Hades in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Hades

101 passages from 18 ancient authors that tell of Hades, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Hades is the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. After the overthrow of their father, Cronus, he drew lots with them to share the universe. He drew poorly,... For the story in one place, read our article on Hades.

Hesiod (3)

Hesiod, Theogony 740–779The house of Night, Sleep and Death; Hades and Styx (740-779)In the great gulf beyond Tartarus' gates stands the home of Night, where Atlas holds up the sky and Night and Day greet one another as they cross a bronze threshold. Sleep and Death, children of Night, live there, followed by the halls of Hades and Persephone, guarded by a fearful hound, and the house of Styx.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)The shield's decoration continues with Pursuit, Flight, Tumult and Panic, deadly Fate dragging a dead man, twelve snake heads, and boars and lions glaring at one another. Other scenes show the Lapiths fighting the Centaurs, Ares in his golden chariot with Athena, the gods on Olympus where Apollo plays the lyre and the Muses sing, and a harbour with dolphins and a fisherman. Perseus, wearing the cap of Hades and carrying the Gorgon's head, flies above the shield while the Gorgons pursue him, and beyond him men fight for and against a town.
Hesiod, Theogony 450–479Rhea and Cronus; the birth of Zeus (450-479)Hecate is made a nurse of the young. Rhea bears Cronus Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, and Cronus swallows each child as it is born, because Gaia and Uranus have told him his own son will overcome him. When she is about to bear Zeus, Rhea asks her parents for a plan, and they send her to Lyctus in Crete, where Gaia receives the child.

Homer (22)

Homer, Odyssey 10.466–574Circe's instructions; the death of ElpenorAfter a year the men urge Odysseus to think of home, and Circe tells him that before he goes he must visit the house of Hades and consult the ghost of Teiresias. She tells him how to make the offerings and where to land. Odysseus rouses his men, but the youngest, Elpenor, who had gone to sleep on the roof, falls from it and breaks his neck. The men weep at the news of the journey they must make, and Circe passes unseen to leave a ram and a black ewe by the ship.
Homer, Odyssey 11.568–640Minos, Orion and the great sinnersOdysseus sees Minos judging the dead with a golden sceptre, and Orion driving wild beasts across a meadow. He sees Tityos, Tantalus and Sisyphus in their torments, and then the ghost of Heracles, while Heracles himself is among the gods. Heracles speaks of his labours and of the dog of Hades, and Odysseus waits for more heroes, but the ghosts flock round him with a great cry, and he returns to the ship in fear.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.1–86Hymn 2 to Demeter (1): the abduction of PersephonePersephone is gathering flowers in a meadow when the earth opens and Hades seizes her and carries her away in his chariot. Her mother Demeter hears her cry, searches the earth for nine days with torches, and learns the truth from Hecate and from Helios, who tells her that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.290–394Hymn 2 to Demeter (4): the famine and the mission of HermesIn her new temple Demeter withholds the grain and a terrible year follows, which threatens the offerings of the gods. Zeus sends Iris and then the other gods to persuade her, but she will not return to Olympus without her daughter. Zeus sends Hermes to the underworld; Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but first gives her a pomegranate seed to eat, and Hermes drives her back to Eleusis, where her mother embraces her.
Homer, Iliad 23.57–107The ghost of PatroclusIn sleep the ghost of Patroclus appears to Achilles and asks for burial, so that he may pass the gates of Hades, and for their bones to rest together in one urn. Achilles tries to embrace him, but the ghost vanishes like smoke with a thin cry. He wakes and tells the Myrmidons what he has seen, and they weep until dawn.
Homer, Iliad 22.376–515Achilles drags Hector's body; the lament in TroyThe Achaeans gather round and wound the body, and Achilles pierces the tendons of the feet, threads thongs through them and ties the body to his chariot. He drives off, dragging Hector's head in the dust, while Priam and Hecuba cry out from the wall. Andromache, who has been weaving, hears the lament, runs to the wall and faints at the sight, and then mourns for Hector and for her fatherless son.
Homer, Odyssey 11.1–89The voyage to the land of the deadThey launch the ship, put the sheep aboard, and sail from Circe's island to the edge of the world, where the Cimmerians dwell in mist and darkness. Odysseus digs a pit, pours libations to the dead and cuts the throats of the sheep so that their blood flows into it. The ghosts come up, and he draws his sword and keeps them from the blood. Elpenor's ghost, first of all, begs for burial, and Odysseus sees his own mother among the ghosts but will not let her near the blood before he has questioned Teiresias.
Homer, Odyssey 11.150–224AnticleaThe ghost of Odysseus' mother Anticlea comes up and drinks the blood, and knows him. She tells him that Penelope still weeps in the house, that Telemachus holds the estates, and that his father Laertes lives in the country, grieving. She herself died of longing for him, and Odysseus three times tries to embrace her and she slips through his hands like a shadow.
Homer, Iliad 5.627–710Tlepolemus and SarpedonTlepolemus, a son of Heracles, and Sarpedon meet and trade boasts, and Sarpedon's spear kills Tlepolemus, though Sarpedon is himself wounded in the thigh. His comrades carry him from the field and lay him beneath the oak of Zeus, and Odysseus, wondering whether to pursue him, instead kills many Lycians. Sarpedon begs Hector not to leave him a prey to the Danaans.
Homer, Iliad 5.793–909Diomedes wounds AresAthena finds Diomedes cooling the wound the arrow made, rebukes him, and takes Sthenelus' place in his car, putting on the helm of Hades. They go against Ares, who is stripping the body of Periphas, and Diomedes drives his spear into the god's belly. Ares bellows like nine thousand men and goes up to Olympus, where Zeus tells him that he is hateful to him, but has Paeon heal him.
Homer, Iliad 8.350–484Zeus turns back Hera and AthenaHera and Athena set out to help the Achaeans, but Zeus sends Iris to turn them back with the threat of lamed horses and a shattered car. Zeus returns to Olympus and tells the two goddesses that at dawn he will destroy more of the Argives and that Hector will not stop fighting until Achilles rises at the ships over the body of Patroclus. Hera refuses to be rebuked and says that she will not oppose him.
Homer, Iliad 15.143–219Zeus' message to PoseidonHera calls Apollo and Iris from the hall and sends them to Ida, where Zeus tells Iris to bid Poseidon leave the battle and go back among the gods or into the sea. Poseidon is angry at being treated as an inferior, since he and Zeus are brothers and each has his own portion. He yields, but warns Zeus that if he spares Ilios against the wishes of the other gods, there will be trouble.

