Blessing:
Haides' blessing is acceptance of our mortality. It's the common lot of all men, what sets us apart from the Gods. It comes to everyone - the rich and the poor like, without malice. We can fight it off, attempt to resist the inevitable - but we will always fail. Instead, we should live with the sure knowledge that we will die, and make every moment a good and worthy one. When our time comes, we should meet it nobly, as we would an esteemed friend.
Epithets:
Aidoneus (the Hidden), Eubouleus (Good Counsellor), Eukhaitos (Beautiful-haired), Eukles (of Good Repute), Hagisilaos (Leader of the People), Klymenos (Renowned), Pasianax (Lord Over All), Plouton (Wealth), Polydektes (Receiver of Many Guests), Zeus Katakhthonios (Zeus of the Underworld)
Symbols:
narcissus, cyprus, Helm of Invisibility, two-pronged spear
Animal(s):
black rams and bulls
Sacrifices:
receives no sacrifices
Primary Cult Center(s):
Elis, Southern Italy
Festivals:
none
Ways to honor:
Don't fear death but accept it's inevitability. Help others through the process of grief. Remember the dead with fondness, for they live on in our thoughts and dreams.
For more information:
Aeschylus' Eumenides 273
Apollodorus' Library 1.15-1.2.1, 1.3.2, 1.5.1-3, 2.5.12
Hesiod's Theogony 453-506, 850
Homer's Iliad 5.844-845, 5.395-7, 8.368, 9.158, 9.568-570, 15.187-93
Homeric Hymn to Demeter 2
Hyginus' Fabulae 79, 146
Ovid's Metamorphoses 5.359-424
Pausanias' Description of Greece 6.25.2
Copyright 2002 Sannion
All Rights Reserved
Posted with permission