Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

110 HADEStwo deities were carried in procession to the seatwice yearly. According to the Jewish writer Josephus,Hadad also enjoyed a major cult followingat Damascus in the eighth and ninth centuriesBC. By the third century BC the Hadad-Atargatiscult had extended to Egypt, when he becomesidentified as the god SUTEKH. In the Greek traditionhis consort becomes HERA.See also ADAD.HADES (the invisible one)ORIGIN Greek. God of death.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 1500 BC untilChristianization (circa AD 400).SYNONYMS Aidoneus (Roman); Dis; PLUTOS;ORCUS (Roman).CENTER(S) OF CULT restricted to Pylos.ART REFERENCES none specific.LITERARY SOURCES Odyssey, Iliad (Homer);Theogony (Hesiod).Hades is the son of KRONOS and RHEA and may beperceived as the chthonic form of ZEUS; he is alsothe consort of PERSEPHONE (KORE). Since all preciousmetals and stones lie buried in the earth, heis also the god of riches. He rides in a black chariotdrawn by four black horses. His home in theunderworld is the House of Ais. The closelyguarded gates of his kingdom, also called Hades,are identified in the Odyssey as lying beyond theocean at the edge of the world and in the Iliad aslying directly beneath the earth. Through Hadesrun the rivers Styx, beside which the gods madetheir hallowed oaths, and Lethe, with its waters offorgetfulness. In the Odyssey the rivers are identifiedas the Pyriphlegethon and Kokytos (a tributary ofthe Styx) both of which flow into the Acheron.Hades abducts Persephone (Kore), the daughterof DEMETER, and brings her to the underworldto reign as his queen for four months inevery year. He is depicted as a dark-bearded godcarrying a two-pronged harpoon or a scepter, anda key. He may be called Plutos, although the latteris generally regarded as a distinct deity.Hahana Ku (much rains house god)Messenger god. Mayan (classical Mesoamerica)[Mexico]. According to tradition, when the godHACHACYUM decides to send rain he directsHahana Ku to visit the black powder maker MEN-ZABAC. Hahana Ku buys only a small quantity,against the wishes of the vendor.HahanuGod of uncertain function. Mesopotamian (Sumerianand Babylonian-Akkadian). Known from passingreference in texts and from inscriptions.Haili’lajPlague god. Haida Indian [Queen CharlotteIsland, Canada]. Particularly associated withsmallpox. Believed to be so terrible that he is noteven propitiated with food. He sails in a canoe ofpestilence with huge sails like those of the whiteman’s ships which brought plague to the Indians.HakeaGoddess of the underworld. Polynesian, Hawaii.Her role was generally shared with the chthonicgoddess Miru.HalaGoddess of healing. Kassite [Iraq]. Probably latersyncretized with the Akkadian goddess GULA.Halahala (lord of poison)God of poison. Buddhist (Mahayana). A form ofAVALOKITESVARA. Typically seated on a red lotus