10 more passages of Homer that name Hades

Apollodorus (8)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.5.1–3Demeter and Persephone: Eleusis and TriptolemusHades (Pluto) carries Persephone off with Zeus's help, and Demeter searches for her until she reaches Eleusis in the likeness of a woman, where Iambe makes her smile and she nurses Metanira's child Demophon and tries to make him immortal in the fire. She gives Triptolemus a chariot of winged dragons and wheat to sow over the earth. When Zeus orders Persephone's release, a pomegranate seed binds her to spend a third of every year with Hades.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.5.11–12The Labours of Heracles (11-12): the Golden Apples and CerberusBecause the hydra and the stables are not counted, two more labours are added. For the golden apples of the Hesperides Heracles seizes Nereus to learn the way, defeats Antaeus and Busiris, frees Prometheus from the eagle, and gets the apples by tricking Atlas into taking the sky back. He is initiated at Eleusis, goes down to Hades by Taenarum, raises Theseus (but not Pirithous), wrestles Menoetes, and carries Cerberus up to Eurystheus and back.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.2.1–7Zeus and the Titanomachy; the children of the TitansZeus takes Metis as his ally, and she gives Cronus a drug that makes him disgorge the stone and his swallowed children. In the ten-year war the gods win once Zeus frees the prisoners in Tartarus and the Cyclopes give him thunder and lightning, Pluto a helmet and Poseidon a trident; the Titans are shut in Tartarus and the three brothers draw lots for sky, sea and the underworld. The rest of the section lists the offspring of the Titans, of Styx, and of Sea and Earth, ending with the Nereids.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.1.1–24Theseus and the Minotaur; Daedalus, Phaedra and PirithousThe Epitome picks up Theseus' labours with the sow of Crommyon and goes on through Sciron, Cercyon and Damastes, after which he reaches Athens and Medea's plot against him fails. With Ariadne's clue he kills the Minotaur, and Ariadne is left on Naxos for Dionysus; Aegeus leaps to his death when he sees the black sail. The section then follows Daedalus and Icarus and Minos's death in Sicily, Theseus's Amazon wife and Phaedra's passion for Hippolytus, the Centauromachy, Helen's abduction, and Theseus's capture in Hades and death on Scyros.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.1.1–7Uranus, the Titans and the birth of ZeusSky (Uranus) and Earth have the Hundred-handers, the Cyclopes and the Titans, and Sky casts the Cyclopes into Tartarus. At Earth's urging the Titans attack their father, and Cronus mutilates him with an adamantine sickle, so that the Furies are born from the blood. Cronus takes the sovereignty, binds his brothers again, marries Rhea and swallows his children at birth, until Rhea hides the infant Zeus in a cave in Crete among the Curetes and nymphs and gives Cronus a stone to swallow.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.4.1–5Leto, Apollo and Artemis; Python, Marsyas and OrionAsteria flees Zeus and becomes the island Delos, where the hunted Leto bears Artemis and then Apollo. Apollo takes over the oracle at Delphi by killing the snake Python, kills Tityus for assaulting Leto, and has Marsyas flayed after a musical contest. Artemis kills Orion on Delos, and two reasons are given, a challenge at quoits or violence against the Hyperborean maiden Opis; the section ends with Poseidon's children by Amphitrite.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.2.1–16Tantalus, Pelops and the house of AtreusThe Epitome describes the punishment of Tantalus in Hades, Pelops' revival after being boiled at the gods' banquet, and his winning of Hippodamia from Oenomaus with the help of the charioteer Myrtilus, whom he then drowns. It follows the sons of Pelops: Atreus and Thyestes quarrel over the kingdom of Mycenae because of the golden lamb, Atreus serves Thyestes his own sons, and Aegisthus, born to Thyestes by his daughter, kills Atreus. It ends with Agamemnon, Menelaus and the children of Agamemnon.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 9.1–112Olympian 9: for Epharmostus — Deucalion and OpusPindar praises Epharmostus of Opus, wrestling victor, and Opus, mother-city of the Locrians, and begs his lips to speak no ill of the gods, recalling Heracles' battles with Poseidon, Phoebus and Hades at Pylos. He tells how Deucalion and Pyrrha made a people from stones, and how Zeus took the daughter of Opus of Elis to Locrus, who named her son Opus after her father. The ode ends with Epharmostus' other victories and a tribute to his skill.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Persians 598–680Third episode: Atossa's libations and the Chorus calls up DariusAtossa comes back without her royal state, bringing offerings of milk, honey, water, wine, olives and flowers for the dead Darius. She asks the Chorus to sing the hymns for the earth and the gods below, and the Chorus pray to the powers beneath the earth to send up the soul of Darius, calling on him as a god and as the king who never ruined his people in senseless wars.

