Hades and Poseidon

The 12 Basic Ancient Greek Gods.

There are 12 basic gods in the Greek pantheon. Some confuse those 12 basic gods with the gods that live on Olympus mountain. This is a confusion often made but here we’re going to examine the 12 gods that are considered basic and are connected to each other through relativity.

Hades and Poseidon

Hades

Concerning the underworld and the gods, in every single Greek city there were many different aspects and beliefs. Homer’s epics “Iliad”and “Odysseia” referred to the greatest of them, Hades. Hades is Kronos’ s son and Zeus’s and Poseidon’s brother. He along with his brothers fought against their father and gained the reign of the world. Sovereignty was shared among them. Little by little his name became one and the same with the place where he ruled, that is the underworld.

In the beginning Hermes used to take the deads’ souls to the underworld, thus his name “Psychopomp” but later on in many places they believed that Charon, the ferryman used to take the dead on his boat and from there he transferred them to the underworld. This is why ancient Greeks used to put the coin on each of the dead’s eye, so that they would be able to move across.

At first Zeus managed to leave despite his father’s will to kill him. Then, using a drug by Mitis, he made his father vomit his brothers and his sisters and this is how the war between gods and the Titans started. Zeus had the Cyclops on his side who gave him the most powerful weapon, the lightning, and they gave Poseidon the Trident. The third brother, Hades took from the Cyclops the “Kyneen” (“Κυνέην”), a helmet, that made anyone wearing it invisible, but at the same time he could see very clearly. When the war against the Titans was over, the three brothers made a draw in order to share the world. Zeus took the reign of the heavens, becoming the king and ruler of gods and humans, Poseidon took the reign of the seas and Hades became the ruler of the underworld.

The underworld was a vast fenced area under the earth where someone could enter from a gate that was guarded by Kerberus, a three headed dog who let you get in but let nobody get out. It is said that Hades gave the keys of the gate to Aiakos, who was a well-known hero, the most respectful of all, and the only one whose prayers were listened to by the gods when Aiakos was still alive. In order to get to Hades’ doors, the dead had to pass the river Acheron and Lake Acherousia in a boat, with Charon as a ferryman. People used to put a coin on the dead’s eyes for them to be able to pay the ferryman. The river and the lake were a part of the upper world. There was only one kind of water in the underworld that came out from a rock, Styx, which was holy water where the gods took vows. Styx was a name feared by gods and humans alike.

There were many places in the upper world, the so-called “Hades mouths”, where the believers went and prayed in order to be forgiven by the gods of the underworld. There were also temples where the believers could communicate with the dead. There are also myths about heroes who managed to go to the underworld and get out of there alive. Homer describes such an adventure of Odysseus who travelled to the underworld and spoke to his dead mother and received prophecy. It was said that for the dead to appear one had to offer a sacrifice of blood. It was easier for the gods to travel down there, like for example Dionysus, who had to go to the underworld and bring back his mother, Semele.

Hades’ name in ancient Greek means “invisible”, “the one who cannot be seen”. This is because of the Myth that speaks of the sacred helmet that could make Hades invisible. This helmet was also used by Athena, during the Trojan war because she didn’t want to be seen by Ares, when the hero Diomides won a battle with her standing beside him. This name was used for the God from then on making other names of him disappear, although Hades is also known as the one who has many names (“Polyonymos > Πολυώνυμος > πολύ (many) + όνομα (name)). Some of these names are “the mighty King who receives many” (because he received all the dead), “the one who rules many”, “untamed”.

Hades had mighty horses on his carriage and he could appear and take a man on the carriage or the horse. These horses were godly, one-of-a-kind, unbeatable in speed and cleverness. At that point, when Hades himself took the dead, Hermes was not yet the psychopomp God, who escorted the souls to Charon.

Hades was also called Zeus of the underworld, but this myth is not related to the one about the draw.

