Author's Note: Not quite sure how, but I ended up getting back on an Ancient Greek mythology kick (it's been at least a decade since the last one), and while I was trying to find the ACTUAL stories (I keep finding summaries, but I've been wanting the original content to be able to make my own interpretations), I discovered (stumbled really) that Aphrodite gave the newborn Adonis to Persephone to raise in the Underworld and then when she went to reclaim him as an adult, both women fought over him, thus Zeus split up Adonis's time with the two women just as he did with Persephone between Hades (her husband) and Demeter (her mother). It occurred to me that, as Persephone's time is split between the Underworld and the Earth, Hades would be taking care of the child by himself for at least half a year and would be just as involved in raising him as Persephone. Thus, this was born.
Basically, I wanted Dad Hades with a kid that wasn't biologically his.
Disclaimer: Well, this is general Ancient Greek mythology. Pretty sure that any potential copyright that may have existed is long since expired. Regardless, the ideas and interpretation are still mine, but I'm just playing around with stuff as usual.
Golden Child of the Underworld
The gods of Olympus avoided the Underworld and anything to do with it as if it were the plague and they would become infected if they came too close. As a result, most of them had never even dared to set foot in the dark realm. More living mortals had willingly entered Hades' domain than Olympians.
And Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, was perhaps one of the very last people Hades ever thought would ever visit the Underworld.
As it turned out, she was seeking his wife, and he could easily figure out that the reason for it must be due to the golden chest Aphrodite had brought with her.
As soon as his queen appeared, Aphrodite all but shoved the chest into Persephone's arms and said, "I want you to raise him here in the Underworld far away from where anyone else can see or reach him. I will return for him when he's grown, but you have to promise me- no, swear to me on the River Styx that you will give him back to me then."
He and Persephone looked at the chest and shared a brief bewildered look before turning back to Aphrodite. "What on Earth are you-?" his wife began, but the goddess cut her off.
"Swear it!" she demanded sharply.
Persephone narrowed her eyes in indignation. "I won't until I know what it is you're asking of me," she said coolly, with all her regal authority as Queen of the Underworld, pointedly reminding Aphrodite that while she may be the oldest goddess, Persephone bore the higher status.
Gone were the days when she would have blindly bent to another god's will. Although she had never been particularly submissive where he was concerned, by contrast, it had taken her over a century to no longer be cowed into submission by the likes of her mother.
Aphrodite's eyes flashed with rage, but calmed herself of her own accord. "In the chest is a boy named Adonis who was born from a myrrh tree. I have taken an interest in him, but he's too young for me yet. I want you to raise him and I merely wish for you to swear on the Styx that you will not feed him any of the food from the dead and give him back when I come for him," she said. Hades knew her next words would not be kind when a thin smile crossed her lips. "I'd hate to find myself in the same situation as Demeter did with you."
Now it was Persephone who was trembling with anger and Hades stepped between the quarreling goddesses, his wife at his back. "You've overstayed your welcome, Aphrodite," he growled.
"I'll leave as soon as your wife swears-" she began and stopped when Hades unexpectedly found himself shoved to the side by his furious queen, the golden chest under one arm.
"I swear on the Styx that I will not force feed Adonis food from the Underworld and that I will give him back to you after he grows up when you come to claim him. Now get out of my kingdom," she snarled.
Aphrodite's expression could only be described as smug triumph. "Gladly," she said, and left in an instant.
Even though the source of her anger had gone and he rubbed her back in a soothing motion, it still took several minutes for Persephone's ragged breathing to finally calm. Once it had, she met his light blue eyes with her dark green ones and they glanced down at the chest in her arms in one synchronized motion. What had they just gotten themselves into? As curious as Pandora who unleashed the evils of the world upon mankind, Persephone set the chest down on the ground and Hades peered over her shoulder as she opened it. Her breath hitched in her throat and even he gaped at what he saw.
Laying inside the chest wrapped in swaddling and fast asleep was a tiny baby boy, and one that Hades could objectively say was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Even so, part of him was shocked to see the boy Aphrodite had taken a fancy to was no more than an infant. He had been expecting a much older child, maybe even a young teen on the cusp of manhood since, unlike some of the other gods, children were not her typical fare. Still, he could definitely understand why Aphrodite had taken an interest in this one.
Persephone's arms dove into the chest so fast, he barely saw the motion, and when they withdrew, she was cradling the fetching child to her breast and caressing his thin, downy fair-colored hair. Her smile was tender and loving, but her eyes, he saw, carried a hungry, pained longing. It was an expression he had never seen on her face before, but one he knew well, for it had been his own long ago before Persephone had grown to love him and returned his affections.
With a pained jolt, he remembered that this was not the first child she'd held like this. He remembered, before he'd known her when she was still barely more than a child herself, that she'd been forced to bear Zeus's, the son Zagreus (1). Zeus had declared him his heir and snatched the child from her breast not an hour after his birth. Zagreus, the son who had been cruelly slain and consumed by the Titans at Hera's jealous request in exchange for Cronos's, their dreaded father's, return to power. Zagreus, the son whose death had led to Zeus razing the Earth in his vengeance and in the same breath, called upon heavy rainstorms to sweep the land and soothe the Earth's burns. Zagreus, the son of his beloved queen who, even now, was tortured with longing for the child who'd been stolen from her a couple short centuries ago.
Hades lowered himself to his knees beside her and gently grasped her shoulders. Persephone's eyes shot upward and glared at him so fiercely he nearly released her. She had not directed such an expression at him since the early days of their marriage, but this time, he knew her glare was not truly meant for him. Not really.
"I will not take your child from you, Persephone," he promised, knowing her as he did that she had already decided herself to be the boy's mother, and kissed her softly.
Her worst fear assuaged, he felt the tension leave her form immediately and she leaned lovingly into him, the baby sandwiched between them.
"Will you help me raise him?" she asked him between kisses.
"I think I must regardless since you still must return to your mother every year," Hades reminded her.
She froze and pulled back. Her eyes were wide and anxious. In her fury with Aphrodite and then her adoration of her new charge, it seemed to have completely slipped her mind that she only lived in the Underworld with him for four months out of the year and spent the remaining eight with her mother (2). He smiled gently at her and brought his hand to her cheek, stroking it with the back of his knuckles and tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear.
"Even if you were able to remain with me all year, I would help you raise him," he reassured her.
