Hades - Was Hades an Olympian?
Hades and Persephone © Clipart.com
Neptune was very angry and said, "Great heavens! strong as Jove may be, he has said more than he can do if he has threatened violence against me, who am of like honour with himself. We were three brothers whom Rhea bore to Saturn--Jove, myself, and Hades who rules the world below. Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and each of us was to have an equal share. When we cast lots, it fell to me to have my dwelling in the sea for evermore; Hades took the darkness of the realms under the earth, while air and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Jove; but earth and great Olympus are the common property of all.As the passage explains, air and sky and clouds are the property of Zeus, the sea is the province of Poseidon, and the realm beneath the earth is the area of Hades. The heavens or Olympus belong to all three gods.
On the east frieze of the Parthenon, there are 12 seated Olympians. Although the list is debated, the 12 are probably Hera, Zeus, Ares, Demeter, Dionysos (possibly Herakles), Hermes, Athena, Hephaistos, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, and Aphrodite. Hades is not depicted on the frieze. Ira S. Mark (cited below) suggests that the particular gods selected for the frieze did not at the time represent a strictly defined list of 12 most important gods.
Some believe the list is based on gods with cults in the area or of other regional importance. Hades would be excluded on this basis. So, depending on the source, Hades may or may not be an Olympian god.
Olympians Profiles
- Poseidon
- Demeter
- Hermes
- Hades
- Hestia
- Aphrodite
- Athena
- Apollo
- Ares
- Artemis
- Zeus
- Dionysus
- Hephaestus also see
- Pluto
"The Olympian Faith" William Sale. Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 19, No. 1. (Apr., 1972), pp. 81-93.
"The Gods on the East Frieze of the Parthenon," Ira S. Mark. Hesperia, Vol. 53, No. 3. (Jul. - Sep., 1984), pp. 289-342.
A Buzz blog about the popularity of the ancient Olympian gods has spawned a lot of controversy.
Comments
If i’m not mistaken, “Olympian” is a definition created by modern scholars: the passage from the Iliad clearly informs us that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are gods of the same nature and quality. The selection of 12 gods depicted of the Parthenon is also not representative of which figures were or weren’t gods for the Athenians: i seem to recall it is a number chosen for it’s mathematical values, the number of divine personalities in Greek religion is by far higher than 12, so I agree with Ira S. Mark. Hades is definitively a principal god (ctonian if not olimpic) even though a god not much appreciated and beloved by the Greeks!