Sophocles (10)

Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1044–1111Exodos (cont.): Heracles' lamentHeracles says that none of his labours, no monster or hostile land, did to him what a weak woman has done to him alone. He asks Hyllus to bring his mother to him so that he may avenge himself, and shows his wasted body. He cries out to Zeus and Hades for death and recalls his labours, and says that she will feel his hand even in his death.
Sophocles, Antigone 1183–1256Exodos: Eurydice, and the news from the tombCreon's wife Eurydice comes out of the house, having overheard part of the news, and asks to hear it in full. The Messenger tells how Creon and his men buried Polyneices and then went to the vault, where they found Antigone hanged and Haemon embracing her body. Haemon spat at his father and drew his sword, then fell on it, and Eurydice goes silently into the house.
Sophocles, Electra 86–153Parodos: Electra's lament and the ChorusElectra, alone in front of the palace, cries out to the light and the air that she mourns her father every night and every day, and calls on the gods below and the Erinyes to send her brother. The Chorus of Mycenaean women ask why she wastes away in grief for Agamemnon, and tell her that weeping will not bring him back from Hades. She answers that it would be foolish to forget a murdered parent, and compares herself to the nightingale mourning Itys and to Niobe weeping in her rocky tomb.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1556–1666Fourth stasimon; the Messenger reports the death of OedipusThe Chorus pray to the Unseen Goddess and the lord of the dead that Oedipus may go down painlessly to the plain of the dead. A Messenger comes and says that Oedipus is dead, and tells how he washed and dressed himself, and how at the place of the oath he said farewell to his daughters. A voice from the god called him, he sent his daughters away, and only Theseus saw how he passed from the world.
Sophocles, Ajax 596–645First stasimon: the sailors long for SalamisThe Chorus sing of famous Salamis and of the long months of toil and exile at Troy, with no end in sight, and of Ajax's illness. They say that his mother will cry out in grief when she hears of the madness of her son, and that his father Telamon will hear a heavy curse upon his house.
Sophocles, Antigone 781–882Third stasimon: the ode to Eros, and Antigone's lamentThe Chorus sing of the power of Love, which drives even just men to ruin, and then, seeing Antigone led out, weep for her. Antigone compares her fate to that of the daughter of Tantalus turned to stone, and the Chorus say that she is paying for a crime of her father's. She mourns the doom of the house of Labdacus, and says that she goes unwept and unwed to share the home of her parents.
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 1369–1415Exodos (cont.): Oedipus' speechOedipus tells the Chorus not to say that he has acted wrongly, and says that he could not have borne to look at his father in Hades or his mother, or at his children, or at Thebes. He cries out against Cithaeron, Polybus and the crossroads, and calls the marriage rites that gave him birth and then bore children to their child the worst of crimes. He begs the Chorus to hide him, kill him or cast him into the sea.
Sophocles, Philoctetes 391–506First stasimon; Philoctetes asks about Troy and begs to be taken homeThe Chorus pray to the Earth, mother of Zeus, in sympathy with Neoptolemus. Philoctetes asks about the men he knew at Troy, and hears that Ajax, Antilochus and Patroclus are dead while Odysseus and Thersites live, so that the gods spare the evil. When Neoptolemus says that he is about to set sail, Philoctetes begs him, by his father and mother and by everything dear to him, not to leave him but to take him home to Oeta.
Sophocles, Philoctetes 1162–1217Fourth stasimon (cont.): the Chorus plead; Philoctetes asks for a swordThe Chorus beg Philoctetes in the name of the gods to accept the way of escape, but he accuses them of wanting to take him to Troy and tells them to go, and then calls them back. He refuses again to go to Troy, and begs them to bring him a sword or an axe. He says that he wants to die and join his father in Hades, and mourns for his home.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1448–1496Kommos: the thunder and the call for TheseusThe Chorus say that new ills have come from the blind stranger, and thunder crashes and the sky resounds. Oedipus cries that the winged thunder of Zeus will soon lead him to Hades, and begs for someone to bring Theseus. As the thunder grows louder the Chorus call on Zeus for mercy and beg Theseus to come quickly.

