Ancient Greek hell crossword puzzle. How does hell work?

Hell (Sheol) From the Greek word hades, which is the translation of the Hebrew word "sheol" in the Bible. According to Greek word production, it means a place devoid of light, or something invisible. Ancient Greek writers denoted the world of spirits or the kingdom, the abode of the dead, on

Source: "Religious Dictionary"

See what “Hell (Sheol)” is in other dictionaries:

Sheol is the abode of the dead in Judaism. The Orthodox Encyclopedia (2000) notes that the biblical texts of the Old Testament consider Sheol as the habitat of all the dead, regardless of their way of life on earth. “They go to Sheol not only... ... Wikipedia

In Judaism, the kingdom of the dead, the afterlife, the lower or lower world, opposed to heaven. Sheol appears to be a terrible monster, swallowing the dead, closing its gigantic jaws over them; Sheol's womb is eternally insatiable, and his soul expands... ... Historical Dictionary

- (Heb. Šeõl, possibly “questioned”, “unsearchable”; in Greek it is rendered by the term ó Αιδης and translated as “underworld”, “hell”, sometimes as “grave”), in Judaic mythology the kingdom of the dead, the afterlife, “lower ", or "lower", world, ... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Jewish underworld, kingdom of the dead. Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. Mikhelson A.D., 1865 ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Noun, number of synonyms: 2 kingdom of the dead (2) sheol (1) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Dictionary of synonyms

Sheol- in Judaism, the kingdom of the dead, the afterlife, the “lower” or “inferior” world, opposed to heaven. Sheol appears to be a terrible monster, swallowing the dead, closing its gigantic jaws over them; the womb of Sheol is ever insatiable... Encyclopedic Dictionary of World History

Sheol- grave (Hebrew; Tanakh, Breishit 37:35 (Christians have the Old Testament, Genesis 37:35), Psalm 18:6, 16:10, Isaiah 28:15,18, etc.): a common interpretation of Sheol as hell, later Christian development, the concept of hell is absent in the Torah: ஐ But according to ... ... Lem's World - Dictionary and Guide

sheol- (hell, hell, tomb, grave) sheol is a Hebrew word with an uncertain meaning A. The place where everyone goes after death: Isaiah 14:9 11 righteous: Gen 37:35; Ps 87:4 6 wicked: Num 16:30; Eze 32:21,27 B. Description of the place of darkness and corruption: Job 17:13 16... ... Bible: Topical Dictionary

Sheol- (Gen. 37, 35. Num. 16, 30. Deut. 32, 22. Isaiah 14, 9. 15. Ezek. 31, 16. Job. 7, 9. Psalm. 6, 6. etc.) The Hebrew word Sheol is not included anywhere in the Russian translation. It corresponds to the Greek Hell (Άηδς) and the Latin Orcus and expresses different... ... Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary

A Hebrew word that is not included anywhere in the Russian translation of the Bible. It corresponds to the Greek hell (Άδης) and the Latin Orcus and expresses various concepts, such as the tomb, the grave, the dwelling of the dead, the state of the dead, the kingdom of the dead, etc... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

- (Heb.) Hell in the Jewish Pantheon; an area of ​​immobility and inaction, in contrast to Gehenna (see). Source: Theosophical Dictionary... Religious terms

Books

• Chernodyrye, Nikei MS Sheol, Nikolai Kokurin, To be or not to be - which is better? Non-existence, from which everyone has emerged into Genesis, is it Paradise, to which we must return, or Hell, where only those who have received “failure” in behavior return? Or sorrow... Category: Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Chernodyrye, Nikolai Kokurin, To be or not to be - which is better? Non-existence, from which everyone has emerged into Genesis, is this Paradise, to which we must return, or Hell, where only those who have received “failure” in behavior return? Or... Category: Humanities Series: Publisher:

ancient greek hell

. (Hades) in Greek mythology god of the underworld, son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus (mythical)

. (Hades) in Greek mythology - the underworld where the soul goes after death

In ancient Greek mythology, god underworld and the kingdoms of the dead

Lord of the kingdom of shadows of the dead in ancient Greek mythology

Olympian god, paternal uncle of Hermes

The underworld where Orpheus descended for Eurydice (mythical)

The most exotic kingdom in which Orpheus had a chance to perform

The kingdom of blind people among the ancient Greeks

What kind of country did the ancient Greeks place right under them?

Olympian God

First son of Kronos and Rhea

The entrance to it is guarded by Cerberus

The name of this ancient Greek god most likely means “invisible” in translation, and in fact, rarely did any of the earth’s inhabitants manage to see him

From the name of this underground kingdom comes Russian word hell

The name of this ancient Greek god is translated as “invisible”, “formless”, “terrible”

Persephone's husband

Brother of Zeus and Poseidon

The final destination for the souls of the ancient Greeks

Hell for the Greeks

In Greek mythology - the son of the Titan Kronos and Rhea, god of the underworld of the dead

Lord of the realm of shadows of the dead in Greek mythology

The Kingdom of the Dead in Ancient Greek Mythology

Kingdom of the Dead (mythical)

Pluto in a different way

Persephone's husband

Kingdom of Pluto

Zeus the Underground in Homer

Same as Hades

Who kidnapped Persephone?

Kingdom of the Dead

Greek Gehenna

Cerberus security facility

Orpheus descended there

God of the Underworld

Underworld

God of the Underworld

Olympian god

Kingdom of Shadows

God Pluto otherwise

Hades, Pluto

Persephone's Abductor

Kingdom of the Dead (myth.)

Pluto (myth.)

God from Olympus

Orpheus was looking for Eurydice there

Place of the River Styx

The final destination for the souls of the Hellenes

Greek boss of the underworld

The river Styx flows there

Kingdom of the Dead in Hellas

Ruler of the Underworld

Ancient kingdom of shadows

Greek god of the underworld

Enemy of Hercules

In Greek mythology, the god of the underworld and the kingdom of the dead

In ancient Greek mythology, the god of the underworld of the dead, brother of Zeus

Kingdom of the Dead

Having completed his earthly journey and leaving worldly affairs, the wanderer found himself on the banks of the River Styx, and the silent ferryman Charon transported him to the other side for a couple of coins. Whether the wanderer was destined to forever wander through the Asphodel meadow, fly into the endless abyss of Tartarus surrounded by a fiery river, or taste the grace of Elysium - this was determined by the stern and gloomy ruler of the entire underworld, the ruler of the dead, a god whose name they tried not to pronounce on earth.

