Hades

Hades is the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, swallowed and later freed. When the brothers divided the cosmos, he drew the underworld, the realm of the dead, which came to bear his name. He is not death itself (that is Thanatos), but the lord of those who have died.

He rarely leaves his realm, and does not usually appear on Olympus. Greeks were wary of using his name and called him Plouton (the rich one), because of the wealth of the earth, or Polydegmon, the host of many. The Romans took Pluto from this.

His main myth is the abduction of Persephone. With the agreement of Zeus, he emerged from a chasm in Sicily (in later versions) and carried her down. When Demeter's grief caused famine, he agreed to let her return, but had already given her pomegranate seeds, so she had to spend part of each year with him.

The three-headed dog Cerberus guards his gates, and the dead cross the river Styx or Acheron by ferry with Charon. Heroes who visited and returned include Heracles, Orpheus, Theseus and Odysseus.