People used to give Hades many other names as a euphemism, in order to gain the god’s good will and because they were afraid to call Hades by his name. After his wedding to Persephone, Hades was named “Plouton” that has to do with riches as the God was believed to have become benevolent towards people, a giver of what can be found under the earth, like metals, seeds etc.

The followers of Mystic cults were the ones who were more interested in the afterlife, used special specific names for the God that could only be known and explained by the ones who followed the cult. Among these names is the name that means “great Hunter”, that those of the Orphic cult considered Hades to be another personification of Dionysus, a God who was very benevolent towards people. They also had their own teachings about the afterlife and the used to give the believers Golden sheets with information on the underworld traps and guidelines on their trip in the underworld.

Hades is the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hestia. He is the son of Rhea and Cronus who were titans. His father devoured his children and Zeus made him disgorge them. After they broke free, the war between Titans and Gods began. The Cyclops gave Zeus the thunderbolt, Poseidon the trident and Hades the Cyni, a magickal helmet that made him invisible to both men and Gods. After they defeated the Titans and overthrew their father, the three brothers made a draw and so Zeus became the king of Heavens, of all men and Gods, Poseidon ruler of the seas and earth and Hades the Lord of the Underworld and the Dead.

The Artwork of the picture is from by by Matthew Kocvara

He once asked Zeus for a wife and his brother proposed Persephone, daughter of Demeter. Hades went out of the Underworld in his black chariot, drawn by four black horses and kidnapped Persephone who was gathering flowers in Cicely with Her friend Oceanis. He drove the chariot Underground, but before the earth closed behind them, she let out a cry that was heard in Olympus. Her mother heard it and began searching for her daughter with Hecate. Only the Sun knew where Persephone was and when Demeter found out She asked Zeus to make Hades give her back. (“Aidoneus, the Ruler of Many, is no unfitting husband among the deathless gods for your child, being your own brother and born of the same stock: also, for honour, he has that third share which he received when division was made at the first, and is appointed lord of those among whom he dwells.-“Homeric Hymn to Demeter).

Hades told them that Persephone had eaten a pomegranate from the Underworld, so she could never return. In the mid time Persephone had fallen in love with him. At last, because Demeter insisted and threatened not to let anything grow on Earth, a pact was made, according to which Persephone would stay for six (or four) months with Her husband and the rest of the time with Her mother. After He got married to Persephone, Hades became softer and He took the name “Pluton” (=rich), because of the seeds and minerals he offered the people. Most probably the version that stands right is the one about the six months and also Persephone was not raped by Hades, but she came to love him and became his honorable wife. She was the queen of the underworld to whom people prayed in order to be sent to a good place after their deaths.

The only ones who are said to have made it to the Underworld and back alive were Ulysses (trying to find seer Tiresias) , Orpheus (Hades agreed on him taking back Eurydice, but he shouldn’t look back until they were on earth. Orpheus thought that Eurydice called him, he turned behind and she stayed there) and Hercules (He injured Hades in the shoulder with an arrow and the God had to go to Olympus, where he was treated by Peion, the Gods’ healer, with a magickal balm.)

Although He is an Olympian God, he spends most of his time in his underground kingdom. He lives there with his wife, Persephone and Hecate, Persephone’s companion, Erinyes (Deities of punishment), Kires (guides of the soul or punishing demons), Ati (mind blindness when someone had offended the Gods), Nemesis (Gods’ punishment) and the three Fates. He judged the souls of the dead with three other judges, Minoas, Aiakos and Rodamanthes.

According to some sayings, Hades (the kingdom named by the ruler God) was divided into the court, Helyssia Pedia where the souls of the heroes and the good people went, Purgatory, where the souls of those who had done no harm went and Tartarus, the place for the evil souls, where they were punished. According to others, all the souls were in one place and the evil ones were punished in front of all the others.