In myths and legends Ancient Greece there was no division between heaven and hell. There was a single kingdom of the dead, Hades, located deep underground. The souls of all the dead fell into it. According to legend, the entrance to this kingdom was located at the cave of Eleusis, but it was also possible to get into it in other ways. The god Hades ruled this underground kingdom.

The gates of the Kingdom of the Dead were guarded by Hades's faithful assistant - the many-headed dog Cerberus. His tail and mane were made of snakes. He let everyone who wanted to enter, but no one could go back out.

Levels of Hades

According to myths, the underworld had three levels. Almost all the souls of the deceased ended up in Asphodel Meadow. It began on the eve of Hades and extended along the entire underworld. Having drunk from Lethe and forgetting about earthly life, the souls wandered aimlessly in a faceless mass through a meadow strewn with asphodel flowers among sad, leafless trees.

The souls of people who lived a pious life ended up in Elysium - the abode of the blessed. There was no suffering, hardship or worries here. In early Greek mythology, Elysium or the Island of the Blessed was believed to be located beyond the Oceanus River that encircled the earth. But as geographical ideas about the world expanded, the location of the ancient Greek paradise changed: now it was underground, part of the underground kingdom.

Sinners ended up on another level of Hades - in Tartarus, the deepest abyss, where they were doomed to eternal suffering. True, such an understanding of Tartarus appeared only under Virgil. In an earlier period, Tartarus was considered a dark abyss, located much lower than Hades. The light of the sun never penetrated there. It was at the same distance from the surface of the earth as the earth is from the sky. Eternal darkness and eternal cold reigned in this abyss, where the overthrown titans languished in indefinite imprisonment. Three layers of darkness and a copper wall surrounded Tartarus. During this period, the concepts of Hades and Tartarus were separated in ancient Greek mythology.

But later Tartarus begins to be described as the remotest and darkest place of Hades, where sinners serve their punishment. Only the most terrible criminals ended up in Tartarus, where there was eternal loneliness, eternal horror, darkness and absolute cold. There was no time, no outcome.

Ruler of the kingdom of the dead

The god Hades was portrayed in ancient Greek mythology as the cruel ruler of the world of the dead. This representative of the pantheon was endowed with a difficult fate. His father, Kronos, swallowed all his newborn children. He feared the prediction that he would be overthrown by one of them. Aida did not escape this fate either. The children of Kronos were immortal gods, they continued to live and grow in the womb of their father until Zeus, having escaped the fate of his brothers, returned and freed them, ending the reign of Kronos.

When dividing the inheritance, Hades, Zeus and Poseidon cast lots. And Hades got the Underworld of the Dead: a place that causes horror among people and disgust among other gods. In the ideas of the ancient Greeks, the Underworld was gloomy, damp caves, with a large number rivers, constant fogs and the smell of decay.

Hades ruled his kingdom and, as a ruler, kept order. For these purposes, he had assistants: the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires, the three-headed dog Cerberus and the carrier of the souls of the dead Charon. The latter transported dead souls across the frozen Styx - a river of human tears. He charged a small fee for his service. Souls who, for some reason, could not pay, remained on the banks of the Styx, doomed to eternal wandering. Therefore, the ancient Greeks had a tradition of placing coins on the eyes (sometimes in the mouth) of the deceased. This ritual was strictly observed. It was believed that the souls of the dead, who failed to cross the Styx, could return to the living and harm them.

Attempts to cheat death

Of the entire pantheon of Greek gods, Hades was the least loved and revered: they did not build temples in his honor, they tried not to mention his name. He caused fear. But more often than other gods, according to legends, mortals tried to deceive Hades or come to an agreement with him: they wanted to avoid death, to escape from the world of the dead.

One of these people was Sisyphus. He persuaded his wife not to bury his body. The soul of Sisyphus, having found itself in the world of the dead, begged Persephone, the wife of Hades, to release her soul back to earth in order to punish her “unlucky” wife for neglecting traditions. When Hades found out about this, he returned Sisyphus to the world of the dead. The punishment for deception was severe: every day Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone up the mountain, every evening, as a result of hard work, he climbed to the top with the stone, and at the end of each day he silently watched as the stone rolled back down the mountain. The punishment lasted forever.

Other famous story talks about trying to take away from death and bring back your loved one. Orpheus, the sweet-voiced musician, lost his beloved Eurydice: she was bitten poisonous snake. In desperation, he followed her into the underground kingdom of the dead. His skillful playing and soulful singing about unhappy love touched all the inhabitants of this world. And even the cruel Hades softened. He allowed Orpheus to take Eurydice from the world of the dead with one condition: throughout the entire journey from the underworld, Orpheus should not turn around. Orpheus could not stand the test and at the very end of the path turned around to check if Eurydice was following him. And lost my beloved forever.

At the shores of the Styx, everyone finds themselves at the end of their journey: both the rich and the poor. The waters of Lethe will wash away memories of the past. After all, to die means to forget. Live with dignity and perhaps you will end up in Elysium. No, you will wander forever. But more terrible is the eternal cold and eternal loneliness of bottomless Tartarus.

Church of Our Lady of Apparitions

The Sanctuary of Hera can be reached either from Mycenae along the new national highway, or from Argos via Neo Ireo or Chonika. In the center of the village there is a preserved Byzantine temple, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, built in 1144. It is considered one of the best-preserved temples of the Komnenos dynasty. It belonged to the monastery complex, which was located on the site of the modern village

And he is on his way to shining Athens (part 2)

In the morning, after turning the map, I go through the vegetable gardens to Keramik. By St. Petersburg standards, the houses are too tall for the usual width of the streets in Athens, it would be a little gloomy for us, but here the sun is high and there is shade - fortunately, the temperature already in the morning is off the charts beyond +25. When you approach Ceramics from the east, it is modern (by “modern” in Athens they mean something that is less than 2000 years old! -). In fact, I got the impression of a huge architectural and chronological hole between the last Roman buildings and the buildings of 100..150 years ago) the construction ends in the place where the main road to the City went: modern Athens continues on the right side, and on the left behind the fence, between two rows of palm trees, the remains of walls rise from sun-scorched grass, and the horizon is crowned by the Parthenon. You stand and look, and cars are driving behind you, on the other side of the street there is a house, the residents of which, waking up and looking out the window, see a couple of hundred meters away the place where the city wall stood and the Dipylon (Double Gate) - the main entrance to the City, and in the distance above all this stands the Acropolis.