The anxiety faded from Persephone's eyes and was replaced with tender hope. "You would? You would care for him? Comfort him? Teach him? Love him as your own?"
"No." She jolted back, stunned, and he continued before she said anything more. "I would love him as your own."
She was on him in an instant, kissing him fiercely with only one hand ensnared in his hair at the back of his neck. The other was still holding the baby between them and he was the reason why Persephone eventually pulled away instead of letting things escalate between them. Hades resigned himself to the fact that more such moments would be interrupted now due to the child in his wife's arms until Aphrodite eventually returned.
()()()()()
As Adonis grew older, Hades had to admit, at least to himself, that while the boy had a pretty face that was only becoming more handsome by the day, his adopted son was rather slow-witted. While his beauty was glaringly apparent to anyone with just one glance at the now-seven-year-old child, Adonis had other traits that Hades found far more endearing than his physical appearance: namely his bright, happy countenance, positive outlook, respectful demeanor, and generally sweet nature overall.
Intelligence, unfortunately, was one trait that Hades found painfully lacking in the boy and it had caused no end of mishaps and near-accidents, especially when Persephone was away and he was Adonis's sole caretaker.
In the seven short years that Adonis had started living in the Underworld, he'd had to frighten the child to death for nearly eating Underworld food, despite being told many times not to by his mother, caught him before he tumbled out of Charon's boat and falling into the Styx after leaning too far over the edge, forcibly drag him away from the Judgement Hall on multiple occasions for interrupting the proceedings by either talking to the shades or the judges, scold him fiercely for feeding poor Cerberus chocolate and leaving him out of commission for a week, snatch him away from the River Lethe before he consumed any of the water, erect a repelling barrier specifically attuned to his soul at the entrance to the Elysian Fields… and the Fields of Asphodel… and the Fields of Punishment… dragged him away from the nymphs and naiads, some of whom were clearly trying to seduce him despite his youth, and rescued him from nearly stumbling into Tartarus at least twice.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg that he could remember of all the shenanigans he'd been put through by the child. Adonis was just a bundle of walking curiosity without a caution filter. He was thankful Persephone didn't know even half the trouble their son got into. She'd feel even worse about leaving Adonis alone with him for eight months than she already did if she found out. In his honest opinion, Persephone was too soft on him, but it was easier to manage the child and keep an eye on him when she was around.
"Father…?"
Hades startled out of his reverie and looked up from his desk to where the voice had come from. Adonis was standing in the doorway in his long night tunic. His fair, curly blonde hair was flattened on one side with some of it sticking up and he was rubbing sleep out of his light blue eyes, surprisingly the same color as his own.
Hades was out of his chair in an instant. "Adonis, what's wrong? It's late, why aren't you in bed? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked gently as he approached the child and knelt before him, his hands on his shoulders.
Adonis shook his head slightly, his longer curls bouncing with the motion. "No, I'm alright, Father. I just couldn't sleep."
Hades let himself breathe a relieved sigh. "Oh? And why's that?"
"I was thinking about Mother."
Only in his soul did Hades stiffen. Absolutely none of it appeared in his expression or posture. Persephone was still away with her mother and wouldn't be back home for another four months. He felt her absence as keenly as he always did. Having a child around who also missed her just made it all the worse, especially when Adonis had been younger and hadn't been able to understand why his mother was gone and for so long. At seven, he still didn't fully understand it, but he'd mostly come to accept it regardless.
"I know you miss your mother. I miss her too…" Hades started. How many times had he had this conversation now? "but we just have to be patient and wait for her a little longer. You know she always comes back; nothing's going to stop her from returning home to us, okay?"
Usually, at this point, Adonis would hang his head and nod unhappily. Then he would bring his son into his arms and stroke the back of his head in a soothing motion. Adonis's tiny hands would try and wrap around his huge frame and grip at his dark clothes as he buried his face into his shoulder and cried quietly.
This time however, Adonis raised his head to meet his eyes and gave him a small smile. "I know, Father, but tomorrow I can be happy for you and Mother."
This was not the reaction Hades had expected from his adopted son. "Why?" he asked, feeling a little confused.
"Because tomorrow is the first day of the second four months," Adonis explained simply, still smiling. "Mother will be halfway home."
Hades' jaw dropped in stunned surprise, but then he closed it in a smile and his eyes softened tenderly upon the child. "That's true. Mother will be halfway home tomorrow. Is that why you couldn't sleep? You wanted to make sure I didn't forget?"
Adonis nodded vigorously, his smile widening. "Uh-huh, and now you don't have to be so sad because time will only bring her closer."
Hades opened his arms. "Come here," he beckoned and Adonis moved forward, hugging his chest, and he held his son just as tight and just as close as he would if the child had needed comfort. This time it was him who needed it. "Thank you, my son," he murmured gratefully into his ear. Adonis responded by squeezing his arms tighter and snuggling deeper into his shoulder.
Adonis may not be an intelligent mortal and possessed way too much curiosity for his own good that caused Hades no end of trouble, but his naturally bright, positive, compassionate nature more than made up for it.
()()()()()
It was only some several short years later that Aphrodite came for Adonis, but she made the unfortunate mistake of coming during the summer.
"I have come to reclaim Adonis. Where's Persephone?" she demanded imperiously, scrutinizing his Throne Room as if she would suddenly appear out of the shadows or from behind the pillars.
A tick appeared in his jaw. "It's summer in the human world, Aphrodite. She's not here," he said.
She looked taken aback by this sudden pronouncement and his eyes narrowed hatefully at her. As he'd suspected when Aphrodite had first dropped the boy on their door step, she'd either forgotten that Persephone didn't live in the Underworld all the time or forgotten when she did. Regardless of which it was, it infuriated him that none of the gods apart from Demeter, Persephone, and himself cared at all about the agreement that had continued to be the greatest tribulation of his married life.
She gave herself a little shake and regained her composure. "Well, Adonis is still living in the Underworld, isn't he?" she asked, sounding a little uncertain.
Hades gave her a cold smile. "He hasn't left it since the day you dropped him off here."
Her countenance brightened, though her eyes still remained unsure. "Ah, so it's no trouble then. I'll just take him off your hands now and be on my way."
She seemed to think she was doing him some huge favor. Perhaps she assumed that he felt himself begrudgingly saddled with the burden of looking after the boy while his wife had been away. Logically, it was an understandable assumption given how involved the other male (and many female) gods were in the care of their own offspring, much less those not of their own blood.