There were three rivers that met in the Underworld; Aheron, the river of sorrow (the souls travelled to the Underworld by a boat driven by Haron. This river gave water to the thirsty Titans, so Zeus made it bitter after the Gods won the war), Styx, the hateful river and Kokytus, the river of mourning. Later another river was added made by the flames of volcanoes. It is said that there were to entrances to the Underworld. One through the Aheron river and Aherousia lake, in Thesprotia and another one in Peloponnese through Kokytus river and lake Styx. The necromancies were built there.

The dead drank from the fountain of forgetting, in order to forget their loved living ones and the happiness of life.

Magickal Working with Hades

Sanctuaries: Nysis, Opus, Troizina and Helida (in Helida there was also a temple of the God, which opened once a year and only his priest would enter).

Day: There is no special day on which Hades should be honoured, so all days seem proper. I prefer Saturday, a day devoted to Saturn and lessons that have to be learned.

Flowers/Trees: His favourite tree is cypress, his favourite herb is Maidenhair and his personal flower is narcissus.

Fragnance: Cypress tree

Stones: Hades is said to be sitting on an Ebony Throne, so Ebony along with any Blackstone are appropriate, especially on banishment spells.

Foods: Pomegranate, which is a fruit bringing abundance, long life and fertility and also garlic, which is connected to spells and rites involving the underworld or the spirits of the dead. As he was a God of Earth (Chtonios), any seed growing underground is appropriate.

Sabbat: The most suitable Sabbat is of course Samhain, as Hades is an underworld Deity and the Lord of the dead and death.

Metals: Any metal will do, as Hades is a giver of metals.

Offerings: People used to offer him black animals (sheep, taurus, ram) in the night. The blood of the animal would drip in a pit or in the ground near the Altar. The animal’s face would be turned to face the earth and they would be bound in black laces. The priest would open the animal’s belly with a knife of Ebony handle and his face averted. Then the animal would be burnt whole. Since animals cannot be sacrificed anymore and in most aspects of magick, animal sacrifice is no longer acceptable, offerings of Pomegranate and corn seem right, especially if buried underground.

Types of spells: banishment and new beginnings, guidance and support in death, abundance, fertility and protection.

A bit more on him:

Hades was very strict and sometimes ruthless, but He was not a bad God or an evil one. We tend to see him as dark and eminent, because of our fear of death and our concept of it as a bad thing. After he got married to Persephone, Hades became softer and more giving.

He is known by many names; Adamantine, because of his strong will, Neleus (Νηλεύς=ruthless), Pulartes (Πυλάρτης=guardian of the gates), Eubulus (Εύβουλος=Good willing), and Zeus Cthonios (Cthonios=of the Earth), so that he could be distinguished from his brother. His name Pluton (Πλούτων=rich) was given to him either as a euphimism, or because of the riches that come from underground (seeds, minerals) that he gives the people. The Underworld was named Hades after him.
He is depicted similar to Zeus and Poseidon, only with longer hair and with Cerberus, the three-headed dog, sitting at His feet. He holds the keys of the underworld. He has a chariot drawn by four black horses and a helmet (given to him by the Cyclops for the war) that makes him invisible. He also holds a scepter with an eagle on top. His name Hades (α-ιδειν) means exactly that.

Orphic Hymn 17-To Hades

Hades, magnanimous, whose realms profound are fix’d beneath the firm and solid ground,
In the Tartarian plains remote from fight, and wrapt forever in the depths of night;
Zeus Khthonios, thy sacred ear incline, and, pleas’d, accept thy mystic’s hymn divine.
Earth’s keys to thee, illustrious king belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong.
‘Tis thine, abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care.
To thee, great king, Avernus is assign’d, the seat of Gods, and basis of mankind.
Thy throne is fix’d in Hades’s dismal plains, distant, unknown to rest, where darkness reigns;
Where, destitute of breath, pale spectres dwell, in endless, dire, inexorable hell;
And in dread Acheron, whose depths obscure, earth’s stable roots eternally secure.
O mighty dæmon, whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead,
With captive Proserpine [Kore], thro’ grassy plains, drawn in a four-yok’d car with loosen’d reins,
Rapt o’er the deep, impell’d by love, you flew ’till Eleusina’s city rose to view;
There, in a wond’rous cave obscure and deep, the sacred maid secure from search you keep,
The cave of Atthis, whose wide gates display an entrance to the kingdoms void of day.
Of unapparent works, thou art alone the dispensator, visible and known.
O pow’r all-ruling, holy, honor’d light, thee sacred poets and their hymns delight:
Propitious to thy mystic’s works incline, rejoicing come, for holy rites are thine.