Galleries in Greece

Underwater city of Olus

The secrets of history are hidden on our planet not only under the thickness of the earth, but also under water. Many legends about underwater cities and sunken treasures make the hearts of thousands of tourists burn, dreaming of going in search of treasure. It is believed that as a result of movements earth's crust From time to time, entire continents go under water; for example, the search for the mythical Atlantis is still underway. But some underwater ruins are not too difficult to find, and they are located not far from land. For example, the underwater city of Olous in Greece.

Asclepius

For the ancient Greeks, Asclepius was primarily a healing god, giving people relief and healing from suffering. According to the most widespread legend, Asclepius was born from the union of Apollo with Coronis, the daughter of King Phlegias, from the Thessalian region of Lakeria.

Sooner or later everyone will have to do this. It would be ridiculous to think that after such a life we ​​will be able to somehow get through the gates of heaven or deceive the archangel guarding them. It is worth coming to terms with the inevitable: it is not the tabernacles and houris that await us, but the gloomy landscape of hell. And in order not to get confused at the graveside, it is worth preparing for this in advance. Moreover, you can find a whole bunch of authoritative evidence on how to navigate in hellish terrain. The main thing is not to panic.

Where is it located, the afterlife?

Some ancient peoples burned the dead: this sure sign that the soul must ascend to its new abode in heaven. If it was buried in the ground, it means it will go to the underworld. If sent to last path on a boat, she sails to a country beyond the sea, at the very edge of the Earth.

The Slavs had very different opinions on this matter, but they all agreed on one thing: the souls of those people who are not held back by anything near their previous homes go to the afterlife, and they lead approximately the same existence there - harvesting, hunting...

Those who, due to a curse, or an unfulfilled promise, or something else, cannot leave their bodies, remain in our world - either moving into their previous shells, or taking the form of animals, natural phenomena, or simply ghosts of failure. We can say that the afterlife of such souls is our own world, so this is not the worst option for posthumous existence.

Egyptian hell

Everything will turn out much worse if you find yourself in the afterlife of the ancient Egyptians, where Osiris reigns.

Osiris is the god of rebirth, the king of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology. Sometimes Osiris was depicted with the head of a bull. According to references in ancient Egyptian texts and the story of Plutarch, Osiris was the eldest son of the earth god Heb and the sky goddess Nut, the brother and husband of Isis, the brother of Nephthys, Set, and the father of Horus.

He was the fourth of the gods who reigned on earth in primordial times, inheriting the power of his great-grandfather Ra-Atum, grandfather Shu and father Geb. Reigning over Egypt, Osiris taught people agriculture, gardening and winemaking, but was killed by his brother, the god Set, who wanted to rule in his place. Osiris's wife, his sister Isis, found his corpse and began to mourn him along with her sister Nephthys.

Ra, taking pity, sends the jackal-headed god Anubis, who collected the scattered (or, according to another version, cut up by Seth) members of Osiris, embalmed the body and swaddled it. Isis, in the form of a falcon, alighted on the corpse of Osiris and, miraculously conceiving from him, gave birth to a son, Horus. Horus was conceived and born in order to act as a natural avenger for the death of his father.

At the same time, he considers himself the only legitimate heir of the latter. After a long litigation, Horus is recognized as the rightful heir of Osiris and receives the kingdom. He resurrects Osiris by allowing him to swallow his eye. However, Osiris does not return to earth and remains king of the dead, leaving Horus to rule the kingdom of the living.

During his earthly incarnation, he was killed and dismembered by his own brother Set. This could not but affect the character of the lord of the dead. Osiris looks repulsive: he looks like a mummy clutching the signs of pharaonic power in his hands. Sitting on the throne, he presides over the court, which weighs the actions of newly arrived souls. The god of life Horus brings them here. Hold his hand tightly: the falcon-headed Choir is the underground king’s own son, so he may well put in a good word for you.

The judgment hall is huge - it is the entire vault of heaven.

"Book of the Dead" in Ancient Egypt- a collection of religious and legal norms placed in a tomb with the goal of helping the deceased overcome the dangers of the other world and gain enlightened immortality. It consists of a series of 186 unrelated chapters, varying in length, ranging from long poetic hymns to one-line magical formulas.

According to the instructions of the Egyptian books of the dead, a number of rules must be followed. List in detail the sins that you did not manage to commit during your lifetime. After this, you will be asked to leave a memory of yourself and help your relatives by depicting a court scene on a papyrus scroll. If your artistic talent is at its best, you will spend the rest of eternity here, participating in the affairs of Osiris and his many divine relatives.

The rest face a cruel execution: they are thrown to be devoured by Ammat, a monster with the body of a hippopotamus, the paws and mane of a lion and the mouth of a crocodile. However, even the lucky ones may find themselves in his jaws: from time to time, “clean-ups” occur, during which the affairs of the souls under their care are reviewed again. And if your relatives have not provided you with the appropriate amulets, you will certainly be eaten by a ruthless monster.

Greek hell

Getting into the afterlife kingdom of the Greeks is even easier: you will be carried away by the god of death Thanatos himself, who delivers all the “fresh” souls here. During big battles and battles, where he apparently cannot cope alone, Thanatos is helped by the winged Kerrs, who carry the fallen to the kingdom of the eternally gloomy Hades.

