Hades three-headed guard dog Cerberus. The Etruscan god Aita and the Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus were eventually taken as equivalent to Hades and merged into Pluto, a Latinization of Plouton (", Ploútōn"), itself a euphemistic title often given to Hades. The origin of Hades' name is uncertain, but has generally been seen as meaning "the unseen one" since antiquity. An extensive section of Plato's dialogue "Cratylus" is devoted to the etymology of the god's name, in which Socrates is arguing for a folk etymology not from "unseen" but from "his knowledge ("eidenai") of all noble things". Modern linguists have
Orcus (Dungeons & Dragons) includes some details about his realm and his return. Orcus was used as the driving force for the adventure "Headless", which appears on pages 47–66 of "Dungeon" #89 (November 2001). Although the adventure recommends not having Orcus fight the player characters directly, third edition game statistics are provided for Orcus on page 64 if he is to be used as a recurring villain. He only appears personally at the end of the adventure to reclaim one of his possessions and warn the characters to cease meddling in his affairs. Orcus is featured as one of the demon lords appearing in