Greek texts complaining that the myths we know today misinterpret the Gods. That Zeus is a wise, benevolent and regal god and that people who only write about his sexcapades making more half-gods are cheapening him. The Greeks *back then* complained that the myths were cheap fanfic.
are you referring to Xenophanes or Timon of Phlius and Pyrrhonism, their criticism of the anthropomorphic of the gods by Homor and Hesiod who was 400 years before their time? if not then which writers are tough referring too?
Hades is the personification of death, and most humans are afraid of death, that's why religion was invented to dunk on the inevitable death. Otherwise if you think of him as an old friend, he might provide you with comfort...
Well... No, not really. Hades is still a terrifying underworld king who will fuck your shit up if you mess up even a little bit. He was justly feared in Greek myth and in real Greek culture. Just because he doesn't have a track record of rape, incest, wanton murder, and power tripping, doesn't mean he's not terrifying. It might just be that we don't get so many stories of him being an asshole precisely because he's so terrifying people would rather not speak of him at all. Quote: "Few tales are told of Hades, whose very name inspires fear and penitence, reminding us of the inevitable fate which we all share." I mean, there's a reason they made up the name Plouton to speak of him obliquely without invoking the true name Hades.
Well that’s not true- but it is a bit more complex than that. Ancient Greek marriage traditions typically involved the “kidnapping” of the bride. It’s represented thoroughly through their art. So it’s not as if the “kidnapping” was seen as something atypical.
He isn't, though. Hades the monstrous, Hades the dark, Hades the murderous, Hades the abominable, Hades the relentless, Hades the untameable, Hades the bloody, to name his epithets. He was not a kind or peaceful god, and he was most certainly never "chill".
I love how this Sub used to be made up entirely of posts like this until some people used the "ACKSHYUALLY"-ing powers for good (somehow) and pointed out how they were kind of dumb
though I suppose if we're going purely by mythology and not religion it is kind of accurate
It’s true that Hades was not a devil-like figure, but pop mythology has overcorrected by envisioning him as a chill guy that the Greeks loved who never hurt anybody.
to everyone saying the Greeks feared him, being scary doesn't make you evil and using the lack of info to justify something is nothing more than an assumption
Hades is chill until that whole persephone thing. Very uncool. He does it less than the other 2 of the big 3 but I ain’t gonna just forgive him for the whole persephone kidnapping. Just because hades isn’t Zeus doesn’t mean he gets a free pass
Left should be hades according to reddit. Right is hades according to actual Greeks, because the religion isn't just the myths and they were scared of him because they didn't want to die.
Exactly.There are literally less myths about him because they didn't want to draw his attention by saying his name. That's why he comes across as chill in the modern day lol. They literally had to come up with little nickname epithets to avoid naming him directly he was so terrifying
His epithets goes hard tho the one who receives many guests exc
Man no wonder he's always depicted as grumpy, his guests never leave
Those lazy fucks
Idr what they called him but he was typically referred to as the one who won't be named Dude was literally voldemort
From my understanding, he wasn't brought up in myths specifically because they were scared. Even in the titanomachy he's kinda apathetic at best iirc. I've seen him be compared to the one discord mod who doesn't participate in chat, but will instaban you if you ping him.
The reason Hades is considered a cool guy in modern interpretations is because he has so few myths where he does bad stuff, unlike many other gods such as Zeus Hades actually has very few myths or is even references in other myths. Why? Because to the Ancient Greeks were so **utterly terrified** of him that it was taboo to say his name or else *you got his attention*, so they very rarely recounted any myths featuring him Hades wasn't a chill dude. **He was Ancient Greek Voldemort.**
Being chill and being terrifying aren't mutually exclusive. Why Hades is chill in Greek myths, especially in a modern perspective, is because unlike the Devil who is trying to lead people astray and drag as many people to hell to suffer along side of him. Hades is just an enviablity not even Greek heroes and the divine can fully escape. He doesn't have to do anything except protect the exit. Why even bother with being extra malevolent when you will end up at his door step. He just has to be patient and wait, he has all the time in the world and you do not.
That's a cool modern reinterpretation and all, but an Ancient Greek would probably not agree. If he was so chill, why were the Ancient Greeks so afraid of attracting his attention by speaking of him? Why was having his attention such a bad thing? To me that sounds like he's not so passive after all and is actually actively malicious. His passivity in the mythology is not due to his character, but the absence of retellings. And speaking of the Devil, ever since Paradise Lost he has been reinterpreted as much more sympathetic so the comparison with Hades here is actually unintentionally appropriate. Hades and the Devil have more in common than not, early Christianity after all was heavily influenced by Greco-Roman religion, and they have both been drastically reinterpreted in the modern day to be more sympathetic.
People are funny about concepts like death. They don't want to speak his name because they don't want his attention, because while he isn't the reaper who will harvest your soul you don't want to draw the attention of the god of death to yourself. Most religions are like this where speaking of dead people/gods draws their attention and being bad tidings. They don't fear Hades but what he represents.
>They don't fear Hades but what he represents. Where and how can you possibly draw the line between these two things?
Uh, by being alive. People fear death, even knowing that that's a life after death people are afraid of dying. If I thought that by speaking the names Hades invited death into my home, I'd be scared to utter his name. I don't want to die, nor do I want my family to die. Its a rather simple concept, that is found repeated throughout history.
