Aidonian's blog

When talking about the Hellenic Gods of the underworld, most will think of Hades, Persephone, even Hekate. They are correct. Here is the thing that they are also the most known of the Underworld Gods. There are a lot more Gods who live there and are part of Hades. The Hellenes also had a term “Daimon” which means “spirit”, but also can mean “God”. This is where it can become confusing when some of the Gods are called “daimon” and even some of the Underworld Gods are referred to as “daimones”. Christians used this to state that the polytheistic deities were demons, agents of Satan. Which couldn’t be any further from the truth. It is like the term “nymph” meant “divine being” in ancient Hellas, but nowadays it means that the woman is sex crazed.I will also mention the “daimones” later, as the spirits, and not the Gods.

Kharon: the God who ferries the dead across the river Styx.

Kerberos: the three-headed dog who guards the Underworld from any spirits leaving

Thanatos: personification and God of Death itself.

Moirai: while technically not Gods of the underworld, but they do reside there.

Kronos: Titan God of Time and harvest, father of Zeus, Plouton, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter & Hestia.

Nyx: primordial Goddess of the Night. Personification of the night.

Erebos: primordial God of Darkness, personification of darkness.

Hypnos: God of dreams, son of Nyx (and sometimes Erebos)

Morpheus: God of sleep, son of Hypnos & Kharis

Erinyes: Godddesses of revenge, personification of vengeance.

Hermes: Olympian God of travel, communication, business, herald of the Gods.

Tartaros: Primordial God of the stormy pit. Personification of the pit.

Hades: God of the underworld and riches, son of Kronos & Rheia.

Hekate: Goddess of witchcraft, magic, the moon, underworld, the earth and sea.

Persephone:Goddess of the underworld and spring, daughter of Zeus & Demeter

Kerberos:

Kerberos is one the children of Ekhidna. A gian three headed dog. Kerberos was depicted as a three-headed dog with a serpent’s tail, mane of snakes, and a lion’s claws. According to some he had fifty heads although this count may have included the serpents of his mane.

Herakles (Heracles) was sent to fetch Kerberos as one of his twelve labours, a task which he accomplished with the aid of the goddess Persephone.

Kerberos’ name perhaps means “Death-Daemon of the Dark” from the ancient Greek words ‘kêr’and’erebos’. He does have minor roles in the myths. He guards the underworld and met heroes like Orpheus, Theseus, Herakles. One of the labors of Herakles was to capture him and bring him to Eurystheus. Orpheus met the dog and even Kerberos was moved by his music when he played for Persephone & Plouton.

Kharon is the ferryman of the dead, portrayed as a bearded man with a crooked nose.

He is the son of Nyx & Erebos. He has a minor role in mythology where he carried either the dead of heroes when they are visiting or leaving the Underworld. A sanctuary dedicated to Kharon (Charon), a so-called Kharonion (Charonium), usually consisted of a volcanic or thermal cavern associated with the cult of Haides and Persephone.

Erinyes: Goddesses of venegance

The Erinyes (Furies) were three goddesses of vengeance and retribution who punished men for crimes against the natural order. They were particularly concerned with homicide, unfilial conduct, offenses against the gods, and perjury. A victim seeking justice could call down the curse of the Erinys upon the criminal. The most powerful of these was the curse of the parent upon the child–for the Erinyes were born of just such a crime, being sprung from the blood of Ouranos, when he was castrated by his son Kronos. Their names are Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone. Their parents were Gaia and Ouranos. The Romans called them the Furies, but they were also called the Eumenides after Orestes was besieged by them and a trial set him free of the curse and gave the name Euemenides to the Erinyes to placate them. They had a cult titles and epithets like Eumenides,(whichmean Well-Disposed,Kind, Gracious) Semnai (Revered, Holy), Melikhioi(Gentle, soothing, mild), Praxidikai (exacters if Justice), Poinai (retributions), Maniai (madness), Arai (curses), Daspletai (horrid, frightfull). The fact that they had a cult meant that they were not only revered, but also feared and righftully so. Who would want to be haunted by Them like Orested had to undergo.

Hypnos: He is the god or personified spirit (daimon) of sleep. He dwelt in Erebos, the land of eternal darkness beyond the gates of the rising sun, and rose into the sky each night in the train of his mother Nyx (Night). Hypnos was often paired with his twin brother Thanatos(Peaceful Death), and the Oneiroi(Dreams) were his brothers or sons.

Hypnos was depicted as a young man with wings on his shoulders or brow. His attributes included either a horn of sleep-inducing opium, a poppy-stem, a branch dripping water from the river Lethe (Forgetfulness), or an inverted torch. His Roman equivalent was Somnus or Sopor. Sometimes Erebos is credited as His father, but sometimes it is just Nyx.

Morpheus is the God of dreams. He personified dreams and was leader of the Oneiroi. He is the son of Hypnos and Kharis.

Considering i already dedicated blogposts to Plouton, Hekate and Persephone, i will not go into detail here about them. I will do a blogpost in the future on Hermes, which is why I won’t mention Him either here.

Why is it important to know this? Well it is important who the tenets are of Hades.

Source: The Theoi Project