Hades
NIKI J. TSIRONIS
Hades is the figure in Greek mythology that dominates the underworld, but is also the generic way in which the underworld itself was known in Antiquity. In the course of history he has undergone significant changes and eventually he was adopted by Christianity along with other personages deriving from ancient Greek mythology. Originally, in Greek mythology, Hades was one of the three sons of Cronus and Rhea (the other two being Zeus and Poseidon, who took command of the upper world). Hades was assisted in his work – which was to reign over the kingdom of the dead – by Thanatos (death), Hypnos (sleep), the ferryman Charon, and the hound Cerberus, who guarded the dead, not allowing them to return to life. The transition to the use of Hades to signify the afterlife place of the dead occurred first in the Septuagint (especially the Psalms and the Book of Isaiah) and was followed by the Gospel of St. Luke, Revelation, and Acts). Christ, for example, refers to Hades in Matthew 16.17–19: “And I tell you, that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it,” where it also bears the meaning of the forces of evil, insofar as the realm of the dead is the home of Satan. In both the New Testament and in the writings of the fathers, Hades predominantly signifies death, especially as the result of the fall from divine life and grace because of sin.
Christ’s death brought him to the realm of Hades from which he liberated man. The hymns of Romanos (On the Death of Christ) are a clear example of the use of this symbolism, where both Death and Satan become sick and fearful as the cross of Jesus breaks through the roof of Hades. In Eastern Christian iconography Hades is never portrayed in human form, but he is referred to indirectly in the title of the iconography depicting Christ’s descent into Hell (he eis Hades kathodos), and his symbols are usually represented at the foot of the cross (keys to Hades, chains, and a skull appearing through a bottomless hole). Christ’s resurrection signifies the defeat of death (“trampling death by death” as the Paschal Troparion puts it) and numerous patristic homilies dedicated to the crucifixion allude to the fight between Christ and Hades and the latter’s grief upon his loss of the formerly enslaved human race.
SEE ALSO: Death (and Funeral); Deification; Soteriology