Hades (Pluto) Sightings
- The Iliad 800BC - 600BC
Homer brings the gods into The Iliad, which tells the story of the mythic Trojan War. Most of the gods of Olympus take sides in the human war: Hera, Athena, and Poseidon are rooting for the Greeks, while Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are fighting for the Trojans. Though his whole family is going bonkers over the war, Hades doesn't pick a side. For a bit more on Hades in this Greek epic, check out Themes: Mortality in The Iliad.
- The Metamorphoses 2
The Roman poet Ovid collected many myths in The Metamorphoses, including the story of Pluto and Proserpina (a.k.a. Hades and Persephone), Orpheus and Eurydice, and other Hades-related tales.
- Ulysses 1922
Greek and Roman mythology plays a big role in James Joyce's Ulysses, as you could probably guess from the title. One whole chapter of the book is called "Hades," and that portion of the novel deals significantly with death.
- "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" 1922
One of the characters in this F. Scott Fitzgerald short story is from a fictional town called Hades. Read about the influence of mythology in the story here.
- Marvel Comics 1966
Hades (called Pluto) enters the Marvel universe in one of the Thor comics. He's got some cool aliases, including Hayden P. Hellman.
- The House of Dies Drear 1968
This young adult novel features a totally creepy character called Mr. Pluto, who sure seems to be inspired by Hades.
- DC Comics 1987
Hades and Wonder Woman have a complicated relationship in the DC Comics series. Wonder Woman goes to the underworld sometimes, but it's not always clear if Hades is her ally or enemy.
- The Battle of Olympus 1988
This old-school Nintendo (NES) game is about a guy named Orpheus who takes a trip to the underworld to get back his girl, Helene. Apparently, Hades kidnapped Helene and is trying to force her to marry him. (Sounds like Nintendo mixed up a couple of Greek myths…) As often is the case in recent years, Hades is the bad guy. He's also the end boss.
- Hercules 1997
Poor Hades. In this animated Disney movie, Hades is once again a villain. He also has a pretty bad temper.
- The Lightning Thief 2005
Hades plays an important role in all of the Percy Jackson books, including the first book, The Lightning Thief. In later books, we find out that he's the father of two half-blood kids.
- God of War, God of War II, and God of War III 2005 - 2010
The Greek gods make it onto the PlayStation in the God of War video game trilogy. The mortal hero of the games, Kratos, butts heads with the gods of Olympus, including Hades. He's shown as pretty gross and monstrous. In God of War III, Hades appears as one of the bosses (and we all know what happens to bosses in video games.)
- Clash of the Titans 2010
This movie follows Zeus's mortal son, Perseus, but Hades is the villain (once again).