Pluto's Roman equivalent is Dis Pater, whose name is most often taken to mean 'Rich Father' and is perhaps a direct translation of Plouton. Plūtō ( genitive Plūtōnis) is the Latinized form of the Greek Plouton. Under the name Pluto, the god appears in other myths in a secondary role, mostly as the possessor of a quest-object, and especially in the descent of Orpheus or other heroes to the underworld. Plouton as the name of the ruler of the underworld first appears in Greek literature of the Classical period, in the works of the Athenian playwrights and of the philosopher Plato, who is the major Greek source on its significance. His central narrative in myth is of him abducting Persephone to be his wife and the queen of his realm. In Greek cosmogony, the god received the rule of the underworld in a three-way division of sovereignty over the world, with his brother Zeus ruling the sky and his other brother Poseidon sovereign over the sea. Pluto and Hades differ in character, but they are not distinct figures and share two dominant myths. Hades, by contrast, had few temples and religious practices associated with him, and he is portrayed as the dark and violent abductor of Persephone. The couple received souls in the afterlife and are invoked together in religious inscriptions, being referred to as Plouton and as Kore respectively. The name Ploutōn came into widespread usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Pluto was venerated as both a stern ruler and a loving husband to Persephone. Ploutōn was frequently conflated with Ploûtos, the Greek god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground, and because as a chthonic god Pluto ruled the deep earth that contained the seeds necessary for a bountiful harvest. Pluto represents a more positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which became more common as the name of the underworld itself. In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto ( Greek: Πλούτων, Ploutōn) was the ruler of the Greek underworld.

Hades greek god symbol