Euripides (16)

Euripides, Alcestis 416–475Second episode: Admetus orders mourning; the Chorus praises AlcestisThe Chorus tells Admetus that he must bear his misfortune, since all are debtors to death. Admetus says that he knew of it long before, and gives orders for the funeral, with all Thessalians to mourn with shorn hair and black robes. The Chorus sings a farewell to Alcestis, calling for her a happy life in the sunless house of Hades.
Euripides, Alcestis 213–279First choral song; Alcestis comes out to dieThe Chorus prays to Apollo as Paean to save Admetus, and then sees Alcestis come out of the house, supported by her husband. Alcestis speaks to the sun and the clouds, and sees Charon, the ferryman of the dead, calling her to come. Admetus begs her not to leave him or the children.
Euripides, Heracles 442–496Second episode: the family comes out dressed for deathThe Chorus sees the children of Heracles, dressed in the robes of the dead, coming out with their mother. Megara asks who is to sacrifice or butcher them, and tells the children that the victims are ready to be led to Hades' halls. She says that Heracles' name is now for nothing, and that she and the children are to die without the help of the one man who could have saved them, and Amphitryon calls on him to appear, even as a phantom.
Euripides, Heracles 610–636Second episode: Heracles tells of his return from HadesAmphitryon asks whether it is true that Heracles went to the house of Hades, and whether the monster is lodged in the house of Eurystheus, who does not know that he has returned. Heracles says that he stayed to try to bring Theseus back from Hades, and that Theseus has gone to Athens. He tells the children to come into the house with him, and says that all men love their children.
Euripides, Alcestis 326–368Second episode: Admetus vows lifelong mourningThe Chorus answers for Admetus that he will keep her wishes. Admetus promises that he will not marry again, that he will end all feasting and music, and that he will have a statue of his wife laid on his bed. He says that he would bring her back from Hades if he had the voice of Orpheus, and that he will be laid in the same tomb with her.
Euripides, Heracles 1088–1145Exodos: Heracles wakes and learns what he has doneHeracles wakes, not knowing where he is, and is bewildered to find himself bound among bodies, and asks his father what has happened. Amphitryon at first cannot tell him, but at last, urged on by Heracles, says that he has killed his children, and Heracles learns what he has done.
Euripides, Trojan Women 406–461First episode: Cassandra foretells the wanderings of OdysseusThe Chorus says that Cassandra smiles at her own sad lot, and Talthybius says that if Apollo had not turned her wits he would not let her send the chiefs off with such ill omens. Cassandra mocks heralds as the hated servants of rulers, and, asked about Hecuba's fate, says that Hecuba will die at Troy and that Odysseus, who does not know what awaits him, will wander ten years beyond the Trojan ones, past Charybdis, the Cyclops and Circe, and descend alive to Hades, before she is led away.
Euripides, Alcestis 706–746Fourth episode: Admetus and Pheres part in anger; Alcestis is borne to burialThe Chorus begs them to stop, and the quarrel goes on a little longer. Pheres leaves, telling Admetus that he is the murderer of his wife and that her family will take vengeance on him. Admetus curses his father and his stepmother, and goes to lay the body on the pyre, and the Chorus sings a farewell to Alcestis.
Euripides, Alcestis 861–902Exodos: Admetus returns from the burial in griefAdmetus returns from the burial, saying that he loathes to enter his house and wishes that he were dead. The Chorus tells him to go inside and to endure it, and Admetus says that the loss of a wife is the greatest of evils. He asks why he was kept from dying with her.
Euripides, Heracles 1–59Prologue: Amphitryon explains the plight of Heracles' familyAmphitryon, who shared a wife with Zeus and is the father of Heracles, tells how he came to Thebes, where Creon gave his daughter Megara to Heracles. He says that Heracles has gone to Hades to bring back the hound of hell, and that in his absence Lycus has killed Creon and seized power, and that he now threatens to kill Megara, her sons and Amphitryon, who sit as suppliants at the altar of Zeus the Saviour.
Euripides, Heracles 107–169Parodos: the old men of Thebes; Lycus threatens the suppliantsThe Chorus of old Theban men comes with staves, singing like a grey bird, and greets the children and their mother and urges the aged Amphitryon not to grow weary. Lycus, the ruler of the land, comes in and asks Amphitryon and Megara how long they intend to cling to life, saying that the sons of Heracles will grow up to take vengeance on him.
Euripides, Heracles 701–748Third episode: Lycus returns and is lured into the houseLycus comes and tells Amphitryon that he has been a long time in the palace decking out himself and the others in the robes of the dead, and asks for Megara and the children. Amphitryon answers him with bitterness, and says that Lycus may go his way, and warns him that he will find trouble himself. The Chorus says that the evil has changed sides and that a mighty king is going back to Hades, and Lycus is heard crying out within the house.

