Kids interview Hades
by Charactorium · Hades · Mythology · 5 min read
Two young visitors, having traveled far down beneath the earth, arrive before a great throne of gold and shadow. A god in a dark cloak looks at them, surprised that children are not afraid of him. Gently, he invites them to sit and ask their questions.
—Did you choose to become the god of the dead?
No, my child, no one really chose it. Imagine three brothers who have just won a great battle against the ancient giants, the Titans. There were three of us: Zeus, Poseidon, and me. So, to be fair, we drew lots, like drawing three pebbles from a helmet. Zeus got the sky. Poseidon got the gray sea. And I received the mist and darkness, the world below. Many believe it is the worst lot. But it is an immense kingdom, as vast as the others. I am not a minor god, you see. I have my share, fully.
I received the mist and darkness — it is a whole kingdom, not a punishment.
—Weren't you scared to go down and live all alone under the earth?
Scared? No. But it was silent, you know. Imagine a great house beneath the rock, with no bird song, just the sound of rivers flowing in the dark. My palace is magnificent, though: it gleams with gold, silver, and precious stones, for all the hidden riches in the earth belong to me. Metals, gems, everything men dig to find. So I had beauty around me, but no voices. That is why, perhaps, later my heart sought a companion. A rich house remains cold when you live alone in it.
A house full of gold remains cold when you live alone in it.
—Why did you take Persephone if she didn't want to come?
Ah, you ask the question that has followed me forever. It is true: one day, I ascended with my black chariot drawn by black horses, and I carried Persephone into my realm. I did it because I was alone, and I wanted a queen, not a servant. People often tell just the abduction. But they forget what followed. Over time, she became a true queen, respected, who decides with me. She spends part of the year up there, near her mother, and the rest here. And when she returns, you see, it is as if the shadow itself smiled.
They tell of the abduction, but they forget she became a queen.
—Is it true that a pomegranate changed everything in that story?
Yes, and it is a small detail that decides everything. Before Persephone left, she ate a few seeds of a pomegranate, that red fruit full of kernels. Now, in my world, whoever tastes the food of the dead is bound to it a little forever. It was not a cruel trick, understand me: it was the bond that made her truly my queen. That is why she now divides her time. When she goes up to her mother Demeter, the earth rejoices and plants grow: that is spring. When she comes back down to me, winter comes. A single fruit, and the seasons were born.
A single fruit tasted, and that is why the seasons exist.
—What is your work in the morning, when you get up?
Each morning, new souls arrive in my realm, by the thousands. My work is to ensure that each finds its rightful place. But beware: I do not judge alone, that would be too heavy. I rely on three very wise judges, Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. They listen to the life of each soul, its good deeds and its faults. Imagine three old masters weighing an entire existence like grain. The just go to the Elysian Fields, a gentle and luminous place. The others go lower. I ensure the scales are always honest.
My job is not to punish: it is to keep the scales honest.
—The wicked, where exactly do you send them?
Deep down, my child, there is a place called Tartarus. It is the deepest prison in my realm, far lower than everything else. Imagine a pit so vast that a stone would take days to hit the bottom. That is where the defeated ancient Titans and the worst criminals are confined, those who betrayed sacred oaths. I do not put people there out of anger, understand. I keep there those whose freedom would bring chaos back into the world. Without this prison, the old chaos would return. I am a bit like the guardian of a door that must never be reopened.
I guard a door that the world must never reopen.
—They say you have a magic helmet, is that true?
It is true! I possess a helmet that makes me completely invisible. When I wear it, no one sees me, neither mortals nor even the other gods. Imagine being able to walk through a crowd without a single glance falling on you. For the god of the dead, it is precious: I can watch over my realm without being noticed. With my long dark cloak and this helmet, I am like shadow itself. Besides, people rarely imagine my face: they sense me more than they see me. That is perhaps why they fear me so much. One always fears what one cannot look in the eye.
One always fears what one cannot look in the eye.
—How do you travel between your world and ours?
I have a black chariot, drawn by great black horses like the night. It is with this that I sometimes go up to the surface, then come back down. But between the two worlds, there is a boundary: a river called the Styx. No soul crosses it alone. A ferryman is needed, an old boatman named Charon, who ferries the dead on his skiff. Imagine a dark river, and a single boat to cross. That is why the living, in ancient times, placed a small coin on the dead: it was the price of the journey. My realm has its gates, and no one enters or leaves without crossing them.
My realm has its gates, and no one enters or leaves without crossing them.
—Why were people afraid to say your name out loud?
Ah, it touches me that you ask. It is true: in Athens, people avoided pronouncing my name. They feared that by calling me, they would draw my gaze and thus death. So they gave me other names, gentler ones: they called me the Rich One or the Kindly One. It is curious, isn't it? They did not hate me. They respected me so much that they whispered. Imagine not daring to say the name of someone too important, for fear of disturbing them. I am not an evil god. I am simply the one no one can avoid. And that commands respect more than anger.
They did not hate me: they respected me so much that they whispered.
—Were there places where people came to talk to you?
Yes, and it is beautiful that men sought me. At Eleusis, a sanctuary near Athens, I was worshipped with Persephone and her mother Demeter, during secret ceremonies. People came there to understand the mystery of death and life reborn, like the grain that grows back after winter. There was also, in Epirus, a temple carved near the river Acheron, where they hoped to speak to beloved dead. Imagine families descending into the dark, a lamp in hand, to whisper a word to those they had lost. I was not only a god to be feared. I was also the one to whom they returned.
I was not only a god to be feared: I was the one to whom they returned.
This imaginary interview was generated by artificial intelligence from sources documented in Hades's profile. It dramatises what the figure might have said based on what we know about them, but does not constitute attested historical testimony. For primary sources and factual documentation, refer to the full profile.