Greek Mythology/Chthonian Gods/Hades

Hades, the god of the underworld, was the oldest son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea. He had three older sisters, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, as well as two younger brothers, Poseidon and Zeus. After the Olympian gods, led by Zeus, overthrew the Titans, the three brothers drew lots to determine where each would rule. Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the seas, and Hades received the underworld, the unseen realm to which the dead go upon leaving the world.

Hades ruled the House of the Dead, also called Hades. Besides Heracles, the only other living persons who ventured to the Underworld were all heroes: Odysseus, Aeneas (accompanied by the Sibyl), Orpheus, and Theseus.

He is married to Persephone, daughter of Demeter, who spends half of each year in the underworld and half in the upper world. While she is in the underworld her mother mourns her giving earth winter.