HADES, hit'dz (Gk. "At chic, Ilaides, or Aidlc, Aides, from a-, a-, not + idein, Lat. vidcre, Skt. vid, to see). (1) In Greek mythology, the god of the lower world. (See PLUTO.) In late writers the word is also used to denote the realm of Hades, called by the earlier poets 'House of Hades' (cTopoc "Aidoc). The Greek conceptions of this region varied greatly. In the common belief it was in the depths of the earth, while another view placed the home of the dead in the far west, the region of night and sunset. Wherever situated, it was a gloomy region, with its wide gates ever open to receive newcomers, but closely guarded by Cerberus (q.v.) against any who would return. Here also was the joyless asphodel meadow, where the shades wandered in sadness. Early also arose the belief in the rivers of the lower world, Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, and Pyri phlegethon, and the ferryman Charon (q.v.). Over against these views must be placed that of the abode of happiness for the favored (see Er-vSIUlt), and of punishment for the wicked. (See TARTARUS.) Consult Rohde, Psyche (Frei burg, 18081. See GREEK RELIGION.
(2) In the Septuagint and Greek New Testa ment the word signifies the realm or abode of the dead. Other ancient peoples had corresponding terms. With the Egyptians the abode of the dead was Amentet (the west) ; the Babylonians called it Aralu (perhaps a cave) ; the Hebrews spoke of it as Sheol. The general idea among all these was the same— that of an unde fined mysterious locality under the earth to which, in some unexplained way, the souls of the dead go, there to exist for all time to come. But as to details, no one of these ancient peo ples possessed a generally accepted, consistently worked out theory. Besides the changes due to the progress of thought from age to age, in the same period many different conceptions were cur rent, difficult if not impossible to combine into one consistent doctrine. This fact is well illus trated by the course of Hebrew and Christian thought on the subject.
The Hebrew word Sheol, which the LXX. ren dered by the Greek Hades, comes from a root meaning 'hollow'; hence probably it meant the supposed great cavern or hollow under the earth where the dead abode. The term often indicates simply the grave. Another term similarly used in the Old Testament is bor (pit). The grave and Sheol proper are not, however, the same. The word 'hell,' so frequently used in King James's Version, originally meant much the same as Sheol. Sheol was thought of as deep down (Deut. xxxii. 22; Ps. lxxxviii. 6, 11; Job xi. 8; Ps. lxxxvi. 13; Prov. xv. 11). The dead, though their bodies crumbled to dust in the graves, here continue a bodiless, shadowy sort of existence. They find themselves grouped according to earth ly relationships, so that one who dies is 'gathered to his fathers.' They retain in some way their general appearance at the time of death (cf. the realistic narrative I. Sam. xxviii. 8-14). They also are possessed of unusual knowledge, so that there was a morbid curiosity to inquire of the dead through those who had 'familiar spirits' i.e. whom the 'spirit' of the dead used as a medi um of communication. Such conceptions were quite prevalent in early Israel; the Hebrews shared them with the old Semitic world about them. The state was a permanent one, looked upon as the normal consequence of a life lived out to its full length. To go to Sheol before one had filled out his days was a misfortune, a calamity; but not, apparently, because the condi tion there was supposed to be in itself unhappy, or affected by the time of one's death. A violent death, however, seemed to endanger one's peace in Sheol (cf. Num. xvi. 30, 33; I. Kings ii. 6, 9; Ps. lv. 15). Jehovah was said to 'save from Sheol' when He delivered from impending death (cf. Psalms, passim). In Sheol all were supposed to meet on a common level, good and bad alike (cf. I. Sam. xxviii. 19). No vital connection with Jehovah belonged to the existence there. It was a gloomy, unattractive place.