The brother of Zeus, Hades drew the underworld as his to rule when the Titans were overthrown and banished to Tartarus. He shared rule of the underworld with Persephone, whom he had abducted from above. Although required to release her, she was tricked and forced to remain with him. Hades sat on an ebony throne and wore a helmet that made him invisible. There he ruled the dead and accepted those newly arrived from above. Hermes brought the souls of the dead to the River Styx where Charon, the ferryman, carried them across. The three-headed watchdog, Cerberus, prevented any escape. Most souls remained on the empty Plain of Asphodel. A lucky few of extraordinary merit went on to the blessed islands of Elysium. The unlucky were sentenced to unending torment further down in Tartarus. In rare instances, Hades allowed living mortals, such as Odysseus, to enter the underworld and then leave again. Even more rarely did Hades free the dead to return to the living. He was the richest of the gods, possessing all the mineral wealth in the Earth.
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