ᾍδης

See also: Άδης, Ἀΐδης, ᾅδης, and ἀϊδής

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Ἀΐδης (Aḯdēs) — Homeric
Ἀΐδᾱς (Aḯdās) — Doric
Ἀϊδωνεύς (Aïdōneús)
ᾈδωνεύς (Āidōneús)

Etymology

For *ἄϝις (*áwis, “unseen”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥wids (“unseen”)^[1] equivalent to ἀ- (a-, “un-”) + the root of ἰδεῖν (ideîn) + -ς (-s). The root nominal was remodeled into an ᾱ-stem. Compare ἀϊδής (aïdḗs, “invisible”), which looks very similar, but is most likely based on the etymon of the related σ-stem εἶδος (eîdos).

Aspiration arose in Attic under the influence of the definite article ὁ (ho).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /háːi̯.dɛːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)a.de̝s/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ðis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ðis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ðis/

Proper noun

ᾍδης • (Hāídēs) m (genitive ᾍδου); first declension (Attic)

(Greek mythology) Hades (Greek god)
(Greek mythology) Hades (a mythological location, the underworld in Ancient Greek religion)
(Koine, biblical) the Grave, Hell

Usage notes

The personal name rarely takes a definite article.

Inflection

First declension of ὁ ᾍδης; τοῦ ᾍδου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ ᾍδης ho Hāídēs
Genitive	τοῦ ᾍδου toû Hāídou
Dative	τῷ ᾍδῃ tōî Hāídēi
Accusative	τὸν ᾍδην tòn Hāídēn
Vocative	ᾍδη Hāídē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of Ἀΐδης; Ἀΐδᾱο (Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	Ἀΐδης Aḯdēs
Genitive	Ἀΐδᾱο / Ἀΐδε͜ω / Ἀΐδω Aḯdāo / Aḯde͜ō / Aḯdō
Dative	Ἀΐδῃ Aḯdēi
Accusative	Ἀΐδην Aḯdēn
Vocative	Ἀΐδη Aḯdē
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Descendants

Greek: Άδης (Ádis)
→ Latin: Hādēs
→ Old Church Slavonic: адъ (adŭ) (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “Ἀΐδης, -αο [m.]”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 34

“ᾍδης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ᾍδης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ᾍδης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ᾍδης in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G86 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- below idem, page 73.
- death idem, page 198.
- hades idem, page 380.
- hell idem, page 395.
- infernal idem, page 437.
- lower idem, page 503.
- nether idem, page 556.
- shade idem, page 760.
- under idem, page 912.
- world idem, page 989.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “Ἀΐδης, -αο [m.]”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 34

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