ression of the face contrasts forcibly with that peculiar
benignity which so characterizes the countenance of the mighty ruler of
heaven. He is seated on a throne of ebony, with his queen, the grave and
sad Persephone, {136} beside him, and wears a full beard, and long flowing
black hair, which hangs straight down over his forehead; in his hand he
either bears a two-pronged fork or the keys of the lower world, and at his
feet sits Cerberus. He is sometimes seen in a chariot of gold, drawn by
four black horses, and wearing on his head a helmet made for him by the
Cyclops, which rendered the wearer invisible. This helmet he frequently
lent to mortals and immortals.

Aides, who was universally worshipped throughout Greece, had temples
erected to his honour in Elis, Olympia, and also at Athens.

His sacrifices, which took place at night, consisted of black sheep, and
the blood, instead of being sprinkled on the altars or received in vessels,
as at other sacrifices, was permitted to run down into a trench, dug for
this purpose. The officiating priests wore black robes, and were crowned
with cypress.

The narcissus, maiden-hair, and cypress were sacred to this divinity.

PLUTO.

Before the introduction into Rome of the religion and literature of Greece,
the Romans had no belief in a realm of future happiness or misery,
corresponding to the Greek Hades; hence they had no god of the lower world
identical with Aides. They supposed that there was, in the centre of the
earth, a vast, gloomy, and impenetrably dark cavity called Orcus, which
formed a place of eternal rest for the dead. But with the introduction of
Greek mythology, the Roman Orcus became the Greek Hades, and {137} all the
Greek notions with regard to a future state now obtained with the Romans,
who worshipped Aides under the name of Pluto, his other appellations being
Dis (from _dives_, rich) and Orcus from the dominions over which he ruled.
In Rome there were no temples erected to this divinity.

PLUTUS.

Plutus, the son of Demeter and a mortal called Iasion, was the god of
wealth, and is represented as being lame when he makes his appearance, and
winged when he takes his departure. He was supposed to be both blind and
foolish, because he bestows his gifts without discrimination, and
frequently upon the most unworthy objects.

Plutus was believed to have his abode in the bowels of the earth, which was
probably the reason why, in later times, Aides became con