Side by sideParallel across traditions
Both are gods of death who hold a divine figure in the underworld; unlike Hades, Mot is death itself rather than the ruler of the dead, and he never rules a structured realm of souls.
| Hades | Mot | |
|---|---|---|
| Tradition | Greek Pantheon | Canaanite Pantheon (Ugarit) |
| Domains | underworld, death, wealth | death, the underworld, drought and sterility |
| Symbols | helm of darkness, bident, Cerberus, cornucopia | an open throat, the muddy city Hmry |
| Also called | Pluto, Plouton | Death, Beloved of El (ydd il), Son of El (bn ilm) |
Both are associated with death.
Associated with underworld and wealth.
Associated with the underworld and drought and sterility.
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.
No cult sites or festivals are recorded in the atlas.
Greek Pantheon
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."
Canaanite Pantheon (Ugarit)
Death personified, whose throat reaches to the heavens and whose lip touches the earth, who swallows Baal and is himself destroyed by Anat and then fights Baal to a standstill.
Mot is death itself, not a ruler of the dead. The Baal Cycle gives him an enormous appetite: one lip to the earth, one lip to the heavens, a tongue to the stars (KTU 1.5 II), and a craving that the text compares to a lion's hunger and a dolphin's thirst. His city is Hmry ("Miry" or "Muddy"), where he sits on a throne in a land of filth, and messengers are warned not to come too close in case he swallows them.
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.