Poseidon

Poseidon is Kronos’s and Rhea’s son and Zeus’ and Hades’ brother. The three brothers have equal rights in the world this is why when the time comes to share it, they find that a draw is the best solution. Poseidon takes the sea.

Poseidon has two palaces; one on Olympus mountain, built by Hephaestus like all the other gods had, so that he can take part in every discussion of the gods. The other Palace, which is even greater and more luxurious is found deep in the sea and there the god passes his days and nights beside Amphitrite, his wife. It is said that his sea Palace is in the Aegean Sea, but nobody knows where exactly it is situated.

In the epic “Iliad”, Poseidon is one of the most respected gods and he is in the team of the oldest gods, along with Hera and Zeus. All the other gods belong to the second generation. Of course Zeus is the oldest and also the most important god, since he’s the ruler of gods and humans and this is why when he arrives tired on Mount Olympus Poseidon helps him get down from his horses. This doesn’t prohibit Poseidon though, when Zeus wants the gods to do what he says, to protest against his brother, although without any result. In the epic “Odyssey”, Poseidon is the only one who hunts Odysseus, because the hero had blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Again, since the will of Zeus was different he didn’t manage to prohibit the hero from returning home.

As a sea God, Poseidon can travel on his golden chariot on the waves that gladly open when he passes and they don’t even wet it. At the same time dolphins come out from the depths of the sea swimming around the god’s chariot. Poseidon’s son Orion had also the ability to walk on the sea without sinking, a present given to him by his father.

Poseidon used his Trident to create huge waves or, if he wanted, to make the sea calm. Faiakes’ boats (Faiakes were a sea tribe) would also fly on the waves as fast as a human can think. In the end the God was very displeased with them and he turned their boat into stone a little before it arrived at the port because they had helped Odysseus go back home.

In the Trojan war Poseidon works along with Hera and Athena to help the Greeks and this is why she tries to do anything to make Zeus’ plans unfruitful when he thought that his brother was on the Trojans’ side.

Many unexpected giants and dragons are Poseidon’s children. This relativity between him and those monsters is probably due to the connections people made to the God before he was considered to be a sea God. At first Poseidon was probably an Earth God (Cthonios), something that is shown a) by his name itself (Πόσις= husband + Δα=Earth), b) by the epithets that Homer gives the God to bind him to the Earth and not with the sea, like Gaieochos (the one who carries the Earth), Enosechthon and Enosegaios (the one who shakes the Earth), since he is believed to also create the earthquakes, c) by his relation to the underworld, since Hesiod says that he is the one who encarcerates the Titans in the dark Tartarus and d) the fact that even when he becomes a sea God he never stops being related to unsalted waters of rivers, fountains and lakes.

All these facts show that we are dealing with a very old God who was believed to live deep underground and rule the Earth, shaking her furiously whenever he got angry. The Spartans prayed to him every time an earthquake happened.

In Thessaly people used to believe that Poseidon let the first horse come out into the world hitting a rock with his Trident and this is why he took the name “Petraios” (Rocky). When gods used to have an animal form as well, Poseidon was honored with the form of a horse. This is why another name of his is “Ippios” (one related to horses). In Arcadia there was also another myth about Poseidon, that when Demeter wanted to escape, she became a she-horse, and he took the form of a stallion in order to mate with her. A horse was born by them, Areion. In another tradition of Thessaly, the God is said to have mated with one of Aiolus’s daughters, Melanippe (black horse). Pegasus, the flying horse was Poseidon’s son with Medusa.

