History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman....

The Chthonian character of Dionysos brings us by a natural transition to the deities of the under-world, and in connection therewith it will be convenient to treat of Death-deities of all kinds, as well as scenes representing the life of the nether regions.

Of Demeter and Persephone, the Chthonian goddesses par excellence, we have already spoken (p. 27), and of the myths connected with them, such as the rape of the latter by Hades or Pluto, the king of the realms named after him. It is owing to this connection with Persephone that Hades is found in such scenes as the sending forth of Triptolemos,[822] or at her return to the upper world,[823] as well as at the rape of his consort. He is frequently seen in company with her, as the rulers of the nether world,[824] especially on the large Italian “under-world vases” referred to below, and sometimes they are represented banqueting together.[825] As king of the nether world he is appropriately grouped with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, the rulers of the air and ocean.[826] He is occasionally carried by Herakles on his shoulders,[827] but the meaning of this subject is uncertain. He also appears as a single figure, with sceptre and cornucopia.[828]

The only general representations of the under-world are to be found on the large Apulian vases made for sepulchral purposes (Vol. I. p. 476), of which some half-dozen are conspicuous for the number of subjects and figures they contain. All these are collected together in the Wiener Vorlegeblätter, Series E., the list being as follows:—