Hades & The Underworld Explained In 15 Minutes | Best Greek Mythology Documentary

[Music] thank you of all the gods of ancient Greece there were few feared more than Hades the brother of Zeus and Poseidon Hades was Lord of the underworld an isolated place where the souls of the Dead would reside from the greatest of Heroes to the most tyrannical Kings no one would be able to escape Hades judgment with those who would upset him or the gods of Olympus undergoing some of the most infamous punishments known to man but while Hades commanded great respect his journey to becoming ruler of the underworld would not be easy as the

Earth had not always been controlled by the gods his rise to power and the Great War that followed would be so destructive that it threatens to tear the world itself apart from a neglected child to Lord of the Dead this is the story of Hades long ago ruled the Titans Children of the Earth and Sky but their reign was not to last as Cronus the youngest and strongest Titan would have three sons and three daughters with his sister Ria with these children becoming known as the Gods Cronus however was a cruel father and having just

been informed that one of his children was prophesied to overthrow him would swallow each of them whole as they were born only one would escape this horrible fate with Zeus the youngest of his children being hidden away until he reached manhood and was strong enough to challenge his father when the time came Zeus would return striking down Cronus and releasing his siblings from his father's stomach with them now at his side Zeus would wager War for 10 long years against the Titans enlisting the help of the cyclops's legendary Craftsman who would Forge Zeus a mighty

Thunderbolt Poseidon a trident and Hades a hat of invisibility turning the tide of the war with the Titans defeated Zeus would imprison them in Tartarus deep within the Earth where they would remain in torment for eternity with the world now free of the Titans Rule The Three Brothers Zeus Poseidon and Hades would decide what realm each would claim with Zeus receiving the sky Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld were the spirits of the Dead would reside Hades the oldest of his brothers ruled the kingdom of the Dead however Hades would not command death itself

instead that's powerly with Thanatos who had claimed The Souls of Mortals when they died as he dwelt so far from the other gods Hades would not be considered an Olympian instead only caring for his domain rarely leaving his Palace Tales of Hades wrath were known throughout the ancient world with few humans daring to speak his name for the fear of drawing his attention instead Hades would simply be referred to as the infernal Zeus or Zeus of the underworld as a god of the underworld Hades would own all the precious metals and gemstones found beneath the

Earth with the Romans calling him Pluto meaning the rich one [Music] upon a mortal's death Thanatos would separate the soul from the body with Hermes the messenger god then guiding the soul to the shores of the underworld waiting at the shore would be the Eternal ferryman Caron who was the only one able to guide the deceased across the deadly river sticks a giant waterway that separated the Earth from the underworld only those who had coins placed under their tongue when buried were able to pay karon's fee were those who could not afford to the journey

destined to wander the shores of the river sticks for a hundred years before they were allowed to cross having traveled along the river sticks the souls would pass the White Rock before arriving at the giant at a mountain Gates of the underworld where cerberos the three-headed dog stood guard ready to devour Intruders or those trying to escape resuming their journey and coming ashore the souls would be directed towards the court of the underworld where three judges would decide their fate the judges would examine each Soul looking through every action they had made while alive for

those who had not angered the gods a trunk will place lay before them but for those who had an eternity of misery and suffering awaited after a judgment was reached the souls would be directed along one of three parts either to the fields of asphidel the Eternal Paradise of Elysium or to the deepest depths of Hades realm Tartarus a place of scalding fire the fields of Asphodel were a peaceful place for those who did not achieve anything notable in life good or evil it would be here that most Souls were sent and after a thousand

years had passed and their time had finally come to an end each person would drink from the river Lethy whose Waters would wipe away their memory born Anew each Soul having forgotten their previous life would be reincarnated and returned to the Earth starting the Eternal cycle once more the second path however would lead to Elysium a paradise of Eternal Bliss where the souls of Heroes demigods and especially good Mortals would reside though sent here were loved by the gods and could experience all of life's Pleasures with parties feasts and hunting consuming much of their time

each Soul was given the option to return to Earth but most would choose to stay and not have to endure once again the hardships of life within Elysium but across the shore lay the Isle of the Blessed reserved only for the greatest of Heroes with Helen of Troy Achilles and Odysseus all residing there for eternity the third and last path would lead to Tartarus the deepest depths of the underworld reserved only for the worst of criminals and those who had offended the gods it would be here that Cronus and the other Titans would reside looking

on for eternity as new Souls entered the realm of the Damned this would be the only place Hades became involved with the God himself designing and overseeing each Soul's punishment based on their previous crimes for the Mortal Prince ocness Hades would devise a punishment of Eternal repetition forcing him to weave a rope of straw whilst a donkey would eat it as fast as it was made ensuring the task was never completed whereas for the donades 49 sisters who had each killed their husbands Hades forced them to fill a tub with water to cleanse them of

their crimes but as the top would always leak they would spend an eternity trying to fill it ixion the first man to murder a family member and who had grown lustful for Zeus's wife would be bound to a wheel of fire that would spin for the rest of time whereas Tantalus a man who had killed his son and stolen from Zeus was cursed to Eternal hunger and thirst he would stand in a pool of water with the Brunt inches of a fruit tree hanging above him however as he went to quench his thirst the water

would recede and as he went to eat the branches would rise Out Of Reach forever leaving him in a state of Agony but of all the punishment the most famous would be given to Sisyphus having cheated death multiple times Sisyphus would pay the ultimate price for tricking the gods every day he was to roll a boulder up a steep hill only to have it slip from his grasp as he neared the peak having to start over again and again Sisyphus would suffer his punishment for the rest of time the most evil of all of Hades