The God is also related to Taurus. He is supposed to have sent the taurus Hercules caught in Crete and then Theseus killed in Marathon, because he wanted to punish Minoas who didn’t respect Poseidon as he should although his power was based on the sea. Poseidon also sent a Taurus that, coming suddenly out of the sea, scared Ippolytos’ horses and killed him.

Poseidon was a son of Cronus and Rhea. He was swallowed by Cronus at birth, as his father was afraid of an omen that his children would take his throne. He was later saved, with his other brothers and sisters, by Zeus. However, in some versions of the story, he, like his brother Zeus, did not share the fate of his other brother and sisters who were eaten by Cronus. He was saved by his mother Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which she gave to Cronus to devour.

Poseidon with his siblings partook of the war against the Titans when they were defeated and the Gods took their places. After their winning, the three brothers (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades shared the authorities and Poseidon took the reign of Sea and Earth. Polybotes was a Giant who fought Poseidon in their war against the Gods. He was pursued by the God across the sea and crushed beneath the rock of Nisyros which formed the tip of the island of Kos (Cos).

The Ketos Aethiopos (or Ethiopian Cetus) was a sea-monster sent by Poseidon to ravage the land of Aithiopia as punishment for Queen Kassiopeia’s hubristic boast that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereides. To assuage the wrath of the sea-gods, the girl was chained to the rocks as a sacrificial offering and feast for the dragon.

It was at this time that Perseus was flying back to Greece with the head of Medusa. He spied the girl, flew down, slew the monster and carried her off to be his bride. Some say the hero turned the monster to stone, a rock which ancient tourists were shown near the Lebanese town of Joppa. The Sea-Monster, along with Perseus, Andromeda, and her parents King Kepheus and Queen Kassiopeia, were all placed amongst the stars of the sky as Constellations.

His name meant “Husband of the Earth”, and as a consort to the Titan Great Goddess Gaia (Mother Earth), Poseidon was originally worshipped as a fertility god.

In the first years of His rule, the young Zeus proved to be an impetuous and arrogant ruler, and everyone was rather displeased with his performance. Poseidon, never quite satisfied with playing “second fiddle” to his brother, recruited the others to overthrow the government. They did manage to capture and immobilize Zeus, but he quickly managed to escape and foil their plot. For punishment, Poseidon was banished from his home. He and Apollo were sentenced to a year of manual labor building the great wall around Troy while working disguised as mortals.

The king of Troy, Laomedon, had promised to pay the gods with vines of gold when the wall was finished but failed to keep his end of the bargain. Poseidon was infuriated and sent a sea monster to punish the city, but the monster was killed by Heracles (Hercules). But Poseidon held a grudge for a long time. During the Trojan war, Poseidon was delighted to fight on the side of the Greeks. In an act of kindness (or perhaps he just had a keen eye for talent).

He spared the life of the young warrior Aenas by hiding him away so that he would live to rule the Trojans in the future.

Never quite satisfied with what he already had, Poseidon was always looking to expand his domain. Consequently, he was often quarrelling and competing with the other Olympians. He rarely won these disputes.

One of the most notorious episodes was his quarrel with the goddess Athena over who would “rule” the city of Athens. It was decided that there would be a competition and the one who gave the finest present to the people of the city would win. Poseidon stuck his trident (spear) into a rock, which split open and began to spew out water. Athena gave them an olive tree. Unfortunately for Poseidon the spring water was brackish and not of much use, as Poseidon, having lived for a long time under sea, had forgotten that humans only drink fresh water, so Athena won. Angry with the citizens’ decision, Poseidon flooded the plains surrounding the city. They say this is the reason for Attiki to have a lack of waters, but be full of olive trees.

