So, Zeus
can’t work Demeter over. He simply has no way to leverage her. She has all the
power when it comes to crops, so Zeus has no choice but to work on hades. But
the thing is he’s also stonewalled as he doesn’t “want to offend Hades.”
But why?
Well, like Demeter, Hades has his own domain, though his is more literal.
Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon all divvyed up the world by drawing lots—and Zeus
rigged the game so he would get the sky. But just because Hades got the fuzzy
end of that lollipop doesn’t mean he’s powerless. In fact, Hades wields an
incredible amount of power. Hades alone determines who goes where in the
underworld, or, more specifically, who is even allowed in. that’s his leverage
against Zeus.
Hades could
decide to do as Demeter does and exercise his control over his domain. In this
case, he could refuse anyone entrance to the underworld. If this were to
happen, people on earth would never die. They should die, they would want to
die, but they would be refused entry.
So on one
side, Demeter is threatening to starve humanity out. On the other, Hades would
refuse them entry into his realm. It’s a clear stalemate. Well, almost. Zeus is
the clear loser.