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three pounds a month it helps support the channel and is completely risk-free with nord's 30-day money-back guarantee although Hades would have complete control over the underworld his realm was so vast that he had to enlist the help of the furies to carry out his punishments but they would not only be confined to the realm of the Dead the murder of a family member was considered so terrible in Greek society that even those still alive could not Escape Hades wrath they would be hunted down and tormented by the Fury's three sisters from the underworld who would

not stop until they had Avenged the dead and driven their target insane it would be the underworld they called home resting here before their Everlasting torment of the human soul began once again traveling across the underworld would also lay the fields of mourning a resting place for those who had spent their life pursuing love only to be rejected that anguish they felt would condemn them to this dark and haunting Forest where they would forever mourn the love they never had in Roman myth the most famous resident of this place would be Queen Dido of Carthage

who had fallen in love with the famous hero Aeneas the two would wed yet their love was not to be for Aeneas having been told by the gods to found a new city would abandon her to continue his journey with Dido taking her own life not able to withstand the anguish in the far corner of the underworld lay the land of dreams an island accessible only to the gods of Olympus ruling over the island would be Morpheus the god of Dreams who each night when all were asleep would alongside his two brothers control the dreams

of not only Mortals but the gods too either granting them Pleasant visions of the future or haunting them with the worst of nightmares upon Waking with their dreams having either been filled with desire or despair each person would be inspired to take action according to morpheus's Will the cave in which Morpheus slept and spent most of his time while shaping mortal dreams was filled with so many poppy seeds that his name was lent to the opium-based medication morphine renowned for sending its users to sleep the true seat of power however did not rest in the

land of dreams for the underworld had only one ruler the mighty Hades who lived in a grand palace deep within the Earth hidden away on an island engulfed by fire those who searched for his home without an invitation would become lost in the dark and winding Halls of the Dead [Music] but one day the isolation would become too much even for Hades with him deciding that the beautiful Persephone would become his wife to rule by his side however Persephone was the daughter of demita the sister of Zeus and goddess of farming who ensured the Harvest

was rich and that the land remained fertile under her watch the fields knew no Decay with the Earth consumed in an endless spring but there was one thing Demeter prized Above All Else her daughter Persephone however one day while Persephone was strolling through a meadow a beautiful flower would Bloom before her a narcissus something she had never seen before but when Persephone reached down to pluck the flower the Earth would break open and swallow her with Hades dragging Persephone down to the underworld where she would be forced to marry him distraught at her daughter's disappearance

Demeter would search for nine days and night until the sun god Helios revealed her captor's identity upon hearing the news demita locked herself away for an entire year refusing to return until Persephone was released but without the goddess of farming the world entered into a Great Famine with the fields turning Baron it was only now with Humanity on the brink of starvation that Zeus was forced to intervene ordering Hades to return Persephone to her mother although Hades would agree before she left he fed Persephone the food of the Dead a single pomegranate seed binding her

to the Underworld for eternity in order to save Humanity Zeus was forced to make a compromise ruling that for nine months of each year Persephone would return to live with her mother on Olympus with Demeter's Joy causing nature to bloom across the Earth however for the final three months Persephone would return to Hades in the Underworld a period We Now call Winter with Demeter's grief at the absence of her daughter causing the plants to die and the worlds to freeze over and so it was that this Seasons began [Music] with Persephone Now by hadi's side

she would gain a large influence over the realm of the dead but while the underworld was filled with punishments Hades and Persephone were not cruel rulers and to take pity on Mortals who found their way into their Kingdom Orpheus a famed musician and poet had fallen in love with the beautiful eurydice but on their wedding day eurydice would be killed by a snake bite with Orpheus left alone in despair grieving and desperate to see his wife once again he would decide to travel to the underworld to retrieve her arriving at the river sticks he would

take out his liar and play a beautiful song for Karen who was so moved that he varied Orpheus across the water for free upon reaching the other side he would be confronted by Cerberus with the tune he played so sweet that the three-headed dog would be lulled into a deep sleep finally he would reach the Palace of Hades and Persephone plane for them a song about his lost love eurydice with tears Welling in his eyes Hades would take pity on Orpheus and agreed to release her soul but only on the condition that Orpheus refrain from

laying his eyes upon her until they were both out of the underworld Overjoyed Orpheus would agree and began to lead his bride through the dark and winding Halls of the Dead But as he neared the surface and the daylight Shone upon his face he would be overcome by excitement turning around to look at his wife but Orpheus had not yet completed the journey and so as his eyes fell upon her eurydice would be dragged back down into the realm of death never to return it was a lesson to all Greeks in the virtues of patience

and restraint for if Orpheus had resisted Temptation when his goal was so close eurydice the love of his life would have been with him once again [Music] thank you