Understandable, but in this case, so very wrong. It was yet another reminder to Hades how very different he was from the rest of his family.
"No," he said.
Aphrodite looked confused. "No, what?"
"No, you won't take him from me," he said, perhaps a little too vindictively.
Her expression changed from confused to outrage. "How dare you deny me! You swore you would return him to me when I came for him!"
His smile widened and his eyes narrowed further. "No, my wife swore she would return him to you, but I made no such promise and I will not give my son to you while his mother is away."
Aphrodite took a step back as if he'd physically shoved her and spluttered incomprehensibly. It had never once occurred to her that the Lord of the Underworld would become so invested in a mortal child not of his own blood and for purely nonsexual reasons.
Unable to deny his words and unable to force him to obey, she released an irritated huff and drew herself up, her impressive bosom heaving with indignation. "Then I shall return when your wife does and reclaim him then."
"Not on that first day, you won't Aphrodite."
Her anger flared once more. "You can't stop me!" she declared in her typical high-handed manner. "While I can't make you give Adonis to me, Persephone swore it upon the Styx!"
Hades raised an eyebrow. "I heard my wife swear she would 'give him back to you' when you came to claim Adonis, not allow you to take him from her by force. Nor did you give her a time limit for when she had to return the child by. Persephone may have been angry with you when she made the vow, but you really weren't that specific in your requirements and my wife has likely already realized these same flaws. I suppose you were too much enjoying taunting her about our marriage arrangement with her mother to notice those loopholes."
Aphrodite's face was red with rage and she was seething like a wounded, charging bull. "I will come for Adonis the first day Persephone returns to the Underworld whether you like it or not!" she insisted.
"If you do, I promise my queen will fight against you every step of the way," Hades warned.
Persephone had already had one son stolen from her by another god. It was going to be hard enough for her to let Adonis go anyway, but if Aphrodite tried to take him from her the first day she came home and reunited with him and her child after eight months, he had no doubt that Persephone would unleash the full might of the Underworld upon her. Privately, he felt that Persephone would still violently balk against Adonis being taken away, it just wouldn't be quite as apocalyptic. After all, for better or worse, she was the daughter of the goddess who'd created the season of winter when said daughter had been abducted.
Aphrodite looked about ready to explode when a familiar, gentle voice called out, "Father, may I-?"
She halted and turned back towards the entrance to the Throne Room where the voice had come. Standing in the doorway, just as he always did as a child, was his young, but undeniably full-grown and blindingly-beautiful son. If Persephone weren't already so smitten with him as his mother, she probably would have fallen in love with him for his physical appearance alone. Whatever Adonis had been about to ask him, the words died on his lips as soon as his eyes met Aphrodite's and they stared at each other, completely entranced.
Hades internally winced as he watched their spellbound gazes caress the other's figure. Adonis was no stranger to the pleasures of women, having dallied around with the nymphs of the Underworld once Hades had deemed him old enough, and he knew that the lady goddess Aphrodite would one day come for him after he'd reached manhood. He and Persephone had agreed that keeping it secret from him would end poorly. At the time when they'd first told him, he'd been adamant that he would never leave his parents and even if this Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love and Beauty, he didn't see how anyone could be more beautiful than his mother. Of course, those had been the innocent words of a child demonstrating his love for his parents and he had never seen Aphrodite in person, until now that is.
"You would be the fair and lovely Lady Aphrodite, the famous Goddess of Love and Beauty, yes?" Adonis said at last, his eyes still glued to the woman.
Aphrodite drew herself up, her head tilted back slightly to better extend her neckline, and her breast swelled with her countenance. Flattery got everywhere with her. "I'm impressed that you recognize me," she said with a throaty sigh.
If she was going to seduce his son, Hades wished she would do it somewhere else. The potent aura she was emitting was making him hard despite having absolutely zero interest in her.
Adonis licked his lips. "Mother and Father said you would come for me one day and I knew you must be more beautiful than Mother as it was your title, but I never in my wildest dreams imagined how much more so you would be."
Hades was quite sure that Adonis didn't truly believe Aphrodite was that much more beautiful than Persephone so much as she was beautiful in a very different way, but Aphrodite wouldn't be able to appreciate the difference and would be insulted otherwise. While Adonis was never going to be a brilliant child by any means and was honest to a fault (another trait he valued), Hades was pleased to see his son had developed some tact over the years.
"You've grown into quite the beautiful young man down in this deep, dark place since I last saw you," she said in a low, sultry voice. "Unfortunately, the Lord of the Realm won't let me take you with me today, but don't you worry, my pet. On the day the queen returns to her kingdom, I shall come and bring you out of the dark into the light of the sun."
Adonis smiled at her and bowed his head deferentially. "That's very kind of you, my lady. I am honored by your words and humbled by your interest, but if I may, I beg you please wait to take me until the day after my mother's return."
Aphrodite's countenance instantly became stiffer and colder. "And why should I do that?" she demanded.
Adonis grimaced and looked a little uncomfortable. "Forgive me, my lady, I do not mean to offend you with my request. It's simply that by the time my mother returns to the Underworld, I will not have seen her for eight months and I miss her terribly. The first day, Father, Mother, and I and all the loyal ministers of the realm always celebrate our reunion with a feast and music and dancing as grand as any festival. I fear I would upset my mother greatly if after having not seen me for eight months, I did not spend the whole day by her side. Besides my lady, one extra day is nothing to a being as timeless and flawless as you."
Hades had raised this child for sixteen years and did not need to be able to read his mind to know that while the words he spoke were technically honest, he was lying in his heart, hence his discomfort. The way he'd phrased his speech was designed to placate the goddess and hopefully convince her to acquiesce to his request. Aphrodite wouldn't care much about Adonis's own desire to not be parted from his parents on the day of Persephone's return. Gods were really quite vain and selfish. He liked to think he was at least a little better than most of them.
Miraculously, Aphrodite heaved a sigh and relented. "Very well, if taking you with me the day Persephone returns is going to cause that much of a fuss, I shall wait one more day."
Adonis bowed low to her. "You are gracious and kind, my lady."
With her ego sufficiently buttered up, she disappeared from the Underworld in a shimmer of light and left behind a strong, heady scent of perfume that disoriented the two males in the room.