Poseidon rode over the surface of the sea in a chariot made of a huge sea-shell, which was drawn by great sea-horses with golden hoofs and manes. At the approach of the God, the waves would grow quiet, and strange fish and huge sea-serpents and sea-lions would come to the surface to play about his chariot. Wonderful creatures called Tritons went before and beside his chariot, blowing upon shells as trumpets. These Tritons had green hair and eyes; their bodies were like those of men, but instead of legs they had tails like fishes. Nymphs also swam along by the sea-god’s chariot. Some of these were like the Tritons, half human and half fish. Others were like lovely maidens, with fair faces and hair. Some lived so much in the depths of the sea that their soft blue eyes could not bear the light of day. So they never left the water except in the evening, when they would find some quiet place upon the shore, and dance to the music which they made upon delicate sea-shells.

Poseidon ravished Medusa, a beautiful priestess, on the floor of a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. The hapless girl was then changed into the mythical creature called Medusa, a monstrous mythical creature called a Gorgon.

Magickal Working with Poseidon

Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea. His Etruscan equivalent is Neptuns from whom the Roman Neptun(us), then Neptune, came.

Day: I haven’t found a specific day, but Tuesday was fine. Poseidon made me want

to offer him something on days when things did not start very well.

Flower: Pine and rock-rose are plants sacred to him.

Fragrance: I worked with him using sage, as I haven’t found anything special and pine oil, as it is a tree sacred to him.

Crystals: Emerald, Beryl, Aquamarine, pearls and coral are his favorite crystals/gems.

Foods: As He is a God of the sea, fish is a favourite food and all sea-food, but he was also a fertility God, so every fruit of Earth is also appropriate.

Sabbats: All the major Sabbats seem to be appropriate to honor Poseidon.

Metals: No metals are linked to Poseidon. Unlike to Sedna, whenever I thought of metals while working with Poseidon, I got an image of decay, except for Titanium.

Aspects: Poseidon is a sea God, but he was also venerated in the Pre-Olympian Bronze Age in Pylos and Thebes as a fertility God. He was also a God of all the Sea-life, protector of the sailors. As a God of Earth, He created earthquakes. He was vengeful and of a quick temper. He was the God of horses.

Offerings: I offered sea-shells, sand, salt and fruit. I ate a lot of fish while working with him. In older times his priests, along with those of Athena, used to offer them honeycomb.

Circumstance: Poseidon is connected to travelling, especially by ship, so he is a protector for those who travel. He is also connected to the sea life and life on Earth, and also to intelligence, magick, divination and illusion. He is good to work with for those purposes, and for mental and emotional cleansing. He can teach us how to stand our ground, but one should be careful not to become vengeful or ask for retribution. Knowledge is also one of his domains. We can work with him in order to predict or control weather, or to ask for fertility and abundance. He offers protection during earthquakes.

His symbols are the Trident, the Horses, the fish, the dolphin and the bull.

Orphic Hymn 16-To Poseidon

The Fumigation from Myrrh
Hear, Poseidon, ruler of the sea profound, whose liquid grasp begirts the solid ground;
Who, at the bottom of the stormy main, dark and deep-bosom’d, hold’st thy wat’ry reign;
Thy awful hand the brazen trident bears, and ocean’s utmost bound, thy will reveres:
Thee I invoke, whose steeds the foam divide, from whose dark locks the briny waters glide;

Whose voice loud founding thro’ the roaring deep, drives all its billows, in a raging heap;
When fiercely riding thro’ the boiling sea, thy hoarse command the trembling waves obey.
Earth shaking, dark-hair’d God, the liquid plains Moira to thee ordains,
‘Tis thine, cærulian dæmon, to survey well pleas’d the monsters of the ocean play,
Confirm earth’s basis, and with prosp’rous gales waft ships along, and swell the spacious sails;
Add gentle Eirene, and fair-hair’d Hygeia beside, and pour abundance in a blameless tide.

In Love and Light always,

E.I.

picture from Google