4 more passages of Euripides that name Hades

Apollonius Rhodius (2)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.528–647Through the Clashing RocksAfter days of gifts from the Thynians the heroes leave Phineus' land, and Euphemus carries a dove to the Clashing Rocks. The dove passes through, losing only its tail feathers; the heroes row hard, Athena holds back one rock, and Argo comes through with only the tip of her stern ornament lost. Jason confesses his fears and the heroes cheer him.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.744–911Medea's night of tormentAt night Medea is divided between her duty to her parents and her love for Jason, and takes up a casket of drugs with the thought of ending her life. A fear of Hades and a prompting from Hera restore her resolve, and at dawn she takes the charm of Prometheus and drives to the temple of Hecate. She tells her maids that she will meet the stranger there.

Theocritus (2)

Theocritus, Idylls 1.1–152Idyll 1: Thyrsis' lament for DaphnisA goatherd persuades the shepherd Thyrsis to sing the song of the sufferings of Daphnis, and offers him a carved ivy-wood cup, whose scenes he describes. In the song the Nymphs are called to mourn as Daphnis wastes away for love, and Hermes, Priapus and the herdsmen come to ask what ails him. Daphnis answers Aphrodite's taunts, bids the wild beasts farewell, and dies.
Theocritus, Idylls 16.1–109Idyll 16: The Graces, or HieroThe poet complains that no one will receive the Graces or pay the singers, and that rich men no longer honour song. He praises Hiero of Syracuse, before whose arms the Phoenicians of Libya shudder, and asks for his patronage. He ends by saying that he will not leave the Muses or the Graces.

Aristophanes (9)

