Extroverted Thinking (Te)
“Hey, little songbird, give me a song. I’m a busy man and I can’t stay long. I got clients to call, I got orders to fill. I got walls to build, I got riots to quell. And they’re giving me hell back in Hades.”
There’s no denying that Hades is quite a formidable leader, able to control the entirety of Hadestown and keep it churning. He prizes efficiency and control over most other things, including emotion and his marriage. Even in moments when one might expect more emotion, Hades is always attempting to focus on keeping control as king and businessman – for instance, even as he seduces Eurydice in “Hey, Little Songbird,” he’s discussing how he is running low on time because of his busy schedule. He is strongly associated with machinery and electricity – cold and efficient – and seems to prefer its reliable work over that of emotional people. His decision in “His Kiss, The Riot” reflects his desire to maintain control and act in a logical manner, as he maintains his position as leader without seeming completely heartless (Fi).
Introverted Sensing (Si)
“Son, I was young once too. Son, I held a women too – held her in my naked hands, when I was a young man.”
Hades is a man who has learned how to use routine, whether it is in his own life or in his actions as the king of Hadestown. He has learned much with his relationship with Persephone, looking to the past and seeing his mistakes as well as the cycle of her leaving and returning – after all, they have been married since the world began. His newer routine comes from his desire to enforce laws in Hadestown and keep order in a specific manner that allows no deviation. Any major exterior threats to this (Ne) – first the enemy of poverty, later Orpheus and his love for Eurydice – become something he fears and tries to eliminate. Later in the show, it appears that Hades and Persephone are both getting back to their past relationship and love.
Extroverted Intuition (Ne)
“Lover, you were gone so long. Lover, I was lonesome, so I built a foundry in the ground beneath your feet.”
Despite wanting to maintain a certain routine and live in the past, it is clear that Hades is able to use change and development when it aligns with his logical views (Te). When she returns to Hadestown, Persephone comments that Hades has made many changes, something which he confirms and explains in “Epic II/Chant I.” Later, Hades is forced to consider different choices when he must decide what to do with Orpheus, which causes him to struggle in both “Word to the Wise” and “His Kiss, The Riot.” Most of the time, changes from the routines and order of Si end up causing Hades a great deal of stress. For instance, he wants to avoid his subjects getting out of line as they begin wanting freedom because of Orpheus.
Introverted Feeling (Fi)
“How long? Just as long as Hades is king, nothing comes of wishing on stars. And nothing comes of the songs people sing, however sorry they are.”
Feeling jaded and focusing on logic, Hades has developed a somewhat twisted personal morality that he tries to put across all of his subjects. This can be seen most prominently in “Why We Build The Wall,” as he creates his own moral reasoning for building a wall and that has everyone in Hadestown echo it. He wants to keep the ideals of freedom out of Hadestown while maintaining work and order (Te), as this is how he believes things should be. For most of the show, the only emotion that Hades seems fully able of showing is explosive anger – it isn’t until the end where he and Persephone begin to fall in love again where he reveals some softness. Both Orpheus and Persephone criticize Hades for his apparent lack of emotion, seeing him as hard and cruel.