Which traditions do they belong to?

Ah Puch belongs to the Mesoamerican Pantheon, and Hades to the Greek Pantheon.

Side by sideParallel across traditions

Ah Puch vs Hades

Both rule realms of the dead.

At a glance

Ah Puch and Hades compared
	Ah Puch	Hades
Tradition	Mesoamerican Pantheon	Greek Pantheon
Domains	death, underworld, disaster, decay	underworld, death, wealth
Symbols	skull, skeletal body, owl, death bells	helm of darkness, bident, Cerberus, cornucopia
Also called	God A, Cizin, Kisin, Yum Cimil	Pluto, Plouton

Where they meet

Both are associated with death and underworld.

Where they part

Only Ah Puch

Associated with disaster and decay.

Only Hades

Associated with wealth.

How each was worshipped

Ah Puch

Cult sites: No attested temple in the surviving record

Death god of the Maya books. You do not invite him. Cult evidence is fear, death glyph, and the lords of Xibalba, not a parish festival.

Hades

Cult sites: Few civic temples; the Nekromanteion at Ephyra; Eleusis, where he is named with Persephone
Festivals: Eleusinian Mysteries (as receiver of Kore); Averted offerings

Greeks preferred not to build him a house in town. They poured to the ground, used black victims, and often would not say his name. Eleusis is the public exception: the husband of the grain's daughter, not a devil.

The two figures

Mesoamerican Pantheon

Ah Puch

The Maya god of death and ruler of Metnal, the lowest level of the underworld. Depicted as a skeletal figure with exposed bones and decay, Ah Puch represents the terror of death.

Ah Puch has existed since the beginning, for death is as old as life itself. He rules Xibalba alongside other death lords, receiving and testing the souls of the dead.

Ah Puch is the fearsome god of death and chief lord of **Xibalba**, the Maya underworld. His appearance is horrifying: a **skeletal figure** with exposed bones, rotting flesh, and bells that announce his approach.

Read the full Ah Puch entry

Greek Pantheon

Hades

God of the underworld and the dead. Ruler of the realm of Hades, rarely leaving his kingdom.

Hades rules the underworld not as a devil figure but as a stern, lawful monarch of the dead. Greek religion treats him as unavoidable, distant, and powerful rather than chaotic. He governs the wealth hidden in the earth as well as the souls that descend beneath it, which is why later traditions also call him Plouton, "the wealthy one."

Read the full Hades entry

About this comparison

Comparisons pair figures that play a similar role across traditions, or that the myths connect within one. A shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.