Hades was god of the underworld¹.Son of Cronus and Rhea. He was a greedy god whose only concern was to increase his subjects² and he was extremely reluctant to allow any of his subjects to leave.The Romans called him \"Pluto\"， which means \"rich\"， possibly because he gathered all living things into his treasury at death.

Hades spent most of his time in his dark domain³. One day，however，he merged⁴ from the underworld and caught sight of Persephone， daughter of Demeter. He abducted her to his own dominions⁵ and made her his bride. When Demeter came to claim her daughter， a compromise⁶ was made:Persephone was to pass some of her time with her mother，and the rest with her husband. Persephone symbolizes the seed -- corn: seed is cast into the ground， i.e. carried off by Hades; and after some time， seedling breaks through the soil， i.e. restored to her mother.

Though Hades supervised the trial⁷ and punishment of the wicked⁸ after death，he didn't personally do the job. He assigned⁹ the job to the judges of the dead and Erin- nyes (the Furies).

Hades was both the name of the underworld as well as the name of the god. Tartarus， originally an abyss¹⁰ far below Hades， later lost its distinction and became almost a synonym¹¹ for Hades. Hades was the supremel¹² ruler of the dead， but death itself is another god， Thanatos， son of Erebus and Nyx， and the twin brother of Hypnos.

In art， Hades was represented as a long bearded man between 30 and 40 with a stern¹³ and pitiless face.

注釋：

1．underworldn．地獄，陰間

2．subiectn．臣服者，臣民，國(guó)民

3．domaln n．領(lǐng)土，領(lǐng)地，勢(shì)力范圍

4．merge vi. 漸漸變化，漸漸消失

5．dominionn．領(lǐng)工，領(lǐng)地

6．compromisen．妥協(xié)，和解

7．trialn．審判，審訊

8．wickedn．惡人，道德敗壞者

9．a(chǎn)ssignvt．分配，布置（作業(yè)）

10．a(chǎn)byss深淵；深處

11．synonymn．同義詞

12．supreme v．（地位、權(quán)力等）最高的，至上的

13．stern a．嚴(yán)峻的，嚴(yán)酷的，嚴(yán)厲的

冥神哈德斯是克羅諾斯和瑞亞的兒子，他是一位貪婪成性的神祗，只關(guān)心如何增加他的子民的數(shù)量，他決不情愿放還任何一個(gè)子民重返人世。羅馬人稱他為“普路同”，意思是“富有”，可能是因?yàn)橐磺猩锝K將一死而成為他的寶藏。

絕大多數(shù)時(shí)間哈德斯呆在他的黑暗王國(guó)里?？墒怯幸惶?，他從地下世界中上來(lái)，一眼瞥見(jiàn)得墨忒爾的女兒佩爾塞福涅，便把她劫回冥府做自己的新娘。得墨忒爾前來(lái)認(rèn)領(lǐng)女兒時(shí)，與哈德斯達(dá)成了協(xié)議，允許佩爾塞福涅每年有——些時(shí)間與母親度過(guò)，其余時(shí)間則陪伴丈夫。佩爾塞福涅象征谷物種子，谷籽被播入地里，也就是被下界之神帶走了，過(guò)些時(shí)間后，籽苗破土而出，也就是又回到上界母親的身邊。

盡管哈德斯監(jiān)管惡人死后的審判和懲罰，但他并不親力為之，他把這些差事交給冥府判官和復(fù)仇女神厄里尼厄斯去做。

哈德斯既是陰曹地府的名稱，同時(shí)也是冥神的名字。塔塔羅斯原本指遠(yuǎn)在冥界之下的地獄深淵，但后來(lái)失去了這獨(dú)特的詞義而幾乎成了冥府的同義詞。哈德斯是死亡國(guó)度的最高統(tǒng)治者，但死亡本身卻另有他神。死神名叫薩納托斯，他是黑暗之神厄瑞玻斯和夜晚女神尼克斯的兒子，是睡神海普諾斯的孿生兄弟。

哈德斯的藝術(shù)形象是位長(zhǎng)著三、四十歲的長(zhǎng)髯男子，面容冷峻無(wú)情。