The figure of Hades/Plouton in Greek beliefs of the archaic and classical periods
The main aim of this work is the presentation, characterisation and review of the image of the Greek underworld deity, Hades/Plouton in Greek beliefs of the Archaic and Classical periods, on the basis of comparison of the preserved literary and epigraphic testimonies with the remains of material culture, and the reconstruction of the most coherent possible image of the god, claimed by scholars to be of little importance to Greek beliefs and to have no cult. The present dissertation liberates the god from long-standing scholarly misconceptions and returns him to his proper place within the Greek pantheon. Its main scholarly contribution and originality can be summarised as follows: (i) Hades is mainly an agricultural deity with a clear cult environment and has more in common with the world of the living than that of the dead; (ii) Hades influenced the representation of other male deities connected with earth: his main attribute, paradoxically the cornucopia or 'horn of plenty', appears for the first time in Greek art in the 6th century BC as exclusively his, and is later ascribed to other deities; (iii) Hades and Plouton were the same deity (Plouton - an Attic instantiation - spread throughout Greece with Attic
Sekita, Karolina
Ancient Greek Religion (Cult) ; God (Ancient Greek religion) ; Greek religion ; Hades ; Underworld god ; Greek gods
The figure of Hades/Plouton in Greek beliefs of the archaic and classical periods. The main aim of this work is the presentation, characterisation and review of the image of the Greek underworld deity, Hades/Plouton in Greek beliefs of the Archaic and Classical periods, on the basis of comparison of the preserved literary and epigraphic testimonies with the remains of material culture, and the reconstruction of the most coherent possible image of the god, claimed by scholars to be of little importance to Greek beliefs and to have no cult. The present dissertation liberates the god from long-standing scholarly misconceptions and returns him to his proper place within the Greek pantheon. Its main scholarly contribution and originality can be summarised as follows: (i) Hades is mainly an agricultural deity with a clear cult environment and has more in common with the world of the living than that of the dead; (ii) Hades influenced the representation of other male deities connected with earth: his main attribute, paradoxically the cornucopia or 'horn of plenty', appears for the first time in Greek art in the 6th century BC as exclusively his, and is later ascribed to other deities; (iii) Hades and Plouton were the same deity (Plouton - an Attic instantiation - spread throughout Greece with Attic
figure greek beliefs archaic_classical period main_aim work presentation characterisation review image greek underworld deity greek beliefs archaic_classical period basis comparison preserve literary_epigraphic testimony remain material_culture reconstruction coherent possible image_god claim scholar little importance greek belief cult present god long_standing scholarly misconception return proper place_within greek main scholarly originality summarise follow mainly agricultural deity clear cult environment common world_live dead influenced representation male deity connect earth main attribute paradoxically horn plenty appear first_time greek art exclusively later ascribed deity iii deity attic instantiation spread throughout greece attic