Hades got his bearings back quickly and he approached Adonis who still looked a bit out of it. "Are you alright, my son?" he asked the youth.
Adonis shook his head in an attempt to dispel the last of the fog still in his head and then looked up into his matching blue eyes. "I am well, thank you Father."
"What did you think of Aphrodite?"
"Truly, Father? I have never seen anyone as beautiful and desirable as her. Her beauty is so very different Mother's, I can't even compare them," he said.
Hades couldn't help the slight smirk that crossed his face in response to the boy's answer. How well he knew his son. "You want to go with her?"
Adonis gave a firm nod. "I do, very much, but I also do not want to miss the long-awaited reunion with Mother."
He clapped his shoulder affectionately and silently steered the youth out of the otherwise empty Throne Room. He didn't particularly approve of Adonis's interest in Aphrodite, but he was young and hot-blooded and hadn't yet learned the important qualities he should seek out in a mate. Aphrodite had a stunning figure, he would be lying if he denied it, but that was the only good thing worth noting about her. Dealing with the rest of her was a waste of time and he cared even less for her interest in Adonis. Unlike his charge, she was old and experienced enough to know exactly what she wanted in a man she bedded, and it was only their bodies that interested her. His son's sweet, caring nature was wasted on a woman like her. At least with Adonis's intervention, Hades knew the world wasn't going to end the first day of winter, but that was no guarantee that Persephone still wouldn't fight tooth and nail to keep Adonis at her side.
()()()()()
"You swore on the Styx you'd give him back to me!"
"It's not my fault you didn't set a time limit that you wanted him back by!"
"You've had him for sixteen years to yourself already! Stop hogging him!"
"I'm his mother and I get to say when you can have him!"
"His mother? Ha! You're no more his mother than I am! And if we're talking physical appearances, he's definitely more mine than yours!"
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO ABANDONED HIM TO US! I'M THE ONE WHO'S RAISED HIM THESE PAST SIXTEEN YEARS YOU-!"
Hades sighed heavily, rubbing his temple with one hand while keeping the other firmly on Adonis's shoulder because the poor youth was watching his mother and his love interest with something like abject terror and looked about ready to bolt if Hades let him. And Hades wasn't about to let him because he was fairly certain any gods or non-virgin goddesses in the area would ravish him and then Persephone would kill him for allowing that to happen. The King of the Underworld was not at all surprised to find themselves in this situation. Watching the two goddesses scream at each other in the audience chamber before Zeus's throne on Mount Olympus, it was like the hands of time had wound backwards and instead of Persephone and Aphrodite arguing over Adonis, it was him and Demeter shouting at each other for custody over Persephone.
"ENOUGH!" Zeus bellowed and a rumble of thunder underlined his words. The two women fell into sullen silence. "Okay, first thing's first. Adonis!" His son squeaked fearfully at being addressed by the King of the Gods himself. "Did you consume any food from the Underworld?"
Adonis shook his head jerkily. "N-no, my lord, I did not," he stammered. "My Lord Father wouldn't let me."
And thank Nyx for that. Threatening to throw him into the deepest darkest pit of Tartarus overnight had worked wonders in scaring the troublesome child from even daring to cross him on that particular rule. It was so effective because he'd made sure that no other rule broken promised such a horrible punishment.
Zeus exhaled in relief. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about that problem. So, the best way to ensure everything is fair is to divide the time he spends with the two of you."
Hades might have thought his youngest brother actually sounded smart saying it like that, except that there was literally no other solution to this problem, so he just came across as redundant. It was how the time would be split that was potentially going to cause problems.
"Since it worked so well last time, how about Persephone gets Adonis for eight months and Aphrodite gets him for four?" Zeus suggested.
Aphrodite was livid. "No, I refuse! I found him first and I should get him for longer! Besides, look at him!" Everyone suddenly turned to face Adonis, who cowered against his side at the sudden scrutiny. "This young man is too beautiful to be left to rot in the darkness for eight months out of the year!"
"He looks perfect and immaculate for someone who's been 'rotting' in the darkness for the past sixteen years!" Persephone snarled.
"And do the seeds of your precious flowers still look the same beneath the soil as they do when they burst forth into the living sunlight?" Aphrodite mocked cruelly. "Adonis hasn't seen the land above in sixteen years. What makes you think he'd prefer your dark, dreary realm to the earth and sky once he's been given a taste of it?"
"Aphrodite does make a good point," Zeus said. "He is a human and he may find he enjoys living on the earth more than living under it. I propose he split his time between the two goddesses by six months each."
"No!" Persephone shrieked in indignation. "Despite being a married woman, you forced me to go back to my mother for two-thirds of every year and the only reason it wasn't more was because I quickly shoved four pomegranate seeds in my mouth before you could take that choice away from me again! How is this in any way fair?!"
"So you would do exactly what Demeter did and forcibly keep Adonis at your side for two-thirds of the year away from the one he loves?" Aphrodite demanded with a glower.
"He doesn't know any better yet! He doesn't love you, he only thinks he does!" Persephone snapped.
"You didn't love me either when the agreement was first made, beloved," Hades reminded her gently.
He hadn't spoken loudly, but his voice had reached her heart where no one else's had and she slowly calmed herself down. Hades knew it was her fear of losing her second child and her anger at the parallels between this situation and their own that was causing her to react so emotionally, but he was unable to stand hearing Persephone's voice speak the same words her mother had used against him when he had fought to keep her by his side.
"May I offer an alternative suggestion?" Hades asked of his younger brother sitting on his throne upon the dais.
It was a mark of just how much Zeus wanted this to all be over that he waved him on without even making a show of protest. Now the eyes of the two feuding women – silent for now – were upon him, wondering what alternative he would propose. Regardless of their respective personal feelings towards him, there was a reason he was known in the Underworld to be a just and fair king.
"It is wrong to forcibly part children from their parents and it is equally wrong to forcibly part lovers," he said, his eyes first glancing at Aphrodite and then lingering on Persephone. "But the greatest wrong of all is the lack of choice offered to the one most affected by any decision made here." With his one hand still holding on to Adonis, he gently pushed the young man forward in front of him and clapped his hands on both shoulders. "Here is what I propose: For four months, Adonis will live Aphrodite, for another four months, he will live with Persephone, and the remaining four months, he will live with whomever he chooses."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adonis turn his head upward to look at him, but he did not grant his son's wish for eye contact. He was too focused on the pair of goddesses silently mulling over his proposition.
