In Hades

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on January 14, 2010 at 13:26

In Reply to: In Hades posted by Jeff Thompson on January 14, 2010 at 10:43:

: 'In Hades'. Hades is a Greek word meaning something like 'the state of death', but what does it literally refer to? It's probably used in an idiomatic way, like 'on another planet' refers not someone's location but their behaviour.

Hades for the ancient Greeks was the land of the dead, and therefore "in Hades" is (roughly) equivalent to "in Hell". Away back when "Hell" was a shocking expletive, well-bred gentlemen often substituted "Hades", as "I'll see you in Hades first!"