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Ereshkigal vs Hades

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Underworld sovereigns whose law binds even the gods who enter.

Deity · Mesopotamian · c. 2000 BCE

Ereshkigal

also called Göttin Ereschkigal

Sovereign of the underworld who strips Ishtar of a garment at each of the seven gates and hangs her on a hook.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
Queen of the Great Below
First attested
The Descent of Inanna to the Netherworld · c. 1900 BCE, from older material
Named there as
Ereshkigal
Texts naming it
3
Powers attributed
4
90attestedMesopotamian

Deity · Greek · c. 700 BCE

Hades

also called Aidoneus, Plouton, Pluton

Ruler of the dead by lot rather than by punishment — a god of the underworld who is not evil, a distinction Christian cosmology cannot express.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
Lord of the Underworld
First attested
The Iliad · c. 750 BCE
Named there as
Aïdes
Texts naming it
4
Powers attributed
3
100attestedGreek

Where do they actually overlap?

Texts naming both

None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.

Powers credited to both

Conducts Souls

Common questions

Are Ereshkigal and Hades the same figure?

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Underworld sovereigns whose law binds even the gods who enter. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.

Which is older, Ereshkigal or Hades?

Ereshkigal is the older name: first attested around c. 2000 BCE, against c. 700 BCE for Hades. Where the two dates are far apart, that gap is the whole reason the pair is worth comparing.

Do any texts name both Ereshkigal and Hades?

No text in this corpus names both. That is not proof they were considered the same figure, but it is why the identification has to be traced through the scholarship rather than read off a page.
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