At last, Persephone looked to him and gave him a weak smile. "It's better than what we got," she said bitterly.
Aphrodite shrugged with apparent indifference. "I guess I can't really argue against it," she admitted. "But I get him first-"
"-No," Hades said with the shadows and the full force of the Underworld at his command. "It's winter right now and my turn for Persephone to live with me. If you take Adonis now, then Persephone will have him in the spring and I may never have the chance to see him. When Persephone had to leave, I was the one left behind to take care of him and I raised him as if I were his true father, better even, then some fathers." He directed his icy gaze to Zeus who at least had the grace to look a little uncomfortable. "I'm already losing my son for at least four months, maybe eight. You will not take him away from me completely."
He very rarely used his full voice like that and maybe that was the only reason why Aphrodite didn't try to protest further, but her silence was as good as acquiescence.
"And so let it be decreed: Adonis will spend the four months of winter in the Underworld with Persephone, the next four months with Aphrodite, and the remaining four with whomever he wishes," Zeus said rather hurriedly, as if he feared one of the two women would start yelling again if he didn't move quickly.
Thunder and lightning boomed and flashed in tandem, in effect, striking Zeus's seal upon the agreement. Finally, this whole tiresome affair was over. Persephone glided over to where he and their son stood waiting for her. She reached up and wrapped both her hands around the back of their necks.
She pulled them both down to her level and pressed her forehead to theirs, releasing a heavy sigh. "It is fair, even though I'm not completely happy with it."
"It'll be alright, Mother," Adonis insisted, ever the gentle optimist.
Persephone smiled and kissed his cheek, then shifted her attention to Hades. "I'm sorry, love. You ended up getting the worst end of the deal again."
"Story of my life, isn't it?" he said with a wry smile. "At least this way, I'll still get to see him."
Persephone gave a half-hearted laugh and released their necks, letting them draw back. Adonis, only shorter than him by a few inches, turned towards him. "Don't worry, Father, I'll be sure to visit-"
Hades held up his hand abruptly and the youth fell silent. A humorless smile stretched across his lips. "Don't promise something you don't know you'll be able to keep," he warned him. "Aphrodite was right about one thing, and it's that you've never experienced the Upperworld. You're comfortable in the Underworld and don't fear it like most mortals, but you may find you enjoy the earth more than you think you will right now. I don't want you to promise to return now and then find yourself regretting such a hasty decision. You are your own person and I will not take that choice away from you. Regardless of whatever you decide from now on, Adonis, Hestia (3) will always ensure you have a home and hearth waiting for you in the Underworld."
Adonis swallowed heavily and nodded, too choked up for words.
()()()()()
A whip cracked the air and flaming hooves struck at the air as if it were tangible and solid. The four black nightmare stallions of chaos and darkness, Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus, and Alastor (4) tossed their fierce fire-maned heads in barely-controlled excitement as they plunged upwards through the earth and bearing along the fanciful golden chariot of their lord and master. It was not often that Hades left the Underworld for the one above and the list of reasons he had for this was extensive, but not unreasonable.
The most profound and time-consuming of which was the smooth, orderly management of his realm and kingdom as the Lord of Souls. Unless Thanatos was prevented from carrying out his duties – or indeed, if he himself was held captive as Sisyphus had demonstrated long ago to his eternal humiliation (5) – then mortals did not simply stop dying because he wished for a reprieve. There was always work for him to do. In the way that only a mortal could truly comprehend, Hades was bound to the merciless ebb and flow of time in a way that few of the Deathless Ones could even grasp.
His other, secondary but no less important, self-appointed duty was as the Warden of Tartarus. His youngest brother may be King of the Skies and the Gods, but he hadn't the power, temperament, or patience to safeguard and reinforce the ancient prison of the Titans whom they had fought against and overthrown with their tyrannical father. No, that unhappy task had been laid down at their feet, and Hades, honorable and fair and younger than all his sisters but the eldest of his brothers, had quietly taken up the mantle and consigned himself to the darkness of Erebus before he had taken hold of that chaotic world and fashioned it into a home for the dearly departed souls of the living.
These two reasons in particular, were perfectly legitimate excuses for Hades to not visit his family for an extended period of time, but if he were to also be perfectly honest, he didn't make much of an effort to try and visit them in the first place. Considering how foolish, temperamental, prideful, and boisterous everyone was (with some very select exceptions like his eldest sibling, Hestia), Hades rarely felt anything resembling a guilty conscience about avoiding the company of the Olympians every few hundred years or so.
Appearing at Olympus twice in less than five years was unheard of where his person was concerned, but he couldn't be bothered to care.
Sensing the nearing light of Helios's sun, Hades pointed his scepter ahead of him as the tremendous mass of sealed earth before him. His will reached out into the staff, focused through the end point, and shot forward in a silent wave. His aim was as precise as it was accurate. The dark earth heaved and groaned as his magic pushed it up and out until at last, it gave in and burst open like an infected wound being drained of puss. The horses and the chariot cleared the gaping maw without issue and landed with a jarring thud on the Earth's surface, pulling up to a sudden stop right beside the beautiful, dark-eyed woman grinning up at him.
Smiling himself, Hades hopped down and with a low, sweeping bow, he said, "My lady, your chariot awaits."
Persephone giggled and Hades barely had enough time to stand before she had thrown herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and he happily embraced his darling wife. He hadn't seen her in three months.
"Hades, love, just because my mother showed she forgave you for kidnapping me to be your wife by naming one of my twin half-brothers Plutus (6) after you, doesn't mean she'll be thrilled to see the new chasm in the earth you created at her front door," Persephone said with a smile on her face and a sigh on her tongue between impatient, teasing kisses.
"I'll fix it on my way back," he reassured her. "but this is far too important a meeting to delay by coming out of the Underworld somewhere else and then coming to you."
Persephone raised an eyebrow at him. "If what you say is true, then why didn't you fix the chasm you made at the meadows of Enna in Sicily where you first kidnapped me?"
"And erase the evidence of the day I first met my cherished wife? You wound me, my love," Hades said with a playful smile.
"You're sweet," Persephone said and kissed him again.
