Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/90

 76 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY 2 sg.) Like his subjects, he is invisible, and hence is called Ai'doneus, Aides, or Hades, ' the invisible/ or ' the one rendering invisible' (d privative + tS-etv). This pecul- iarity is ascribed to the power of a helmet which he is accustomed to wear. A similar helmet is used by Sieg- fried in the Niebelungenlied. The all-powerful ruler of the lower world was con- sidered the brother of Zeus and Poseidon ; indeed, he was himself called the subterranean (Chtlionios) Zeus, and like him is represented enthroned, with a scepter. 101. His wife is Persephoneia or Persephone, and like her, Hades is both ruler of the depths of the earth and protector of the grain as long as it rests in the bosom of the earth. Eegarded in this aspect he carried the horn of plenty as a symbol, and was much worshiped under the names Pluto (' giver of riches/ Lat. Dls Pate?*), Clyme- nus ('the illustrious 7 ), and Eabuleus ('the benevolent 7 ); while as the death god proper, Hades, he enjoyed worship especially at Pylus ('gate' of the lower world) in Elis. When praying to him it was customary to strike on the ground with the hands, that the god might hear; and black sacrificial animals were offered to him, as to the dead themselves. The dark-hued cypress, which was planted on graves and otherwise much employed in the worship of the dead, and the quickly withering narcissus were sacred to him. The Erinyes, Thanatos, and Hypnos, god of sleep, who is formed like Thanatos, dwell in his realm. (Concerning his wound at the hand of Hercules see 143.) Hades (Pluto): Homer, II. passim; Vergil, Geor. iv. 467, et passim ; Horace, Od. ii. 14, 7 ; Milton, II Penseroso 107 :