Thanatos, Tanat, Fan (Greek Θάνᾰτος, “death”) - in Greek mythology, the personification of death, the son of Nyx, the twin brother of the god of sleep Hypnos. Thanatos has an iron heart and is hated by the gods. He is the only god who does not like gifts. The cult of Thanatos existed in Sparta. Thanatos was most often depicted as a winged youth with an extinguished torch in his hand. In ancient times, there was an opinion that the death of a person depended only on him.

In the far west, at the edge of the world, stretches a lifeless plain, here and there overgrown with willows and poplars with black bark. Behind it, at the bottom of the abyss, the muddy quagmire of Acheron opens. It merges with the black waters of the Styx, which encircles the world of the dead nine times and separates it from the world of the living. Even the gods are careful not to break their oaths sworn in the name of Styx: these waters are sacred and merciless. They flow into Cocytus, the river of lamentation, which gives rise to Lethe, the river of oblivion.

You can cross the riverbed of the Styx in the boat of old man Charon.

Charon (Greek Χάρων - “bright”) in Greek mythology is the carrier of the souls of the dead across the River Styx (according to another version - through Acheron) to Hades (the underground kingdom of the dead). He was portrayed as a gloomy old man in rags. Charon transports the dead along the waters of underground rivers, receiving payment for this in one obol (according to funeral rites, it is located under the tongue of the dead). It transports only those dead whose bones have found peace in the grave. Only a golden branch, plucked from Persephone's grove, opens the way to the kingdom of death for a living person.

For his work, he takes a small copper coin from everyone. If you don’t have money, all you can do is wait for the end of times at the entrance. Charon's boat crosses all nine streams and disembarks its passengers at the abode of the dead. Here you will be greeted by the huge three-headed dog Cerberus, safe for those entering, but ferocious and merciless towards those who try to return to the sunny world.

Cerberus, Kerberus (from the Greek Κέρβερος) - in Greek mythology, the offspring of Echidna, looking like a three-headed dog with a snake tail, as creepy as his mother. Cerberus guarded the exit from the kingdom of the dead Hades, not allowing the dead to return to the world of the living. However, this creature of amazing strength was defeated by Hercules in one of his exploits. In the Middle Ages, Cerberus became a demon guarding the exit from the underworld.

On a vast plain, under a freezing wind, calmly wait your turn among other shadows. The rough road leads to the hall of Hades itself, surrounded by the fiery stream Phlegethon. The bridge above it ends at a gate standing on diamond columns. Behind the gate is a huge hall made of bronze, where Hades himself and his assistants, judges Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus, sit. By the way, all three were once people of flesh and blood, like you and me. They were just kings and ruled their people so successfully that after their death Zeus made them judges over all the dead.

With a high probability, fair judges will cast you even lower, into Tartarus - the kingdom of pain and groans, located deep under the palace. Here you will have to meet three old sisters, the goddesses of vengeance Erinny, whom Hades appointed to look after sinners. Their appearance is terrible: blue lips from which poisonous saliva drips; black cloaks like bat wings.

Tartarus (Greek: Τάρταρος) - in ancient Greek mythology - the deepest abyss located under Hades, where, after the Titanomachy, Zeus overthrew Cronus and the Titans and where they were guarded by the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires, the children of Uranus. This dark abyss, which is the same distance from the surface of the earth, How far is the sky from the earth: according to Homer, a copper anvil would fly from the surface of the earth to Tartarus within 9 days. Tartarus was surrounded by a triple layer of darkness and an iron wall with iron gates erected by Poseidon. As the personification of this abyss, Tartarus was the son of Ether and Gaia; in Hesiod’s “Theogony” - the son of Gaia, the father is not specified. In later times, the meaning of Tartarus changed: it began to mean the lower spaces in the kingdom of sinners.

With balls of snakes in their hands, they rush around the dungeon, lighting their way with torches, and make sure that everyone completely drinks the cup of punishment assigned to them. Other “indigenous inhabitants” of Tartarus include the child-stealing Lamia, the three-headed Hecate, the demon of nightmares, and the corpse eater Euryn. Here you will meet many mythical personalities. Tyrant Ixion is forever chained to the wheel of fire. The chained giant Tityus, who insulted tender Leto, is pecked by two vultures.

Blasphemer Tantalus is up to his neck in the freshest clean water, but as soon as he, tormented by thirst, bends down, she retreats from him. The Danaids, who killed their husbands, are forced to endlessly fill a leaky vessel. The resourceful Sisyphus, who once deceived the spirit of death Thanatos, and the intractable Hades, and Zeus himself, rolls a stone up the mountain, which breaks off every time it approaches the top.

Christian hell

Images of Christian hell are largely inspired by the ancient Greeks. It is among Christians that the geography of hell has been studied in most detail. Getting there is a little more difficult. Already in the apocryphal books - those that were not included in the Holy Scriptures or were excluded from it later - different opinions were expressed about the location of hell.

Thus, the “Book of Enoch” places the devil himself in the eastern lifeless desert, where Raphael “makes a hole” into which he lowers him, bound hand and foot, and rolls him over with a stone.

However, according to the same apocrypha, the soul will head in the opposite direction, to the west, where it will “moan” in the recesses of a high mountain range. At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great, distinguishing between two hells - upper and lower.

Gregory I the Great (lat. Gregorius PP. I) (c. 540 - March 12, 604) - Pope from September 3, 590 to March 12, 604. Gregory “was so versed in the science of grammar, dialectics and rhetoric that they believed that in all of Rome there was no man equal to him.”

Of the countless variety of ideas about the structure of hell, the idea of ​​two hells: upper and lower can be considered fairly stable and generally accepted.

Upper hell is depicted here as “the lower part of this world, full of torment,” “here raging immense heat, great cold, hunger, thirst, various bodily sufferings, such as scourging, and mental sufferings, such as horror and timidity ...; lower hell is a “spiritual place” (locus spiritualis), where an unquenchable fire burns; its location below should be understood metaphorically: “it is said to be underground, because just as the bodies of sinners are covered with earth, so the souls of sinners are buried in hell.”

In his book on the nature of hell, published in 1714, the English occultist Tobias Swinden placed hell in the sun. He motivated his assumption by both the then existing ideas about our luminary as a ball of fire and a quote from the Apocalypse (“The Fourth Angel poured out his cup on the Sun: and it was given to him to burn people with fire”). And his contemporary and follower William Whiston declared all celestial comets to be hell: when they fall into hot areas near the sun, they fry souls, and when moving away, they freeze.