More than anything else though, he was pleased that they could now speak so light-heartedly of the traumatic disaster that had truly been the emotional state of their first meeting. Their love for each other had grown strong and powerful, in spite of his one moment of weakness when he had desired the nymph, Minthe (7). Or perhaps overcoming such a trial had only helped strengthen it. He hadn't touched Minthe and Persephone had discovered the nymph quickly, but it was enough that he had considered it. Persephone had been rightfully furious with him for committing the infidelity in his heart and he'd feared he had lost her forever even as a part of him was surprised and pleased that she loved him enough to exact jealous vengeance.
"Come now, beloved, we have a son to visit posthaste," Hades reminded her as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her up into the chariot.
He set her back down on her feet and she moved to stand behind him to give him unrestricted arm room to direct the chariot and temperamental horses. She waited for her slender arms to wrap tightly around his waist and grinned to himself when he felt her chest press against his back and her cheek against his shoulder blades. He snapped the reins and the nightmare stallions bolted forward then up, climbing into the air fast and furious in the direction of the peak of Mount Olympus. The magnificent mountain yawned and stretched, growing ever larger as they approached. Hades sent down with only a slight bump in the outer courtyard just outside the main temple, the pantheon of the Olympian gods. Persephone released her hold on his waist to let him turn around and he took her hand in his before stepping down onto the ground, Persephone following his lead. A young minor god he didn't recognize came hurrying forward almost at once, reaching out automatically to take the reins from Hades, but he held them back.
The youth looked at him in surprise and Hades raised a skeptical brow at him. "You think you can handle them?"
The young god nodded quietly. "Yes, my lord, I tend to Lord Helios's horses every night. I have always had a special bond with horses."
If horses were his thing, did that make him one of Poseidon's spawn? "Clever of you to recognize the similarities between them, but unlike Helios's, my horses are formed from raw, untamed darkness. They are far more unwieldy than his."
The lad drew himself up and met his eyes, a bold and confident gesture that surprisingly held no arrogance. "I can do manage them safely, my lord," he said.
Hades gave in with a shrug and handed him the reins. "I've warned you fairly; your life is out of my hands now. Poseidon has no right to avenge you if they kill you."
Despite the dire warning, the youth smiled up at him and said, "Thank you, Lord Hades."
Hades gave a noncommittal grunt and started off up the steps to the temple, Persephone following along with him with her arm around his. "I'm surprised one of Poseidon's ilk even recognized you, much less spoke respectfully to you like that," she murmured in awe.
"Truthfully, the respect and the lack of fear is what strikes me more," Hades said, feeling surprised himself. "I should ask for his name when we go back to retrieve the horses if he's still alive."
Persephone turned and gave him a bewildered look. "How did you know he was a son of Poseidon if you don't even know his name?"
Hades gave a slight smirk. "If a minor god has anything to do with horses, then they're Poseidon's without question. Isn't that the case for your own half-brother, Arion?"
Her face scrunched up in distaste at the mere mention of her mother's son by Poseidon. "Arion is an actual horse though," Persephone grumbled.
It was an understatement if ever he'd heard one; Arion was the swiftest horse in the world. However, he dropped the subject because he knew how much she hated thinking about her Poseidon-sired sister and brother. Zeus had at least wooed Demeter before impregnating her whereas Poseidon had forced himself on her on two separate occasions (it hadn't been enough for him that, like with Zeus, their sister had borne him a daughter she had named seen fit to name 'maiden') (8). He silently greeted everyone he passed with a nod of acknowledgment and though it didn't occur, he would have firmly brushed off anyone who tried to stop and talk to him. He was above ground at the beginning of summer with his wife for a very specific purpose and he was not about to be deterred from accomplishing it. They easily found their way to Aphrodite's rooms and the first person they alighted upon was their grown son beaming at his lover and sitting next to her with his beautiful three-year-old daughter on his knees and Aphrodite cradling a swaddled bundle in her arms.
"Adonis," Persephone called gently from the doorway.
Three pairs of eyes promptly turned around to stare at them. Aphrodite's grimaced with mild annoyance, but Adonis's widened in delight and his daughter Beroe's in awe. It was quite rare for her to see her godly grandparents, especially her grandfather.
"Mother! Father! You came!" Adonis exclaimed as he set Beroe down on the ground next to him and ran forward to greet them.
Persephone embraced him and ran her hands through his curly golden hair. "Of course we came! Why wouldn't we?!" she declared with a laugh.
Hades smiled at the young man trapped in his mother's arms. "Congratulations, Adonis," he said and Adonis's proud smile widened over his mother's shoulder. "You too, Aphrodite," he added to the woman still laying on the bed with the object of celebration in her arms.
Aphrodite sighed, but gave a faint, tired smile back, acknowledging his blessing. Hades felt a small tug on his himation and looked down to find his adorable granddaughter had left her mother's bedside and was still gazing awestruck up at him. He wondered if she could feel his powerful godly aura.
He lowered himself to his knees to be on an eye level with the girl and gave her a fond smile. "Hello, Beroe, I'm your grandfather. You've grown so big and fast since I last saw you."
Indeed, while Persephone had always made an effort to see Adonis at least once every summer since Beroe's birth, the last time he'd seen his then-only grandchild was just after she was born. He'd forgotten how quickly mortal children grew.
Beroe ducked her head shyly and smiled bashfully up at him. "Thank you, Grandfather," she said cutely.
Chuckling, he reached out for Beroe and lifted her into the air, settling her on his hip and was rewarded with a hug around the neck. Persephone released Adonis and with Beroe still in his arms, the four of them approached Aphrodite's bedside.
"You look fairly well, Aphrodite, all things considering," Persephone said with genuine sincerity.
Aphrodite scoffed, but her next words held no scorn, even a trace of warmth. "You're not here for me, this is who you really wanted to see."
She held out the bundle and offered the newborn babe to his wife. She quickly accepted the child, supporting its head and brought it to her breast as tenderly as she had Adonis some twenty years ago. Hades stepped closer and looked down at the infant over Persephone's shoulder. He had never seen Aphrodite as a baby, her being older even than Hestia, the firstborn of Cronos and Rhea, but the child strongly resembled its older sister and was just as gorgeous as its father.
"I've named him Golgos," Aphrodite said proudly. He and Persephone said nothing, only having eyes for their son's child, their first grandson.
"He looks just like you, Adonis," Persephone choked and glanced over at Adonis with tears in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie."
