IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
I invite you to interact with everyone, learn, and have as much fun as possible!
For my returning online friends, "It's always great to see you again!"
Hades - The God who got the short end of the stick, but still did his job!
I really can empathize with Hades predicament.
To put it bluntly, he was dealt a pretty shitty hand.
But like any good soldier, he still did his job to the best of his ability.
And similar to career servicemen, he took his perks and wielded whatever power he possessed whenever and wherever the opportunity presented itself; that is, whenever and wherever the Fates allowed it.
(Like mortals, the Gods were also at the mercy of the Fates: Moira, plural Moira; Clotho (the Spinner), Lachesis (the Alloter) and Atropos (the Inflexible) whom even Zeus never overruled.)
Hades
Hades (/ˈheɪdiːz/; Greek: ᾍδης Háidēs) was the ancient Greek god of the underworld, which eventually took his name.
In Greek mythology, Hades was regarded as the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although the last son regurgitated by his father.
He and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos.
Things I Didn't Know About Hades
Freed by Zeus
Hades and all but one of his siblings (Zeus) were imprisoned in Cronus' belly.
Zeus freed them all with his version of today's syrup of ipecac (an emetic drug used to induce vomiting).
Getting the Short End of the Stick!
After the conquest of the Titans, new rulers of the various domains had to be chosen.
For example, a new ruler of the Sky - where the King of the Gods shall reside, a ruler of the Seas and a ruler of the Underworld had to be assigned.
By tradition, since Hades was the oldest child of the last king (Cronus), the throne was rightfully his to claim.
But since it was Zeus who freed him and led the battle against the titans, Hades acquiesced to Zeus' suggestion to "draw lots" for the positions.
Note:
At the time, "drawing lots" - a game of chance where each player chooses from "lots" of straws, pebbles, pieces of paper, etc., was an accepted method for making difficult decisions in situations fraught with ambiguity; that is, any problem with no clear rules for solving it or if any significant extenuating circumstances existed.
Results?
Assuming that the longest stick was for Sky, the medium stick was for the Seas, and the shortest was for the Underworld, here's what happened:
Zeus drew the long stick and won "Ruler of the Sky" and of course, the accompanying title of "King of the Olympian Gods".
Poseidon drew the medium stick and became "Ruler the Seas".
Hades drew the shortest stick and ended up with ruling the Underworld.
Note:
Most references state that the land could be influenced by anyone of these three.
Hades' Dog Cerebrus
Similar to Hades, I am an avid dog lover.
But his dog Cerebrus takes the cake when it comes to originality of breed!
Cerebrus has three ferocious looking heads.
And contrary to popular belief, Cerebrus' main job was not to keeping the odd trespasser out, but to keep the masses of souls inside Hades.
The only other master Cerebrus ever had was Hercules - the Demigod who wrestled Cerebrus and beat him into submission (the 12th Labor of Hercules).
At least Cerebrus got a nice consolation prize after losing the battle: a trip with Hercules out of Hades' realm into the world of the living to meet Eurystheus (the king of Tiryns and Queen Hera's collaborator against Hercules).
Afterwards, Cerebrus was returned unharmed to Hades where he resumed his guard dog duties.
("Good boy! That's a...that's uh...that's a good three-headed doggy!")
Charon - Ferryboat Master cum Grim Reaper
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (/ˈkɛərɒn, -ən/; Greek Χάρων) is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.
A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person.
Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years.
The Underworld - An Amalgm of Separate Places for Different Souls
Depending upon whose interpretation you read, the Greek Underworld can be divided into several parts and places.
For example, Homer's description of the Underworld divided it into Erebus (The Gates of the Underworld) and Tartaras.
Subsequently, he subdivided Tartaras into Asphodel Meadows, Fields of Punishment and Elysium (Or Elysian Fields).
Some regard Tartaras and the Fields of Punishment as being synonymous. Others separate Tartaras altogether from Hades; while still others add further divisions (territories) onto the Hades' map.