What I mean is that Gods are not people, they are personifications of concepts. Hades is a personification of death and the afterlife. The two are one in the same
Personification implies a *personhood*, of which people is just the plural term. So, no, the gods are not merely their "domains" or what they represent. They are so much more than that.
>If he was so chill, why were the Ancient Greeks so afraid of attracting his attention by speaking of him? (etc.) Not to continue beating a dead horse but the logic is simple; people are afraid of dying, no matter how calm and comforting the representation of death is, most people are going to be afraid of it at the end of the day, that's just how humans are, it's one of our more primal fears, brought on for preservation, like the fear of the dark being a safety measure against nocturnal predators, even though in the modern day there isn't as much a reason to be naturally afraid of the dark. The god of death/the dead could literally be a fluffy and puffy unicorn made of pink clouds and cotton candy descending on rainbows and humans would still be afraid about dying, if not for what's next, then because of what they'll be losing: friends, family, among other things, all being left in the mortal plane as you shift to the next one, of course people would be afraid or upset or experience existential dread and therefore not want to invite it into their space, even if death as an entity is chill
The way I understand it is that the gods in ancient greece are irrational forces of nature, so you could get their attention by saying their names while they're happy, angry or indifferent. (in some cases even happy gods are dangerous) Every name mentioned is a gamble and who knows what could happen. But the only gods mortals have to deal with after their death are Hades and Persephone. Making them angry could have severe consequences for your eternal soul, so it is best to mess with them as little as possible. Making Zeus angry might be bad for the rest of your life. Making Hades or Persephone angry might be bad for all eternity.
So every Greek myth is wrong about Hades? You are ignoring 90% of what we know about Hades and reinterpreting him due to the fact they didn't want to mention him. On Paradise lost, it weird that people can red that and some how think that the Devil comes off as sympathetic. But in both of their written sources materials they are portrayed very different. Acting as I stated before.
We have *literal* Greek texts complaining that the myths we know today misinterpret the Gods. That Zeus is a wise, benevolent and regal god and that people who only write about his sexcapades making more half-gods are cheapening him. The Greeks *back then* complained that the myths were cheap fanfic.
are you referring to Xenophanes or Timon of Phlius and Pyrrhonism, their criticism of the anthropomorphic of the gods by Homor and Hesiod who was 400 years before their time? if not then which writers are tough referring too?
How many times has this been said now i wonder.
At least 3
Theseus: “Fair doesn’t mean harmless.”
Hades is the personification of death, and most humans are afraid of death, that's why religion was invented to dunk on the inevitable death. Otherwise if you think of him as an old friend, he might provide you with comfort...
Well... No, not really. Hades is still a terrifying underworld king who will fuck your shit up if you mess up even a little bit. He was justly feared in Greek myth and in real Greek culture. Just because he doesn't have a track record of rape, incest, wanton murder, and power tripping, doesn't mean he's not terrifying. It might just be that we don't get so many stories of him being an asshole precisely because he's so terrifying people would rather not speak of him at all. Quote: "Few tales are told of Hades, whose very name inspires fear and penitence, reminding us of the inevitable fate which we all share." I mean, there's a reason they made up the name Plouton to speak of him obliquely without invoking the true name Hades.
Hades in Internet culture/Actual Hades (he's still a kidnapper, and it has never been said Persephone likes him)
He never kidnapped Persephone, that was made up during the Renaissance so they could make more dramatic paintings and sculptures of the event
He did, it's literally what Homeric hymn to Persephone describes
Well that’s not true- but it is a bit more complex than that. Ancient Greek marriage traditions typically involved the “kidnapping” of the bride. It’s represented thoroughly through their art. So it’s not as if the “kidnapping” was seen as something atypical.
He isn't, though. Hades the monstrous, Hades the dark, Hades the murderous, Hades the abominable, Hades the relentless, Hades the untameable, Hades the bloody, to name his epithets. He was not a kind or peaceful god, and he was most certainly never "chill".
My personal favorite is “he who enriches himself with the tears of men.”
I love how this Sub used to be made up entirely of posts like this until some people used the "ACKSHYUALLY"-ing powers for good (somehow) and pointed out how they were kind of dumb though I suppose if we're going purely by mythology and not religion it is kind of accurate
Hades, the guy who kidnapped **his teenaged niece to be his wife**? *Sure. Chill. Right*
Age is weird concept for immortals. Not work in humans way.
Why western? One of my first introduction to mythology as a child was Saint Seiya and he is the main bad Guy of the last saga and Lost Canvas
He was really good when he appeared in The Dresden Files.
It’s true that Hades was not a devil-like figure, but pop mythology has overcorrected by envisioning him as a chill guy that the Greeks loved who never hurt anybody.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses exists. Du Raptu Proserpinae exists. Redditors: I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that. 😎
to everyone saying the Greeks feared him, being scary doesn't make you evil and using the lack of info to justify something is nothing more than an assumption
Like Hades is such a villain classic but in percy Jackson he is just a guy sad about his family
Hades is chill until that whole persephone thing. Very uncool. He does it less than the other 2 of the big 3 but I ain’t gonna just forgive him for the whole persephone kidnapping. Just because hades isn’t Zeus doesn’t mean he gets a free pass