Aristophanes, Frogs 1479–1533Exodos: Pluto's farewell; Aeschylus returns to AthensDionysus accepts Pluto's invitation to sup, and the Chorus bless the poet who is going back to the light. Pluto bids Aeschylus farewell and gives him messages for Cleophon, Archenomus and the tax-gatherers. Aeschylus asks that Sophocles keep his chair and that the low buffoon never sit in it, and the Chorus escort him up with torches and song.
Aristophanes, Frogs 116–171Prologue: Heracles describes the roads to HadesHeracles describes the ways down: a rope and a bench, a draught of hemlock, or a leap from the tower at the Cerameicus. Dionysus chooses the road that Heracles took himself, across a great lake in a ferry that costs two obols. On the way are snakes and monsters, a swamp of filth for sinners and the happy bands of mystics near Pluto's gate; as they set off, a funeral party carries out a body.
Aristophanes, Frogs 1448–1478Agon: the advice of the two poets and the verdictEuripides advises the city to trust those whom it now distrusts, and Aeschylus asks whom the city actually uses. Aeschylus says that the city will be safe when it counts the enemy's land its own and its own land the enemy's. Dionysus decides for Aeschylus, and Euripides protests that Dionysus swore to take him; Pluto invites Dionysus in to supper.
Aristophanes, Frogs 732–777Episode: Aeacus and Xanthias; the dead quarrel over the tragic chairAeacus says that the master of Xanthias is a true gentleman, and he and Xanthias compare the joys of grumbling, spying and cursing a master behind his back. A great noise breaks out from within. Aeacus tells Xanthias that the dead are rioting over the rule that the best poet of each craft takes the chair at Pluto's table.
Aristophanes, Frogs 1404–1447Agon: the last weighing; what would save the cityAeschylus offers to meet his rival's whole household and all his books in the scales, with two of his own lines to outweigh them. Dionysus says that he cannot decide, since one poet is clever and the other delights him. Pluto reminds him that he must choose, and Dionysus asks each poet what advice he would give for the city.
Aristophanes, Frogs 416–463Parodos: the banter at the bridge; Dionysus at Pluto's doorThe Chorus jeer at Cleisthenes and Callias, who are said to be among the dead. Dionysus asks the way to Pluto's house, and the Chorus tell him that he has come to the very door and then go off to dance. Dionysus knocks as Heracles told him, and Aeacus answers.
Aristophanes, Frogs 778–812Episode: Aeacus tells of the dispute; Dionysus is to judgeAeacus explains that Euripides came down among the dead and claimed the tragic chair that Aeschylus held, and that the crowd took his side. Sophocles refused the chair and means to sit third. Pluto will hold a contest in which words are weighed in scales, and the master of Xanthias is chosen as judge.
Aristophanes, Frogs 80–115bPrologue: Dionysus asks Heracles about the poets of HadesDionysus says that Agathon has gone to join the blessed at their banquets, and Heracles asks after Xenocles and Pythangelus and then after the host of young tragedians. Dionysus dismisses them as poets who get one chorus and are never seen again, and asks for a genuine creative poet who dares a bold phrase. He then asks which friends and inns Heracles knew on his journey below.
Aristophanes, Frogs 615–665Episode: the test by floggingXanthias offers his slave to be tortured, and Dionysus claims to be a god, but Xanthias says that a real god will not feel the whips. Each is struck in turn, and whichever flinches or cries out must be the slave, so each tries to hide the pain with a verse or a joke. Aeacus cannot tell which is the god and takes them both in to Pluto and Persephone.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.25.1–4.27.5Heracles: Hades, Orpheus and the HesperidesHeracles is initiated at Athens in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the historian digresses briefly on Orpheus. Heracles then descends to Hades, where Persephone welcomes him, and brings back Cerberus. For the last labour, the golden apples of the Hesperides, writers disagree about whether the prize was apples or golden-coloured sheep; the section also gives the story of Atlas and the Atlantides, whom Heracles rescues from pirates sent by Busiris, and Atlas's teaching him astronomy.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.3.1–5.5.3Demeter and Core in SicilyThe rape of Core is placed in the meadows of Enna, and Athena, Artemis and Core are said to have taken their portions of the island, with the springs of Himera, Arethusa and Cyane given to them by the Nymphs. Demeter, searching for her daughter, passes through many lands and gives the Athenians the first fruit of the wheat after the people of Sicily; the festivals held in Sicily of the two goddesses are described and the tragic poet Carcinus is quoted.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.338–461Typhoeus; the rape of PersephoneCalliope sings for the Muses of the giant Typhoeus buried under Sicily, whose struggles shake the island, and of how Aphrodite (Venus) asks Eros (Cupid) to wound Hades (Pluto) with love. Hades, driving through Sicily, sees Persephone (Proserpina) gathering flowers by the lake of Pergus and carries her off in his chariot. The nymph Cyane tries to stop him and is changed into a pool, and Hades drives through the earth to his own kingdom. Demeter (Ceres) begins her search for her daughter, and turns the boy Stellio, who mocks her thirst, into a lizard.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1–85Orpheus and EurydiceHymen, called to the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice, comes with a smoking torch and an ill omen, and Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus goes down to the underworld and sings before Hades (Pluto) and Persephone (Proserpina), and the shades, even the Furies, weep, and Tantalus, Ixion and Sisyphus forget their torments. He is allowed to lead Eurydice back on condition that he does not look back, but as they near the light he turns to see her, and she slips away. Orpheus then shuns women and gives his love to the young men of Thrace.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.396–562The Minyades become bats; Athamas and InoThe daughters of Minyas, who have scorned Dionysus (Bacchus), find their looms turning to vines and ivy, and they are changed into bats. Hera (Juno), angry at the honour done to Semele's sister Ino, goes down to the Underworld and sends the Fury Tisiphone to the house of Athamas, who goes mad and kills his son Learchus. Ino leaps from a cliff with her other son Melicertes, and Aphrodite (Venus) asks Poseidon (Neptune) to make them sea-gods, and Ino's Theban companions are changed into rocks and birds.

