|
Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
HELL
|
 |
The Underworld:
In polytheism, Hades has a few different masks, including an image that
is Zeus-like and bearded -- Hades/Pluto is a majestic, elderly man
holding a scepter, twig, cornucopia, or pomegranate. On some vases, Hades
is shown averting his gaze from the other gods.
In tenth-century Christian Europe, and for at least half a millennium
thereafter, the Devil was everywhere. He leered out of every church door;
he capered through castle and church and cottage; and his plots and
pranks and temptings of humans were spelled out in sermons, on the stage,
in paintings, in pious books, and in stories told in taverns or in homes
at bedtime. No corner or cranny of daily life escaped him. He lurked
outside every orifice of the human body, waiting for the chance to get at
the human soul inside. That's one reason why to this day we say "God
bless you" when we hear someone sneeze.
The Devil fathered children on sleeping women; he stirred up conspiracies
and treasons; he led travelers astray. He caused boils, plagues,
tempests, shipwrecks, heresies, barbarian invasions. Whatever he did, his
name was on everyone's tongue, and he went by many names: Satan, Lucifer,
Beelzebub, Belial, Mastema, the Prince of Darkness, the Lord of Lies. In
the Bible he was the Accuser, the Evil One, the Prince of this World.
Today, a few scant hundred years later, he has dropped so far out of
sight that some believe he is gone for good. It may be true that 40
percent of Americans tell the pollsters they believe in the existence of
the Devil and another 20 percent find his existence probable. But though
they use him often enough in common lighthearted expressions ("give the
devil his due," "the devil is in the details," "the devil made me do it")
and in the privacy of their hearts may put the blame on him when they
covet their neighbor's wife or cheat on their income taxes, they do very
little talking about him out loud. Reported physical appearances of the
Devil are far rarer than sightings of UFOs. In practical terms, people
have banished him from public life.
Yet most everyone who discusses moral standards in pulpits or on
television talk shows or in the New York Times is agreed that
morals are lower than ever before. The Devil should be out in the streets
and on the airwaves, roaring like a lion about his triumphs. Where has he
gone?
Sheol:
In some respects the Jews were the least morbid of the Mediterranean
peoples: they had no relationship with the dead (such as worship,
sacrifice, visiting, anticipated reunion, etc.). In fact, the dead are
unclean. Sheol is not hell since hell was not developed. Sheol was "the
grave," "the pit," "the place the body is laid to rest." Ecclesiastes
9:10 refers to a sort of oblivion.
They possibly shared a vague version of their Near Eastern neighbors'
view of the shadowy afterlife in a dry dusty underground venue (as with
Samuel's ghost summoned by Saul).
Isaiah 14:9-15 refers to the king of Babylon specifically. But Isaiah
26:19 and Daniel 12:2-3 betray a Persian influence perhaps, and
resurrection of the physical body. Reform Judaism does not accept
resurrection.
Even the New Testament has next to nothing to say about the topic of
hell. Apocryphal stories and various afterworld visions emerged in the
centuries before Dante, usually with either a generic punishment meted
out indiscriminately for all sinners, no matter what the sin, or else the
vision might present a rather haphazard glimpse of certain happenings.
Dante's achievement in the early 14th century was in the encyclopedic
combinations of Medieval Christian theology, poetry, and the poetic
Classical traditions of Hades.
Here is a site for more on Dante.
Works Consulted
Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible. 3rd ed. Toronto:
Mayfield Publishing Co., 1992.
In Classical Mythology, the Underworld, the realm of Hades, provides a
beginning place from which to consider the changing constructs of the
afterlife in mythology. It is possible to view the changing images of the
underworld by looking at the iconography of hell and the devil.