Hades and Persephone
When looking at anthropomorphism in relation to Hades,
one struggles to find a symbol or a human attribute that we can atone to this
God. When looking at a god as such a
Zeus we can find a clear symbol that is well known to many people as being a
lightning bolt. Hades does not carry
this attribute; he is represented with a Cerberus a three headed dog which is
said to be the animal that guards the gates of the underworld. Hades is also pictured with a sceptre, crown
and a key. Just as both his brothers
Zeus and Position he has his own chariot. When can recognise Hades by looking
at the vase painting of “The Palace of Hades” which is situated in the
Antikensammlungen Museum in Munich, Germany; It is a red figure painted vase
which is said to be dated late classical to early Hellenistic in the period, it
depicts the palace of Hades. This image shows Orpheus journey to the
underworld, it shows Hades sitting on his throne holding his sceptre and
wearing his crown. These characteristics as mentioned above that are clearly
linked with the image of Hades. To the right of Hades, Persephone is also
present which is also another indication that it figure on the vase is Hades
because of the myth of the rape of Persephone.
"The palace of Hades"
Another way we can link these attributes just as through
images like the vase painting is by looking at the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
‘There it was that the Lord who receives many guests made his lunge. He was riding on a chariot drawn by immortal
horses. The son of Kronos.The one known by many names. He seized her against her will, put her on
his golden chariot, and drove away as she wept. ‘(Homeric Hymn lines 16-21)
The description that Hymn portrays, is that Hades is being
pulled along by the immortal horse. There is also mention of him being the son
of Kronos ; these are clearly attributes that we could connect with Hades when
it came to the concept of anthropomorphism. The problem that we have in this
case, we could see these connections with both Zeus and Poseidon; they are both
sons of Kronos as they are all brothers.
As I discussed in my early post about the three gods being as one, but
the concept is that Zeus’s chariot, lightning bolt and Poseidon’s attributes to
his Trident. Hades is considering to be
recognised simply by refereeing him to the guarding of the underworld, as he is
seen as a chthonian god there is again this point of Hades being constantly
overlooked. We as scholars have given
these gods attributes that we can relate them too ourselves.
As it is shown that Hades did not need to take form of
another human being, thus one must ask the question of why? Why mythology has
seem not to have any reference when it comes to Hades and
Anthropomorphism. When it comes to the
role of the Hades we seem to concentrate heavily on the abduction of Persephone,
and the concept that he is the keeper of the underworld. It is said that he is
the personification of the underworld itself sometimes when refereeing to
Hades. An article form the department of classical studies mentions this about
Hades; ‘Hades is in fact far more commonly mentioned as the underworld than as
a personified god in Greek literature, although we do see him as an actual
character in some myths, most famously in the story of the abduction of
Persesphone by Hades, a tale told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.’(http://www.classics.uwaterloo.ca/labyrinth_old/issue90/DeathLabyrinth.pdf:
Last accessed 24/03/2013) In this article it argues that we read more literature
where Hades is a character because of the stories of mythology. We rarely read
in Mythology about Hades being a personification of the underworld this could
be an example of how the Ancient Greek’s viewed Hades as a more humanised
character rather than a personification. This would give him more an element of
anthropomorphism because of the mythology that we have views him as an
individual character rather than a personification.
Bibliography
Online Sources
Homeric Hymn to
Demeter, Translated by: Gregory Nancy. http://www.uh.edu/~cldue/texts/demeter.html.
Last accessed: 24/03/2013
Online article department of Classical Studies: http://www.classics.uwaterloo.ca/labyrinth_old/issue90/DeathLabyrinth.pdf
last accessed: 24/03/2013
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