Pausanias (5)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.25.1–6Elis: temples of Aphrodite, Hades and SosipolisPausanias describes an old temple of the Roman emperors and the two Aphrodites of Elis: the ivory and gold Heavenly Aphrodite by Phidias standing on a tortoise, and the Vulgar Aphrodite by Scopas seated on a bronze he-goat. He explains that the Eleans alone worship Hades, whose sanctuary is opened once a year, and quotes Homer on Hades wounded at Pylus by Hercules. He also notes the sanctuary of Fortune, the painted Sosipolis, and a bronze statue called the Satrap that was once said to be Poseidon.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.20.1–10Olympia: Iphitus’ quoit, the pillar of Oenomaus, the Metroum and the PhilippeumPausanias lists other offerings in the Heraeum: a couch, the quoit of Iphitus inscribed with the Olympic truce and Colotes’ ivory and gold table. He tells how a dead Elean soldier was found under the Heraeum roof, and describes the decayed pillar of Oenomaus preserved under a roof, the Metroum and the Philippeum with its statues of Philip’s family.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.12.1–11Delphi: the rock of the Sibyl and the Sibyls and prophets of GreecePausanias describes the rock at Delphi where Herophile, called the Sibyl, used to stand and chant her oracles, and the competing claims of Marpessus and Erythrae to be her birthplace. He tells of her hymns, her tomb in the grove of Sminthian Apollo in the Troad, and the later prophetesses Demo of Cumae, Sabbe, Phaennis and the Peleads of Dodona. He ends with the prophetic men Euclus, Musaeus, Lycus and Bacis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.36.1–8Hermionis to Asine and Lerna: Halice, Mases, Didymi and the fall of AsinePausanias follows the roads from Hermion through the deserted city of Halice, between Mount Pron and Cuckoo Mountain, to Mases, Cape Struthus, the Bolei and Didymi with its sanctuaries. He then describes the Argive district of Asine, and tells how the Argives under Eratus destroyed it after the Asinaeans joined the Spartan king Nicander. He ends with the roads to Lerna, the sanctuary of the Dioscuri, the place where Pluto descended, and Mount Pontinus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.18.1–8Nonacris: the water of the Styx and the daughters of ProetusPausanias gathers the poetic references to the Styx in Hesiod, Epimenides and Homer, and describes the water trickling down the cliff at Nonacris. It is deadly to creatures and breaks or corrodes almost everything except a horse's hoof, and he reports without confirming that Alexander died of it. He also tells how the daughters of Proetus fled to a cave in the Aroanian mountains and were healed of madness at Lusi by Melampus, so that the local Artemis was called Hemerasia.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (2)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.96–211Hera rebukes Apollo; Achilles fallsHera rebukes Apollo for killing Achilles, reminding him that he sang at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and Apollo sits silent and ashamed. The dying Achilles still kills Orythaon, Hipponous and Alcathous, and his last shout sends the Trojans reeling before he falls. Paris then urges the Trojans to drag the body to Troy behind Hector's horses.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.1–74Neoptolemus at Achilles' tombIn the morning Troy stands unharmed. Antenor prays to Zeus either to turn Achilles' son from the city or to end the war, and Zeus hastens the end but does not turn Neoptolemus back. After a truce for burying the dead, Neoptolemus visits his father's tomb and weeps, and then goes to the ships.

Nonnus of Panopolis (6)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 11.301–427Book 11: Eros tells of Calamos and CarposDionysos prays to Zeus to let Ampelos speak once more and says he would give all the gold of Pactolos to bring him back. Eros comes in the shape of Seilenos and tells him of Calamos and Carpos, two youths of the river Maiandros. They race on land and in the water, and Carpos is drowned by a wind.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 30.100–159Book 30: Morrheus kills Phlogios; Eurymedon kills TectaphosHephaistos carries his wounded son from the field and heals him. Morrheus kills the dancer Phlogios, and Tectaphos, whom Deriades once starved in a pit, cuts down several Satyrs before Eurymedon kills him with a battle-axe. The dying Tectaphos calls for his daughter's help.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.134–218Book 1: Typhon steals Zeus's thunderboltsCadmos, following the bull, comes to the cave of Arima as the mountains move against Olympos. Zeus had hidden his weapons in a cave while he went to Pluto's bed, and at his mother Earth's nod Typhoeus steals them. With his many hands he seizes stars and constellations and flings the sea's chariots and the Moon's bulls about.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.75–143Book 27: Deriades' threats; the Indians march outDeriades goes on to threaten Aiacos, the Cyclopes, the Telchines and Erechtheus, and imagines forging his own thunderbolts. He tells his men to cut down the Bassarids while he and Morrheus deal with Dionysos and Aristaios, and the Indians march out on elephants, horses and foot.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 30.160–242Book 30: Tectaphos' daughter laments; Morrheus' slaughter; Dionysos retreatsTectaphos' daughter laments over his body from the city wall. Morrheus kills many Bacchants, among them Alcimacheia, who had dared to beat Hera's statue, and the maiden Codone, and the Telchines join the battle against the Indians. Hera makes Deriades blaze with fire, and Dionysos, dismayed, retreats.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.0–69Book 31: Hera appeals to Persephone against DionysosHera, jealous at the Indian defeat and the sight of Perseus' trophies, goes down to Persephone in Hades. She tells her that Dionysos will displace Zagreus and Demeter's honour and that Zeus has wronged them both, and asks her to arm the Furies against him.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 5.1–200Ode 5: Heracles meets Meleager in HadesThe poet sends Hieron a song and compares his own flight to the eagle's, celebrating the victory of the chestnut horse Pherenicus at Olympia and at Pytho. He tells how Heracles went down to Hades for the hound of Hades, saw the shade of Meleager and drew his bow, but was told there was nothing to fear. Meleager tells of the Calydonian boar sent by Artemis, of the quarrel over its hide, and of the brand burned by his mother Althaea that ended his life. Moved to tears, Heracles asks about a sister he might marry, and Meleager names Deianeira; the ode ends with praise of Hieron and a prayer to Zeus.