However, you probably shouldn’t hope to land on a comet. The most widely accepted idea is that hell is located in the center of the Earth and has at least one exit to the surface. Most likely, this exit is located in the north, although there are other opinions. Thus, an ancient poem about the wanderings of the Irish Saint Brendan tells of his journey to the far west, where he finds not only heaven, but also places of torment for sinners.

And in heaven, and under the earth, and on the earth itself, hell is located in the apocryphal “Walk of the Virgin Mary through torment.” This book abounds detailed descriptions punishments. After asking God to dispel the complete darkness that envelops the suffering in the west, Mary sees hot tar being poured out on the unbelievers.

Here, in a cloud of fire, those who “sleep like the dead at dawn on Sunday” are tormented, and those who did not stand in church during their lifetime sit on the red-hot benches. In the south, other sinners are immersed in the fiery river: those cursed by their parents - up to the waist, fornicators - up to the chest, and up to the throat - “those who ate human flesh,” that is, traitors who threw their children to be devoured by wild beasts or betrayed their brothers before the king. But the deepest of all, to the crown of the head, are the oathbreakers.

The Mother of God sees here other punishments due to lovers of profit (hanged by the legs), sowers of enmity and Christian adversaries (hanged by the ears). In the “left side of paradise”, in the raging waves of boiling tar, the Jews who crucified Christ suffer torment.

In the area of ​​primordial chaos, hell is located by John Milton, the author of the poem “Paradise Lost.” According to his concept, Satan was overthrown even before the creation of earth and heaven, which means hell is located outside these areas. The devil himself sits in Pandemonium, the “brilliant capital,” where he receives the most prominent demons and demons.

Pandemonium is a huge castle with halls and porticoes, built by the same architect as the palace of the King of Heaven. The angel-architect, who joined the army of Satan, was expelled from heaven along with him. Myriads of spirits rush along the corridors of the palace, swarming in the ground and air. There are so many of them that only satanic witchcraft allows them to be located.

The medieval Christian theologian Emanuel Swedenborg is even more capable of confusing things.

Emmanuel Swedenborg The great Swedish seer and mystic. He was born January 29, 1688, and was the son of Dr. Jasper Swedberg, Bishop of Skara in Westgotland; died in London, Great Bass Street, Clepkenville, March 29, 1772.

Of all the mystics, Swedenborg undoubtedly influenced Theosophy the most; however, he left an even deeper mark on official science. For if as an astronomer, mathematician, physiologist, naturalist and philosopher he had no equal, then in psychology and metaphysics he was undoubtedly behind his time.

When he was 46 years old, he became a "theosophist" and a "seer"; but although his life was always impeccable and honorable, he was never a true philanthropist or ascetic. His clairvoyant abilities, however, were remarkable; however, they did not go beyond this plane of matter; everything that he said about the subjective worlds and spiritual beings is obviously more the fruit of his wild imagination than of his spiritual penetration.

He left behind many works that are terribly misunderstood by his followers.

He distinguished three different hells corresponding to three levels of heaven. And since God is sovereign over everything, all three hells are controlled by him through specially delegated angels. In his opinion, Satan does not exist at all as the ruler of the kingdom of evil. The devil in Swedenborg's understanding is a collective name for the most dangerous “evil geniuses”; Beelzebub unites spirits seeking dominance even in heaven; Satan means spirits “not so evil.”

All these spirits are terrible to look at and, like corpses, are devoid of life. The faces of some are black, others are fiery, others are “ugly from pimples, boils and ulcers; “Very many of them have no visible face; others have only their teeth sticking out.” Swedenborg formulated the idea that just as heaven reflects one person, so hell as a whole is only a reflection of one devil and can be presented in exactly this form. The devil's mouth, leading to the fetid underworld - this is exactly the path that awaits sinners.

You shouldn’t put too much faith in the opinions of some authors who claim that the entrance to hell can be locked. Christ in the Apocalypse says: “I have the keys of hell and death.” But Milton claims that the keys to Gehenna (apparently on behalf of Jesus) are kept by a terrible half-woman, half-snake. On the surface of the earth, the gate may look quite harmless, like a hole or cave, or like the mouth of a volcano. According to Dante Alighieri, the author of the Divine Comedy, written in the early 14th century, souls can go to hell by passing through a dense and dark forest.

This poem is the most authoritative source about the hellish structure (for more details, see the end of the article). The structure of the underworld is described in all its complexity. Hell in the Divine Comedy is the torso of Lucifer; inside it has a funnel-shaped structure. Having begun their journey through hell, Dante and his guide Virgil descend deeper and deeper, without turning anywhere, and eventually find themselves in the same place from which they entered it.

The strangeness of this hellish geometry was noticed by the famous Russian mathematician, philosopher and theologian Pavel Florensky. He argued quite convincingly that Dante's hell is based on non-Euclidean geometry. Like the whole Universe in ideas modern physics, hell in the poem has a finite volume, but has no boundaries, which was proven (theoretically) by the Swiss Weil.

Muslim hell

Jahannam (English: Jahannam, Arabic: جهنم‎‎) is the most common name for hell in Muslim mythology. It is mentioned in the Koran as the place of future punishment of sinners:
“Jahannam is the place assigned to them all”

According to the Koran, both people and jinn will end up in Jahannam, some of whom will remain there forever, others temporarily. The main torment that awaits sinners in Jahannam is from burning fire. The image of fire dominates the Qur'anic description of Jahannam, which is characterized by naturalistic details.
“And those who are unhappy are on fire, for them there are screams and roars.”

“Verily, those who did not believe in our signs, we will burn in fire! Whenever their skin is ready, we will replace it with another skin so that they will taste the punishment."

Similar to Christian hell and the underworld that awaits Muslims. Among the stories of the Arabian Nights, the seven circles are told. The first is intended for the faithful who died an unjust death, the second for apostates, the third for pagans. Jinns and the descendants of Iblis himself inhabit the fourth and fifth circles, Christians and Jews - the sixth. The innermost, seventh circle awaits hypocrites. Before getting here, souls await the great Judgment Day that will come at the end of time. However, the wait does not seem long to them.

