The Disney Problem
If you grew up watching Disney's Hercules (1997), you "know" that Hades is the villain — a fast-talking, blue-flamed schemer trying to overthrow Zeus. This portrayal has done more damage to Hades' reputation than two thousand years of mythology.
In the actual Greek myths, Hades is not evil. He's not even particularly antagonistic. He's simply the god who drew the short straw and got the Underworld instead of the sky or sea.
What the Ancient Greeks Actually Thought
The Greeks didn't view the Underworld the way Christians view Hell. It wasn't a place of punishment for sinners — it was simply where everyone went after death. Tartarus was reserved for the truly wicked, but most souls went to the Asphodel Meadows, a neutral afterlife.
Hades ruled this realm fairly. He didn't torture souls for fun. He didn't tempt mortals into sin. He maintained order in the world of the dead, which was considered a necessary and important role.
Hades vs. His Brothers
Compare Hades to Zeus, who constantly cheated on his wife, abducted mortals, and punished anyone who annoyed him. Or Poseidon, who destroyed ships, flooded cities, and assaulted women in temples. Hades was arguably the most well-behaved of the three brothers.
His biggest "crime" in mythology was abducting Persephone — which, while certainly wrong by modern standards, was actually arranged by Zeus (Persephone's father) and was how marriages often worked in ancient Greek culture.
Why We Made Him a Villain
Death is scary. Darkness is scary. The Underworld is scary. Humans naturally associate these things with evil, so Hades got lumped in as a villain despite the myths not supporting this reading.
Christianity's influence also played a role — when European culture adopted a heaven/hell framework, the Greek Underworld got retrofitted into "hell" and its ruler became a devil figure.
The Hades Game Got It Right
Supergiant Games' Hades presents a Hades who is stern, demanding, and difficult — but ultimately a father who loves his son. This is much closer to how the ancient Greeks viewed him: serious, just, and a little frightening, but not evil.
So next time someone calls Hades a villain, you can tell them the real story. He's not the bad guy. He's the responsible brother who got stuck with the worst job in the cosmos — and did it without complaint for eternity.
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Not Evil, But Not Loved Either
Saying Hades was not evil is right, but it misses something. The Greeks did dislike him. In Iliad 9.158–159, Agamemnon says that Hades is "implacable and unyielding," and that this is why mortals hate him most of all the gods. The complaint is not that he is cruel. It is that he cannot be bargained with. Other gods could be won over with sacrifice, but death could not be undone. That reputation was also why Hades had so little cult. Pausanias (6.25.2) describes a temple of Hades at Elis that opened just once a year, and even then only the priest could go in. Elsewhere, people avoided saying his name and used polite titles instead:
- Plouton — "the wealthy one," for the riches of the earth and the grain stored underground. This became his usual name in Athenian cult and drama.
- Klymenos — "the renowned," used at Hermione in the Argolid.
- Polydegmon or Polydektes — "receiver of many," used in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
- Eubouleus — "good counsel," a title linked to him in some Orphic and Eleusinian contexts.
- Zeus Katachthonios — "Zeus beneath the earth," used in Iliad 9.457.
Polite names like these were meant to avert misfortune, not to flatter. The Greeks were respectful and nervous, but they were not dealing with a devil.
Who Actually Punishes the Dead?
Hades seldom acts as torturer himself. In Plato's Gorgias (523–524), judgement of the dead falls to Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus, appointed by Zeus. The punishments of famous sinners such as Tantalus, Sisyphus and Tityos usually answer offences against Zeus and the Olympians. The Furies, who pursue oath-breakers and murderers, are older powers. Hesiod has them born from the blood of Uranus, though Aeschylus calls them daughters of Night. Hades is the jailer of the system, not its prosecutor.
Where myths do show Hades judging, he is often lenient. He and Persephone let Orpheus lead Eurydice back to the light (Virgil, Georgics 4; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10). In several accounts they let the dead Protesilaus return for a few hours to see his grieving wife. Sisyphus talked Persephone into letting him go back to the upper world. When Theseus and Pirithous came down actually intending to kidnap Persephone, Hades welcomed them and sat them on chairs from which they could not rise (Apollodorus, Epitome 1.24). Considering what they had come to do, that was restrained.
The Persephone Question, From the Ancient Side
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the abduction is shocking and Persephone screams. The poem does not play it down. But the hymn also presents Hades' side. Helios tells the grieving Demeter that Hades is no unfitting son-in-law, since he is her own brother and rules a third of the world. When Persephone leaves, Hades promises her that as his queen she will hold power over all living things and great honours among the gods. Later poets added small stories that complicate his image. Strabo (8.3.14) mentions Minthe, a nymph loved by Hades who was turned into the mint plant, in later tellings by a jealous Persephone. Even so, there are far fewer affairs than for Zeus or Poseidon.
Where the "Devil Hades" Came From
Disney was the last step, not the first. When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint), they used "Hades" for Sheol, the shadowy place of the dead. The New Testament kept the word. Revelation 6:8 describes Death riding a pale horse "and Hades followed with him," and Revelation 20 throws Death and Hades into the lake of fire. In medieval and early modern Christian writing, Hades as a place gradually merged with hell, and the god's reputation followed. Dante, for his part, gave the classical underworld figures Charon, Minos and Cerberus roles in his Inferno, and that helped shape the modern picture. For the god himself, see Hades and the Underworld.
Ancient sources
- Homer, Iliad 9.158–159 — Hades is implacable and therefore the most hated of the gods by mortals.
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter — the abduction, Helios' defence of Hades as a son-in-law, and Hades' promise to Persephone.
- Plato, Gorgias 523–524 — the three judges of the dead and the sorting of souls.
- Apollodorus, Epitome 1.24 — Theseus and Pirithous trapped on chairs after trying to abduct Persephone.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.25.2 — the temple of Hades at Elis, opened once a year.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hades the god of death?
No. Death personified is Thanatos. Hades rules the realm where the dead live but does not cause death himself.
Was Hades faithful to Persephone?
Mostly. Only a couple of minor stories, about the nymphs Minthe and Leuke, give him other loves, and both come from late sources.
Why is Hades a villain in modern movies?
Mostly because Christian tradition merged the Greek underworld with hell and its ruler with the devil. Films like Disney's Hercules then needed a clear antagonist. For a comparison of his power with his brother's, see Hades vs Zeus.