"Mother…!" he protested in embarrassment, but he couldn't stop smiling regardless.
Hades put his free arm around Persephone's shoulders and hugged her against his side, making sure to let Beroe get a good look at her new sibling. "This is your baby brother, Golgos, Beroe," he told her gently. "He can't do much yet, so you'll have to help your parents make sure he doesn't get in trouble and hurt himself. Can you do that for me, my little asphodel?"
Sweet little Beroe finally turned her wide eyes away from her brother to look at him and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I will help Mama and Baba, Grandfather!"
"Good girl," he whispered and hugged her with the arm holding her, hugged his wife with the other, and smiled proudly at Adonis who, most beautiful man in the world or not, looked too overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of his whole family standing together like this to be able to speak.
()()()()()
Hades felt the exact moment Adonis arrived in the Underworld in the middle of summer with a growing sense of dread. It was different from his usual arrival with Persephone at the beginning of winter and horribly familiar. It was the arrival of a shade. Literally dropping everything, he ran out of the palace past the Judgement Hall and down the well-worn road lined with shades to the banks of the Acheron where the newly-arrived shades were deposited by Charon to await their judgements. He waited anxiously, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest, praying for not the first time in his immortal life that he was wrong, that his senses were deceiving him as they never had before.
From amongst the thick, cool mist that hung over the great River of Woe, a dark shadow appeared. It grew steadily larger and more distinct as it drew nearer until finally, Hades could make out the shape of Charon's boat and the oarman himself as clear as smooth crystal.
As Charon pulled up to the harbor and docked his boat, Hades rushed forward. "Charon, have you seen-?"
"-Father…"
Hades stopped dead, his heart full of dread, and his eyes slowly, unwillingly turned towards the familiar voice that had called him by that equally familiar title. Adonis met his horrified gaze and gave him a grim smile that was equal parts joy and regret. His face was still youthful, but his extreme and almost unnatural beauty was gone, left behind on the other side of the Acheron. He swallowed heavily, his throat very dry. It was necessary, the law of the Underworld. Departed souls may not bring any 'luggage' with them from their lives. Beauty, riches, trophies, pride, hubris, luxury, rank, reputation, avarice, impudence, ancestral glories, peevishness, objects of material value, flattery, any and all of it was heavy, burdensome, and stripped away at once, leaving only the soul behind to be judged (9).
All were equal in death before the Lord of Souls in his kingdom. The law did not suddenly change just because Hades now found himself face-to-face with his own son's immortal soul.
He had seen every manner of human come through his gates: Fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, children, elderly, poor, rich, humble, arrogant, ignorant, learned, cursed, and blessed. He had seen more than his fair share of the Olympian gods mortal demigod children return to his halls. Whether their divine parent had grieved for them or honored them in any way, not a single one of them had ever encountered their child's shade. None except him.
Adonis stepped off Charon's boat and approached him with a limp. Looking down, Hades saw that his thigh had been horribly gored open by something sharp. He must have lost a lot of blood as he died. When Adonis finally reached him, he smiled weakly and said, "I've come home again, Father, even if it's sooner than you expected."
Hades felt an unpleasant jolt, remembering his words to Adonis when the final decision had been made about how to partition his time between his family and his love interest. "This wasn't what I meant…" Hades muttered distractedly.
Adonis shrugged. "But it's true, like you always taught me. All are equal in death and all souls return to the place they were born."
His throat seized with emotion and it took him a while to be able to breathe properly. "Your wound… How?" he finally managed to stammer out.
"It was an accident, really. I was out hunting in the forest when this massive, angry boar with large tusks and russet-colored fur came charging at me from out of nowhere. I had no time to run away or climb a tree to evade it, and it was too close for me to use my bow, so I stood my ground, hoping to be able to get in close enough to with my knife to kill it. Unfortunately for me, my plan complete failed. I didn't manage to kill it when I stabbed it and it gored my thigh in the process."
"I'm so sorry," Hades said quietly, now staring blankly at the open wound in his son's leg, willing himself not to repeat the hundreds of things he'd heard other loved ones of the deceased say.
'It's not fair', 'It wasn't their time', 'They left their children behind', 'They were too young', 'They had so much left to live for', and every other variation of the same ran rampant in his head. He would not say these things, no matter how much his tongue wished to betray him. He knew better. He was a god, the God of the Underworld even. He was supposed to be above such nonsense.
"It's not your fault, Father," Adonis said with a weak attempt at a reassuring smile and Hades could see in Adonis's eyes that despite his brave words and knowing more than the average mortal about the processing of souls in the Underworld, he was still upset and scared that he was dead. "You couldn't have stopped this if you'd known. I mean… dying like this… this young… not being able to see my children grow up… or spend any more time with you, Mother, and Aphrodite… this is the will of the Fates, isn't it? Not even the gods can defy the Fates, right?"
Hades said nothing and the immortal father and dead son stared at each other in silence. What was there to say when they both knew it to be true?
Adonis finally averted his eyes and hugged his arms, rubbing them up and down like he was cold. "I guess my death could have been worse," he said quietly. "Aphrodite found me before I died and cried as she held me. She couldn't do anything to help me, but she called for Mother and she appeared out of the ether as if she'd been summoned. I guess I was too far gone for Mother to do anything either, but I was happy I got to see her one last time right before I died. I kept waiting for Thanatos to come, to know how much more time I would have left with my mother and lover, but I never saw him. I still died though."
Hades nodded slightly. "Thanatos is invisible on the surface world unless he wills it otherwise. It would make soul reaping a very difficult task otherwise."
He found it a little odd that Aphrodite had been able to find Adonis so quickly when he had no means of reaching her to let her know what had happened. Did that mean that some divine intervention was behind the otherwise innocuous hunting incident. Artemis sprang to mind at once because she was the Goddess of the Hunt and had been known to take offense when people boasted of being better hunters than she or hunted her prized animals. Or it could have been the work of another god if one was involved, such as Ares who was Aphrodite's most consistent lover and may have been jealous of her affections for Adonis. Hades shook his head ruefully. This was just mere speculation on his part. He had no proof that another god had or hadn't sent the boar, but even if he did, it wouldn't change anything. Adonis was still dead, his grandchildren now fatherless.
"You know what comes next," Hades said, turning his head slightly to watch the slow progression of shades march forward towards the Judgment Hall where Aeacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus were waiting.
"I do," Adonis admitted.