Like most other sinners, visitors to Islamic hell are eternally roasted by fire, and each time their skin is burned, it grows back. Here grows the tree of Zakkum, the fruits of which, like the heads of the devil, constitute the food of the punished. Don't try the local cuisine: these fruits bubble in your stomach like molten copper. Those who eat them are tormented by an unbearable thirst, but the only way to quench it is to drink boiling water so foul that it “melts the insides and skin.” In short, this is a very, very hot place. In addition, Allah even enlarges the bodies of the kafirs, increasing their torment.

Hell in Buddhism

Hell in Buddhism is naraka (नरक) - the world of hellish beings (narakas) who are subject to severe torment as a result of their karmic deeds (that is, the deeds of a past life). Unlike Christian or Muslim hell, torment is not eternal, and after a fairly long period of atonement, negative karma is cleared, and beings can be reborn in higher worlds.

It is generally believed that the hellish dungeons in this world are located under the continent of Jambudvipa. It is noted that in an innumerable number of worlds there also exist an innumerable number of hells.

In their structure, the hells resemble a deep truncated pyramid of eight layers, the lower layers are much larger than the upper ones. The hells go deep under the continent to the very bottom. The most terrible hells are located below, the easiest - above. On every level central part occupies a hot hell, and on the periphery there is a cold hell. Thus there are eight hot and eight cold hells.

Eight cold hells

1. Arbuda-naraka - hell of blisters. In a dark frozen valley surrounded by cold mountains, there is a constant blizzard and blizzard. The inhabitants of this hell are deprived of clothing and alone, and their bodies are covered with blisters from the cold. The time you spend in this hell is how long it will take to empty a barrel of sesame grains if you take one grain every hundred years.
2. Nirarbuda-naraka - the hell of swelling blisters. This hell is even colder and the blisters swell and explode, leaving the bodies covered in blood and pus.
3. Atata-naraka - hell when you are shaking from the cold. When the creatures shake, they make the sound aṭ-aṭ-aṭ?.
4. Hahava-naraka - the hell of crying and groaning. When the victim groans from the cold, making ha, ho sounds in pain.
5. Khuhuva-naraka - the hell of chattering teeth. Terrible chills and teeth chattering, making a hoo-hoo sound.
6. Utpala-naraka - blue lotus hell, when constant cold causes the entire skin to turn blue like a lily.
7. Padma-naraka - lotus hell. A snowstorm blows over a frozen body, leaving bloody wounds.
8. Mahapadma-naraka - the great lotus hell. The whole body is cracking from the cold and internal organs They also crack from the terrible frost.

The stay in each next of these hells is 20 times longer than in the previous one.

Eight hot hells

1. Sanjiva-naraka - hell of revival. In this hell, the earth consists of red-hot iron. Creatures remain in this hell in constant humiliation and fear. Once the victims begin to fear that others will attack him, other creatures appear and begin to attack him with iron spears. Or Yama's servants appear and attack the victims with piercing weapon. They lose consciousness and experience their death throes, but are immediately restored to consciousness and are attacked again. Molten metal can also be poured onto them drop by drop, they can be cut into pieces, and they also suffer from the hot iron under their feet. Staying in this hell takes 162*1010 years.

2. Kalasutra-naraka - hell of black sections. In addition to torment in the previous hell, black lines are drawn along the body, and the servants of Yama cut victims along these sections with jagged axes and sharp axes. Staying in this hell takes 1296*1010 years.

3. Sanghata-naraka - crushing hell. This hell is located above red-hot iron and surrounded by massive rocks that collide and grind creatures into bloody crumbs. When the rocks move apart, life is restored and everything starts all over again. Staying in this hell takes 10.368*1010 years.

4. Raurava-naraka - hell of screams. Here the ground is burning under the victims and they are trying to hide. When they find shelter, they find themselves locked in it and are struck by heat from all sides, and they scream in horror. Life in this hell takes 82.944*1010 years.

5. Maharaurava-naraka - hell of great cries. Similar to the previous one, but associated with great torment. Life in this hell takes 663.552*1010 years.

6. Tapana-naraka - hot hell. Yama's servants poke the victims with a red-hot spear until flames come from the mouth and nose. Life in this hell takes 5,308,416*1010 years.

7. Pratapana-naraka - hell of great heat. The torment is similar to that in the Tapana hell, but the victims are also more brutally stabbed with a trident. Staying in this hell takes 42,467,328*1010 years.

8. Avici-naraka is the deepest hell, the height of hell is the same as all the previous seven hells combined. Staying in this hell takes 339,738,624*1010 years, until the end of the antarakalpa. Therefore this hell is called “perpetual naraka.” The creatures are scorched over constant fire, this is accompanied by terrible torment. Those who “cut off the roots of the good” end up in this hell - who, due to adherence to false views, destroyed in themselves the sprouts of non-greed, non-enmity, non-ignorance. In the polemic against Brahmanism, it was pointed out that the adherents of the Vedas - the Brahmans, who with immorality and unrighteous laws encourage crime, greed, and malice - can stoop to such a level...

Additional hells and even temporary hells are also described.

Hell in Kabbalah

In Kabbalah, “hell” is the awareness of the difference between man and the Creator, the Supreme Power of Good. This is a measure of how bad we feel when we suddenly find ourselves opposite to Him. The feeling of shame, distance, one’s own insignificance and baseness is so terrible that there is nothing worse than this. Such absolute shame is the feeling of “hell” that simply incinerates.

Dante's Hell is full of the same (or slightly changed in appearance) monsters that frightened, tormented and tormented the sinners of pagan Hades. Already at the entrance, the ferocious three-headed Cerberus attacks Christian sinners. There are no devils here - their evil functions are performed by ancient centaurs and other mythological monsters. The ancient Greek monster Geryon, who supposedly once reigned on some island beyond the Ocean and was then killed by Hercules, is also here.