But generally speaking, most would agree on the following:
Tartarus - The Place for Reprobates
Situated far below the rest of Hades, Tartaras is the place where Zeus sent the vanquished Titans.
It's a place for those who had greatly offended the Gods' and therefore banished to live out eternity in a torturously miserable place.
Asphodel Meadows - The Place for Mediocre Masses
The Asphodel Meadows was the place for all the ordinary souls of people who neither committed any serious crimes, nor achieved any greatness.
It's where average mortals were sent who did not fit the criteria for the other places of Hades to live out an existence which held no great sorrow, nor great joy - just a bland, average routine.
Mourning Fields - The Place for Romantic Profligates
In the Aeneid, the Mourning Fields (Lugentes Campi) was the place of the Underworld for the souls of people who wasted their whole lives in a doomed love scenario (e.g., Caeneus, Evadne, Phaedra, Proctis, etc.).
Elysium - The Place for Demigods
Compared to other places in Hades, life in Elysium was luxurious. It was an easy existence with no hard work.
Elysium was a place for the especially distinguished. Usually, those related to the gods were allowed to enter (e.g., Cadmus, Peleus and Achilles) more readily than educated and ethical mortals.
However, in rare instances, mortals who had led an exceptionally virtuous life were granted admission (e.g., Socrates for his philosophical achievements).
The Fortunate Isles (Isles of the Blessed) - The Place for the Enlightened
The Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed are said to be the islands where the virtuous or heroic souls went to rest.
It's a special place that sits within a lake of Elysium meant for distinguished souls to spend eternity.
But there was a process to complete before a soul could enter The Isles of the Blessed.
First, when a soul reached Elysium, they could choose to stay or be reborn.
If a soul was reborn three times, achieving Elysium all three times afterwards, only then are they were granted access to the Isles of the Blessed.
The well known hero named Achilles is the kind of person whose soul was destined for the Isle of the Blessed.
Hades, Persephone and those Damn Pomegranate seeds!
In Greek mythology, Persephone (/pərˈsɛfəni/; Greek: Περσεφόνη), also called Kore (/ˈkɔːriː/; "the maiden"), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and is the queen of the underworld.
Persephone was married to Hades, the god of the underworld.
The myth of her abduction represents her function as the personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest; hence, she is also associated with spring as well as the fertility of vegetation.
Hades persuaded Persephone into consuming three pomegranate seeds - a fruit of the Underworld. That's why Persephone must return to Hades three months out of each year.
These months of winter are said to be caused by the sadness of Persephone's mother - Demeter.
Sisyphus and his Rolling Rock
In Greek mythology Sisyphus or Sisyphos (/ˈsɪsɪfəs/; Greek: Σίσυφος, Sísuphos) was the king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth).
He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down when it nears the top, repeating this action for eternity.
That's why hard, meaningless, and utterly futile jobs are said to be "Sisyphean".
A Musician named Orpheus
Orpheus (/ˈɔːrfiəs, ˈɔːrfjuːs/; Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: /or.pʰeú̯s/) is a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth.
The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music, his attempt to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, from the underworld, and his death at the hands of those who could not hear his divine music.
As an archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most significant figures in the reception of classical mythology in Western culture, portrayed or alluded to in countless forms of art and popular culture including poetry, film, opera, music, and painting.
"Don't Look Now!" has a new meaning for me.
If Orpheus hadn't lost his self-control and looked back for Eurydice, all would have been hunky-dory.
BUT NOOOOOOOO!
He just had to screw it up!
Here is the excellent film produced by the History Channel about Hades:
"History Channel - Clash of the Gods 3/10 Hades"
Thanks so much for accompanying me on my Rediscovering Greek Mythology journey.
By JaiChai
Really Appreciate You Stopping By.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author -
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, long-term girlfriend and three dogs.