Lycophron (3)

Lycophron, Alexandra 541–693Alexandra 541–693: Quarrelling cousins, the leaders' settlements in the West, and one man's wanderingsThe men at the banquet first tear at each other with jeers and then, as cousins, take up the spear, and two pairs fall, Hades receiving one pair while the other brothers are welcomed to Olympos on alternate days, undying and dead. Cassandra foretells the wanderings of many other leaders, among them Cepheus and Praxandrus, a leader who founds Argyrippa while his comrades are turned into birds, men who sail to the Gymnesian rocks as slingers, and others who reach Iberia and Libya. One man, the sole survivor of his friends, is carried past the one-eyed lion, Charybdis, enchanting nightingales and a dragoness who turns men into swine, and at last goes down to the dark plain of the dead to consult the ancient seer.
Lycophron, Alexandra 406–540Alexandra 406–540: Graves far from home; five exiles settle on an island; a god sows quarrel among the doomedCassandra says that the whole land and even the shore of Acheron will mourn her bridal, since countless men will be devoured by sea-monsters while others find graves in strange lands. She names some of the dead: an old man blinded by his father who will be buried at Eion, three 'sea-gulls' laid in the glades of Cercaphus, and two who kill each other at the mouth of the Pyramus. Five exiles are then said to come to a horned island, among them a kinsman banished by his father's taunts and a countryman who digs for copper and whose father was killed by a tusk. She prays that Zeus never send the Lapersii against her country, and takes hope from a god who will start grievous wrangling when the doomed hosts receive their fatal guest at a banquet.
Lycophron, Alexandra 694–838Alexandra 694–838: The three singing maidens at the Tyrrhenian shore, the wanderer's homecoming, and a husband's search for his brideThe three daughters of Tethys' son, who imitated their mother's melodies, hurl themselves from the cliffs into the Tyrrhenian sea, and Parthenope, Leucosia and Ligeia come ashore at named places where they are buried and honoured. The wanderer shuts the winds in an oxhide, is burnt by the thunderbolt, clings to a fig-tree above Charybdis, and after a short time with the daughter of Atlas sails a badly made vessel that is smashed. At last he returns alone to find his house plundered by wife-stealers, bears blows and jeers from his own slaves, and dies in old age of a fish's spike after seeing his son called the butcher of his father. Another husband then searches land and sea for the bride snatched from him, visiting the watching-place of Typhon, the city of Myrrha and the towers of Cepheus.

Orpheus (attributed) (4)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 67–71Hymns 67-71: Aesculapius, Health, the Furies, MelinoeAesculapius is invoked as the healer and physician of mankind, and Health as the much-desired, life-bearing queen. Two hymns call on the Furies, the first as vociferous Bacchanalian powers and the second as the Eumenides, dread beings who watch over the counsels and deeds of men. Melinoe, the saffron-veiled child of Pluto's queen, is invoked as a ghostly power who appears to mortals in spectral forms.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 27–31Hymns 27-31: the Mother of the Gods, Mercury, Proserpine, Bacchus, the CuretesThe Mother of the Gods is invoked as the great nurse of all, honoured with the drum, and Mercury (Hermes) as the messenger of Zeus and son of Maia, patron of gain and graceful speech. Proserpine is addressed as the only-begotten daughter of Zeus and honoured wife of Pluto. Bacchus appears as a two-horned, ivy-crowned god of two forms, and the Curetes as leaping armed dancers.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 0–3Hymns 0-3: Musaeus (proem), Hecate, Prothyraea, NightThe collection opens with a prologue in which Orpheus addresses his pupil Musaeus, promises to teach him the rites of sacrifice and then calls on a long roll of gods, nymphs, spirits and personified powers to attend. The prologue ends with a short invocation of Hecate of the crossroads, which Taylor prints as its closing lines (modern Hymn 1). The next two hymns invoke Prothyraea, the goddess who presides over childbirth, and Night, named as the parent from whom gods and men first arose.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 17–21Hymns 17-21: Neptune, Pluto, Thundering Jove, Jove the Author of Lightning, the CloudsNeptune is invoked as the dark-haired, earth-shaking ruler of the sea, and Pluto as the lord of the underworld, whose realm lies in Tartarus among the pale shades of the dead. Two hymns address Zeus as the thunderer and the author of lightning, calling on his fiery light and his roaring storm. The group closes with the Clouds, the aerial parents of fertile rains.