Dante turned him into a disgusting sea monster who serves the seventh circle of Hell. To what has already been said on this score, we can add that the fierce guardian of the hellish Stygian swamp is the ancient Greek mythical character - the king of the Lapiths, Phlegias. The Greek mythical sorceress Erichto is introduced into the action.

Newly arrived sinners in Hell are judged and the standard of punishment is determined by Minos, the mythical king of ancient Crete. The ancient Greek god of the Underworld - and therefore of wealth - Plutos (Pluto) was placed as a fierce guardian of the fourth circle of Hell. The mythical Jason is also executed in Hell for deceiving the women he seduced. There’s also the minx Faida from Terence’s comedy “The Eunuch.”

No opposition. Dante deliberately mixed and combined ancient Greek mythology and ancient Roman literature: fiction is fiction. All the “authorities” of Dante’s Hell are mythological. Ancient Hellenic mythology reigns. Some of those punished come from the same place. Including here “heroines” from Roman literature was supposed to help the reader clearly feel the frivolity of the “other world”, starting with its ancient roots.

But ancient Hades is not an object of ridicule. The ancient Hellenic heritage is alive for Dante. And mythology is alive for him. In Purgatory, in Paradise, Dante calls the rainbow that appears the creation of Iris, the messenger of Juno. In the Earthly Paradise, having met four nymphs - “natural virtues”, Dante calls them goddesses (dee).

It is noteworthy that in Dante's Paradise the glorification of the teachings and deeds of church saints is now and then interspersed with examples from biblical and church history and mythology with similar moments in the history and mythology of ancient times.

Continuing the tradition of the medieval church, but carefully giving it a skeptical turn, Dante in his Hell expands and updates the circle of the tortured, and especially the circle of torturers, at the expense of characters from ancient history, in particular mythology.

Having passed through the forest, you will find yourself on the threshold of hell, in the “mysterious vestibule”. This is a dark and difficult place where the souls of those “who lived without knowing either the glory or the shame of mortal affairs” are imprisoned. It turns out there are quite a lot of them. “Scraps of all dialects” merge into a single hum, in which these people moan and wail, all their lives having been neither hot nor cold, but only warm.

These insignificant souls torment entire goyim of horse flies and wasps. From the wounds, mixed with tears, blood drips, which is devoured by hordes of worms. Angels are also imprisoned here, who, without rebelling against the Lord, did not take the side of Beelzebub, preferring cautious neutrality. Since those time immemorial, their “sad flock” has been torn out by heaven, but hell does not accept them either...

In front of the entrance are pitiful souls who did neither good nor evil during their lives, including “a bad flock of angels” who were neither with the devil nor with God.

1st circle (Limbo). Unbaptized infants and virtuous non-Christians.
2nd circle. Voluptuaries (fornicators and adulterers).
3rd circle. Gluttons, gluttons and gourmets.
4th circle. Misers and spendthrifts (love of excessive spending).
5th circle (Stygian swamp). Angry and lazy.
6th circle. Heretics and false teachers (the hellish city of Dit).
7th circle.

1st belt. Violent people against their neighbors and their property (tyrants and robbers).
2nd belt. Rapists against themselves (suicides) and against their property (gamblers and spendthrifts, that is, senseless destroyers of their property).
3rd belt. Rapists against deity (blasphemers), against nature (sodomites) and art (extortion).

8th circle. Those who deceived those who did not trust. It consists of ten ditches (Zlopazukhi, or Evil Crevices), which are separated from each other by ramparts (rifts). Toward the center, the area of ​​the Evil Crevices slopes, so that each subsequent ditch and each subsequent rampart are located slightly lower than the previous ones, and the outer, concave slope of each ditch is higher than the inner, curved slope (Hell, XXIV, 37-40). The first shaft is adjacent to the circular wall. In the center yawns the depth of a wide and dark well, at the bottom of which lies the last, ninth, circle of Hell. From the foot of the stone heights (v. 16), that is, from the circular wall, stone ridges run in radii, like the spokes of a wheel, to this well, crossing ditches and ramparts, and above the ditches they bend in the form of bridges or vaults. In Evil Crevices, deceivers are punished who deceived people who are not connected with them by special bonds of trust.

1st ditch Pimps and seducers.
2nd ditch Flatterers.
3rd ditch Holy merchants, high-ranking clergy who traded in church positions.
4th ditch Soothsayers, fortune tellers, astrologers, witches.
5th ditch Bribe takers, bribe takers.
6th ditch Hypocrites.
7th ditch Thieves.
8th ditch Crafty advisors.
9th ditch Instigators of discord.
10th ditch Alchemists, false witnesses, counterfeiters.
9th circle. Those who deceived those who trusted. Ice Lake Cocytus.

Belt of Cain. Traitors to relatives.
Antenor's Belt. Traitors to the motherland and like-minded people.
Tolomei's Belt. Traitors to friends and table mates.
Giudecca Belt. Traitors to benefactors, divine and human majesty.
In the middle, in the center of the universe, frozen into an ice floe (Lucifer) torments in his three mouths the traitors to the majesty of the earthly and heavenly (Judas, Brutus and Cassius).

In building a model of Hell, Dante follows Aristotle, who classifies sins of intemperance into the 1st category, sins of violence into the 2nd category, and sins of deception into the 3rd category. Dante has circles 2-5 for intemperance, circle 7 for rapists, circle 8-9 for deceivers. Thus, the more material the sin, the more forgivable it is.

Virtual tour of Dante's Hell

Hell in “Rose of the World” by Daniil Andreev

In the cosmological picture of Daniil Andreev, set out in his book “Rose of the World,” “hell” refers to Gashsharva - a two-dimensional world where demons live. Some people also live there who want to become carriers of dark missions. They don't suffer there. Therefore, Andreev’s descriptions of the “worlds of retribution” are more consistent with traditional Christian ideas about hell. Also in “The Rose of the World” there is a mention of “lunar hell”, restored by the lunar demoness Voglea.

Hell in DOOM

IN computer game id Software DOOM Hell appears as a parallel reality that you can go to by teleportation. Hell also “serves” as a kind of “transfer station” when teleporting in ordinary reality.