"You'll be sent to the Fields of Asphodel."
"I'd supposed as much. It's a fair assessment. Thank you, Father."
Hades swallowed and clenched his hands into fists at his side. "I hope your next life will prove to be longer and more fruitful than this one."
"I think I'd like that, but I'll miss not remembering you and Mother when I come back again," Adonis said with a longing sigh in his voice.
It was too much for Hades.
Without even being consciously aware of deciding to move, his arms shot out towards Adonis and wrapped tightly around his son's broad shoulders, hugging him tightly. His shoulders were shaking and tears were starting to tumble unbidden from his eyes. For the first time ever, the Lord of the Dead was grieving for one of the deceased.
"Adonis, my son, my sweet, beautiful son, even after you've drunk from the Lethe and reincarnated into your next life, your mother and I will never forget you no matter how much time has passed. Even if the world forgets you, we never will. You've brought so much unexpected joy into our lives and I can only hope you were able to feel just as fondly towards us. We will always cherish you in our heart of hearts, our golden child of the Underworld."
Hades felt Adonis's arms come around him and his face buried in his shoulder as he cried silent tears, for souls don't have the ability to cry.
Once Adonis's shaking had stopped, Hades placed his hands on Adonis's shoulders and pulled back, looking his grown-up, now-dead son in the eyes. "I've delayed your passage long enough, Adonis. Now go… be brave… and don't look back."
Adonis nodded in understanding and Hades released him, taking a deliberate step backward. Adonis made to turn back to the path, to follow along with his fellow shades, but stopped midway and spoke haltingly, "Even though I was not of your blood, you and Mother still took me in and raised me as though I was. I couldn't have asked the Fates for better parents."
Adonis did not wait to see if his words would cause a reaction in his grieving father, but stepped back onto the path he was destined to follow: that of a shade approaching the judgment of its immortal soul. Without a word to anyone, Hades left for the world above through the ether in a mass of shadows. Nobody would begrudge him his abrupt departure and the Underworld wouldn't suddenly cease to function without his presence for a day. He had a grieving wife to find and comfort, and receive some comfort of his own.
(1) Zagreus is not a well-known entity, but according to the Orphic Hymns he's mentioned in, he's the first Dionysus. He's the son of Persephone and Zeus BEFORE she married Hades and he was chosen by Zeus to be his heir. Jealous Hera instigated the Titans to do away with usurper and they did, killing him and eating him. Zeus incinerated the lot, but among the wreckage, Zagreus's beating heart was found (there's variations on who found it), and he sewed it into his thigh. In one way or another, Zagreus's heart ended up being given to the mortal woman, Semele, and she gave birth to the Dionysus everyone is already familiar with. His story is complicated to work into some of the other mythology, especially from a consistency point of view, but I really wanted to see if I could. I did eventually manage to work the whole thing out, even if it's not demonstrated here.
(2) I subscribe to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (the earliest of the Persephone-Hades stories I'VE been able to find) that declares Persephone spends one-third of the year with Hades and two-thirds of the year with Demeter.
(3) Hestia is the firstborn of the Titan Cronos's children and the eldest sibling of Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Despite her age and lineage, I'm pretty sure she's one of the most forgotten goddesses too.
(4) According to Claudian, a Latin poet who also took his own personal stab at the Hades-Persephone myth (focusing more on the actual abduction and the circumstances leading up to it than on the eventual resolution), these were the names of Hades' four chariot horses. Since I haven't seen any names offered by earlier writers, I'm using these.
(5) I was familiar with the variation of the Sisyphus mythology where he captures Thanatos to prevent people form dying, but I was shocked to discover there was at least one version where Hades himself came for Sisyphus and was captured by him, thus resulting in the same outcome. Unfortunately, I've only read these two variations as summaries and not as any actual piece of literature, but I'm still looking and would love to read one or both.
(6) Like with the tale of Sisyphus, I haven't found any firsthand literature sources yet mentioning this Plutus that's a son of Demeter. Persephone may be Demeter's first child, but she's hardly the last. I found a whole slew of kids with Demeter as a mother and by different fathers. Plutus is a minor god of wealth, which is why I say here that Demeter named her son after Hades as a sign of forgiveness, because Hades is also known as the God of Riches, one of his many titles being the Rich One.
(7) Mentioning Minthe here is a perfect example of why I wanted to find the original stories and not summaries. It helps with timelines. I was able to find the moment when Adonis was dying in Aphrodite's arms, and Aphrodite briefly mentions the nymph, so that incident already occurred. Minthe is a nymph from the Underworld river, Cocytus. I've only found one version of her story, but this is the one and ONLY account I've discovered that Hades was ever unfaithful to his wife (the other nymph I've heard mentioned with him, Leuce, appears to have occurred BEFORE his marriage to Persephone, so he wasn't unfaithful to her then). There appears to be contradiction on whether she was actually his lover or just attempted to be his lover before Persephone found out and smote her by turning her into a mint plant. The one version I found is the one I'm going with. He lusted for her, but nothing came of it because Persephone found out dead fast and put a stop to it before anything could happen. For someone like Hades, who doesn't have spawns of demigod children everywhere, who defends his wife's honor when a demigod hero seeks to steal her as his own bride, and whose love for her is so well-known to mortals that even Orpheus appealed to it when he journeyed to the Underworld to retrieve his dead wife, the self-punishment he would undergo as penance on her behalf would be harsh enough.
(8) Demeter has two children by Poseidon, both of them forced upon her. I don't know if it occurred this way for both children, but with at least one of them, Demeter was hiding amongst somebody's horse herd as a mare when Poseidon found her and mated her as a stallion. She bore a daughter, Desponia, and a son, Arion, who was a literal horse. I'm at least convinced that Desponia must be Demeter's second child because Demeter's nickname for Persephone, before her abduction, was 'Kore' which means 'maiden' and 'Desponia' is another name that means 'maiden'. I don't imagine Persephone is fond of the circumstances by which she has more siblings and may have even felt in the beginning that her mother was trying to replace her with these new children of hers.
(9) This I got from Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead which was incredibly fun to read and very insightful into some of the workings of the Underworld. Hades actually gets along very well with Hermes to judge by their interactions and the relationship between Hermes and Charon reminds me of a young, playful whippersnapper happily and fondly teasing his rude old hermit of a neighbor (or at least that was my first interpretation of it).
