by Chrystina Trulove-Reyes

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: September 06, 2009

Hades is often depicted as a somber man with a glare. While he may rule over the underworld with an iron fist, the fist is a fair one. Next to Athena, he is probably the fairest of all the gods in the Greek Pantheon. However, his beginnings are a little unusual, even for a god who controls death.

When Hades was born his father, the titan Cronos, swallowed him. Probably not the best of beginnings when first arriving in the world. Luckily for humanity, his mother had a chance to name him before the awful deed. However, he was not alone for long. He had four other gods that arrived later to keep him company in his prison. Poseidon, Hades' younger brother, and Hades' sisters, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia were all swallowed successively after birth. However, when the last brother was supposed to join Hades and his siblings, a rather large boulder was all that appeared. Hope ignited in the siblings as they realized that their mother, the Titan Rhea, had tricked their father into consuming a rock instead of their littlest brother.

Then the day came that, as they had suspected, Zeus freed them from their prison. Zeus tricked their father into eating honey, mustard and nectar. The mixture that was ingested forced the titan to expel the gods from his system. The moment the other gods were free, they beat a hasty retreat. They knew that without a plan, they would have little success in dethroning the titans.

For the second time in his life, Hades was allowed to see the realm that his father controlled. Zeus led his siblings to a safe place where they worked with creatures called "Cyclopes" in order to overthrow the cruel reign of the gods' father. Hades watched as his brothers received remarkable weapons. Zeus was given the lightning bold, which is his central power. Poseidon received the trident, which acted as a focus for his incredible powers. You can imagine the look that Hades gave the Cyclopes when all he was given was a dusty old helmet that could make him invisible. What good was that?

Well, it was actually crucial in the overthrow of Cronos and the other titans. By placing the helmet on his head, Hades became completely invisible. Before the fateful battle even started, Hades donned his helmet then crept silently into the Titans camp. There he destroyed all their weapons. That proved to be a small but very useful victory for the Gods since they had the weapon smiths on their side. In the end, the Titans had to fight without weapons, giving the Olympians a distinct

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