The people of Hell are similar in spirit to Hollywood aliens - they also have a goal complete destruction humanity, have a humanoid appearance and do not speak humanly (with the exception of zombies). But there are also differences, in particular, the abundance of Satanic symbolism, human blood and the color red in general, which still makes the inhabitants of Hell different from the “aliens”.

Hell itself is a world similar to ours, but with slightly modified laws of physics. For example, levitation, movement of objects and stones, and also a large number of teleports are possible there. The “climate” is characterized by high temperatures and an abundance of lava.

To be honest, none of the described hells evokes good feelings in us, especially in comparison with our cramped, but generally cozy world. So where exactly to go is up to you. Of course, it is not possible to give complete information about the structure of hell. However, we hope that our quick review will help everyone who finds themselves there to quickly find their bearings and greet their new eternity in the words of John Milton:
“Hello, sinister world! Hello, Gehenna beyond!

In the article Gods of ancient Greece.)

According to the belief of the ancients, there were countries on earth where eternal night reigned and the sun never rose over them; and in such a country they placed the entrance to the underworld of Hades.

Myths of ancient Greece. Hades. The king willy-nilly

It was watered by three rivers: Acheron, Styx And Cocytus. The gods swore in the name of Styx, and these oaths were considered inviolable and terrible. The Styx rolled its black waves through the silent valley and circled the kingdom of the dead nine times. The Acheron, a dirty and muddy river, was guarded by a ferryman.

He is described in this form: in dirty clothes, with an unkempt long white beard, he controls his boat with one oar, in which he transports the shadows of the dead, whose bodies are already buried on the ground; those deprived of burial he mercilessly pushes away, and these shadows are condemned to wander forever, finding no peace (Virgil). Ancient art Charon was depicted so rarely that his type became known only thanks to poets. But in the Middle Ages, the gloomy carrier appears on some monuments of art. Michelangelo placed him in his famous fresco "The Last Judgment", depicting him transporting sinners.

Charon transports the souls of the dead to the underworld. Painting by P. Subler, 1735-1740

It was necessary to pay for transportation, and this belief was so ingrained that small coins (obol) were placed in the mouths of the dead to pay Charon. Skeptic Lucian mockingly notes: “It didn’t occur to people whether this coin was in use in the underworld, and they also didn’t realize that it would be better not to give this coin to the dead, because then Charon wouldn’t want to transport them, and they could return again to the living."

As soon as the shadows of the dead were transported across Acheron, they were met on the other side Cerberus, or a hellish dog with three heads, whose barking so frightened the dead that it took away from them even any thought about the possibility of returning to where they came from. Then the shadows had to appear before Hades, the king of Hell, and his wife Persephone (among the Romans - Proserpina).

Gods Hades and Persephone on the throne. Greek terracotta of the 1st half of the 5th century. BC from Locris Episetherian

But Hades himself did not judge the dead, this was performed by underground judges: Minos, Eak And Radamanthos. According to Plato, Aeacus judged the Europeans, Radamanthos judged the Asians (he was always depicted in Asian costume), and Minos, by order of Zeus, was supposed to come to the aid of the first two judges in doubtful cases.

A perfectly preserved painting on one antique vase depicts the kingdom of Hades. In the middle is his palace. The Lord of the Underworld sits on a throne, holding a scepter in his hand; Proserpina stands next to him with a lit torch in her hand. At the top, on both sides of the palace, the righteous are depicted, below: to the right - Minos, Aeacus and Radamanthos, to the left - Orpheus playing the lyre, below are sinners, among whom you can recognize Tantalus by his Phrygian clothes and Sisyphus by the rock that he is rolling.

Persephone was not given an active role in Hell. The hellish goddess Hecate summoned vengeful furies (Erinyes), who grabbed sinners. Hecate was the patroness of magic and spells; she was depicted as three women united together: this seems to explain that her power extended to heaven, earth and hell. Hecate was not originally the goddess of Hell, but she gave Europe blush and thus aroused the admiration and love of Zeus. Zeus's jealous wife, Hera, began to pursue her. Hecate had to hide from her under her funeral clothes and thus became unclean. Jupiter ordered her to be purified in the waters of Acheron, and from then on she became the goddess of the underworld.

Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, played almost the same role in the kingdom of Hades as Hecate; she was depicted with her arm bent at the elbow, which hinted at the elbow - a measure of length in ancient centuries: “I, Nemesis, hold the elbow. Why, you ask? Because I remind everyone not to go overboard."

Historian Pausanias describes the artist's painting Polygnota, depicting the kingdom of Hades: “First of all, you see the river Acheron; its banks are covered with reeds; Fish are visible in the water, but these are more like shadows of fish than living fish. There is a boat on the river, a carrier is rowing in the boat. It is impossible to clearly distinguish who Charon is transporting. But not far from the boat, Polygnotus depicted the torture that a cruel son is subjected to who dares to raise his hand against his father: it consists in the fact that his own father is forever strangling him. Next to this sinner stands a wicked man who dared to plunder the temples of the gods; some woman mixes poisons, which he must drink forever, while experiencing terrible torment. In those days people revered and feared the gods; That’s why the artist placed the wicked man in Hell as one of the worst sinners.”

God Hermes and the souls of the dead on the shore of Acheron. Painting by A. Hiremy-Hirschl, 1898

From the descriptions of ancient poets, we know about the torture that the most famous sinners were subjected to in the kingdom of Hades for their crimes, for example, Ixion, Sisyphus, Tantalus and the daughters of Danae - Danaids. Ixion offended the goddess Hera with unholy advances towards her, for which he was tied by snakes to a wheel that was always spinning. Sisyphus had to roll a huge rock to the top of the mountain, but as soon as the rock touched this peak, an invisible force threw it into the valley, and the unfortunate sinner, dripping with sweat, had to begin his difficult, useless work again. Tantalus was sentenced to stand up to his neck in water, but as soon as he, tormented by thirst, wanted to drink, the water left him; branches with beautiful fruits hung above his head, but as soon as he, hungry, stretched out his hand to them, they rose to heaven. The Danaids in the kingdom of Hades were condemned to forever pour water into a bottomless barrel.

The opposite of the terrible kingdom of Hades was among the Greeks the Champs Elysees, the seat of the sinless.