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Hades: God of the Dead
Born the son of Cronus and Rhea and brother to Zeus, Hades was the god of the dead and ruler of
the underworld. No one, not even immortals, wanted anything to do with him. No one dared say his
name in fear that they'd have to deal with this grim god. Though he was a grim and compassionless
god, caring little for sacrifice and praise, Hades was not always considered evil. Being that valuable
metals and crops sprang from deep below the ground, it was perceived that these came from Hades
and thus he was also known as the Lord of Riches.
Hades is also the name of the world of which he rules made up of two regions: Erebus and Tartarus.
Erebus is the region where the dead go after passing and Tartarus is the lowest region where the
Titans were vanquished and imprisoned forever. As you can imagine, Hades was a dark, gloomy,
nightmarish place. It was guarded by the three headed demonic dog, Cerberus. The underworld was
said to be seperated from the world of the living by five rivers: Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe,
and Styx. Charon, and old, old ferryman sometimes seen as a skeletal figure, brought the souls of
the dead across the rivers of death to the entrance to Hades.
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