Hades: King of the Underworld
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 November 2023
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.
Hades is King of the the dead and the Underworld in Ancient Greek mythology.
Dive into the shadowy underworld with host Tristan Hughes and guest Prof Sarah Iles Johnson of Ohio State University. Together, they unearth Hades' origin, define the enigmatic underworld, and what it reveals about Ancient Greek perceptions of life and beyond. Plus, delve into iconic myths like Orpheus & Eurydice, Achilles and the Trojan War and the Labours of Heracles.
Senior Producer: Elena Guthrie
Assistant Producer: Annie Coloe
Editor: Aidan Lonergan
Scriptwriter: Andrew Hulse
Voice Actor: Lucy Davidson
Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trialWe'd love to hear from you!
You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit to listen to all of our episodes ad free, get bonus content |
| 0:06.0 | and watch hundreds of history documentaries. Download the History Hit app or go to History Hit |
| 0:10.9 | dot com slash subscribe. And if you're an Apple listener, you can subscribe for new ad-free episodes within the Apple |
| 0:17.3 | app. |
| 0:18.3 | Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's history hit. The Ancients is our second oldest |
| 0:27.1 | podcast at History. It's presented by Tristan Hughes, The Tristorian. And here's an episode for you. It's a pretty good one so I thought I'd share it over here. |
| 0:35.0 | This is all about Hades, the King of the Dead, King of the Underworld, ancient Greek God, brother of Zeus and it was not an easy relationship. |
| 0:46.0 | Well Tristan and his guest Professor Sarah Isles Johnson of Ohio State University have |
| 0:50.8 | dived into this shadowy underworld together. |
| 0:54.0 | They're unearthing Haley's origin, boom. |
| 0:56.3 | They're describing what the ancient Greeks meant by an underworld, and they're discussing |
| 1:00.9 | how the ancient Greeks thought about life after death. |
| 1:04.8 | Plus, no mention of Hades is complete without delving into the iconic myths, |
| 1:09.9 | or fists in uridacy, Achilles, the Trojan War, Odysseus, and the labors of Heracles. |
| 1:16.4 | Enjoy. Sing to me a story of Olympus and the deathless gods who govern Earth, sea, and sky. |
| 1:42.0 | But there is no response to Orpheus' invocation. |
| 1:47.0 | This is the underworld. |
| 1:50.0 | The muse is singing, they're dancing, their playing of the lyre and the flute. |
| 1:56.6 | None of it can pierce the deathly veil. |
| 2:00.9 | So Orpheus must sing alone, and he must not stop. |
| 2:07.3 | So Hades, Lord of the Dead, has warned him. |
| 2:11.8 | For Orpheus's song is not merely a guide, a candle in the dark for his wife, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

