Other Major Deities. Hades (Roman Pluto), the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, was god of the underworld, where the dead could receive either punishment or a blessed afterlife. Hades dwelt in his underground kingdom and not on Mount Olympus. He controlled supernatural forces connected with the earth and was also associated with wealth.

Dionysus (Roman Bacchus), born as a demigod, became the god of wine, drunkenness, and altered states of consciousness such as religious frenzy. Like plants that die each winter only to return in

adultery sexual relationship between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse

prophecy foretelling of what is to come; also something that is predicted

supernatural related to forces beyond the normal world; magical or miraculous

* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.

the spring, Dionysus is said to have died and been reborn, a parallel to Cretan and Near Eastern myths about dying-and-returning gods. Dionysus eventually took Hestia's place on Mount Olympus.