Pluto (The God, Not the Planet)

Pluto is an interesting character in Roman mythology.  He has been equated to Hades, the Greek god of the dead - and, while the two certainly have similarities and tales in common, there are also quite a few distinctions.  For starters, Hades is usually portrayed as solely the god of the dead in the Greek myths.  Pluto maintains this duty, but is also given rule over all things beneath the earth...which includes a lot of gemstones and precious minerals.  As such, Pluto is the god of wealth.

 

 

Pluto shares Hades' story of taking a bride.  You can read the full Greek version here, but the Roman myths change the names to Pluto, who takes Proserpina (Greek: Persephone) for his wife, whose mother Ceres (Greek: Demeter) then searches the world for her.

One of the things that intrigues me the most about Pluto are the number of names he bears in Roman mythology.  Pluto is also often referred to as Dis, or as Orcus.  I have read works that state that these are actually three distinctive gods, with each ruling over a certain thing - Pluto ruling over the underworld, Dis the god of wealth, and Orcus the bringer of death.  Others say that these three names each refer to the same being, simply representing a different aspect of the god.

I have also read theories that Pluto was not actually the name of the god of the underworld, but the name people applied to him so that they could speak it out loud.  You see, talking about the god of death by name was considered very unlucky.

 

 

 

(Not particularly relevant to the post, but I had to.)

 

This is part of why there are not as many depictions of Pluto - or of Hades, for that matter - in ancient art.  Death was something that people didn't want to talk about and didn't want to depict.  It's entirely possible that Pluto was a name they used to refer to death without actually using his name...in modern terms, much like saying "You-Know-Who" instead of "Voldemort".

Whatever the case, Pluto is definitely intriguing.

One of my favorite stories about Pluto is actually shared in both Greek and Roman mythology.  It involves the poet Orpheus, who was the finest musician of his age.

Orpheus had recently been married to a beautiful woman named Eurydice, with whom he was very much in love.  All was well for a short time, but one day while out in the woods she happened to step on a snake.  She was bitten, and the poison very quickly killed her.

The man was crushed by the death of his beloved.  He mourned her through his music, and soon an idea struck him.  Orpheus sought out the gates of the underworld and descended to the palace of Pluto.  He took up his lyre and began to play and sing, beseeching Pluto to release his beloved's spirit and return her to life.

 



I'll let Ovid take over:

"These words, accompanied on the plucked string, so moved the bloodless spirits that they wept...Then, for the first time ever, overcome by the effects of the song, the Furies wept, nor could Persephone reject his prayer, nor he who rules the underworld deny him; Eurydice was called up from her place among the newly dead..."

(I find it very interesting to note that Pluto is not mentioned by name.  Instead, he is "he who rules the underworld".)

The story ends in tragedy, of course.  It's actually quite similar to the Japanese tale of Izanagi and Izanami.  Orpheus was given strict instructions to not look back at his wife's spirit until they had ascended from the underworld.  Right before they exited he began to doubt and glanced back, and she was forced to remain dead due to his lack of faith.

 

Still, I think it's a beautiful story. I love that Pluto, god of the dead, a deity most people find fearful, was moved to tears by the power of love and willing to return a woman to life to be with her beloved.

I'll end my post with that, and see you guys next week!