List of death deities in the context of "Hades"

Zoroastrianism, also called Mazdayasna or Behdin, is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster (Greek: Ζωροάστρις Zōroastris). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an uncreated, benevolent, and all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu (𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎), who is personified as a destructive spirit and the adversary of all things that are good. As such, the Zoroastrian religion combines a dualistic cosmology of good and evil with an eschatological outlook predicting the ultimate triumph of Ahura Mazda over evil. Opinions vary among scholars as to whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, or a combination of all three. Zoroastrianism shaped Iranian culture and history, while scholars differ on whether it significantly influenced ancient Western philosophy and the Abrahamic religions, or gradually reconciled with other religions and traditions, such as Christianity and Islam.

Originating from Zoroaster's reforms of the ancient Iranian religion, Zoroastrianism began during the Avestan period (possibly as early as the 2nd millennium BCE), but was first recorded in the mid-6th century BCE. For the following millennium, it was the official religion of successive Iranian polities, beginning with the Achaemenid Empire, which formalized and institutionalized many of its tenets and rituals, and ending with the Sasanian Empire, which revitalized the faith and standardized its teachings. In the 7th century CE, the rise of Islam and the ensuing Muslim conquest of Iran marked the beginning of the decline of Zoroastrianism. The persecution of Zoroastrians by the early Muslims in the nascent Rashidun Caliphate prompted much of the community to migrate to the Indian subcontinent, where they were granted asylum and became the progenitors of today's Parsis. Once numbering in the millions, the world's total Zoroastrian population is estimated to comprise between 110,000 and 120,000 people, with most of them residing either in India (50,000–60,000), in Iran (15,000–25,000), or in North America (22,000). The religion is thought to be declining due to restrictions on conversion, strict endogamy, and low birth rates.

Hades (/ˈheɪdiːz/; Ancient Greek: ᾍδης, romanized: Hā́idēs, Attic Greek: [háːi̯dεːs], later [háːdeːs]), in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and riches and the King of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated, overthrew, and replaced their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint sovereignty over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, which was long the domain of Gaia, available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bidentand wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.

Roman-era mythographers eventually equated the Etruscan god Aita,and the Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus, with Hades, and merged all these figures into Pluto, a Latinisation of Plouton (Ancient Greek: Πλούτων, romanized: Ploútōn), itself a euphemistic title (meaning "the rich one") often given to Hades.

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Pluto (Ancient Greek: Πλούτων, romanized: Ploútōn, Latin: Plūto or Plūton), also known as Dis Pater or Orcus, was the god of the dead and the king of the underworld. The name was originally an epithet or theonym for Hades in ancient Greek religion and mythology, although Pluto was more associated with wealth and never used as a synonym for the underworld itself, representing a more positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. He was the eldest son of Saturn (Cronus) and Ops (Rhea), as well as the brother of Jupiter (Zeus) and Neptune (Poseidon). Pluto later married Proserpina (Persephone) and shared many of Hades' attributes, such as the bident, the cap of invisibility, and the three-headed guard dog Cerberus.

While Pluto is commonly considered the Roman equivalent of Hades, the name Plouton was already used by the Greeks to designate Hades and was later adopted by the Romans for their god of the underworld, Dis Pater, which often means "Rich Father" and is perhaps a direct translation of Plouton. Pluto was also identified with the obscure god Orcus, name that the Romans adopted from the Etruscans and which, like Hades, was both for the god of the underworld and for the underworld as a place. On the other hand, Ploutōn was frequently conflated with Ploûtos, the Greek god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground and because, as a chthonic god, Pluto ruled the deep earth that contained the seeds needed for a bountiful harvest.

In Roman mythology, Morta was the goddess of death. She was believed to preside over infants who died.

Aulus Gellius understood her name to be the similar as Morea. Morta’s name most likely meant fate.