Hell is the place where the damned are subjected to perpetual punishment.
Hell is the place where, after death , the damned are subjected to eternal punishment . The concept, which comes from the Latin infernum , is also used to name the state of definitive deprivation of God and, in certain mythologies, the place where the spirits of the dead live.
For example: “If you behave badly, you will go to hell”, “I hope this murderer rots in hell” , “I am not afraid of hell because I am a good man who always tries to help others” .
Although hell is not a physical place, most depictions place it below the earth (unlike paradise, which is above). It is usually represented as a place in the middle of flames, where the Devil or various demons inflict punishments on the condemned.
Hell according to Dante Alighieri
Many authors have addressed the existence and appearance of hell in their literary works and among all of them we would have to highlight Dante Alighieri who establishes a series of characteristics of hell in his well-known book “The Divine Comedy” . In it, among other things, he states that hell is made up of a series of nine concentric circles that become smaller the closer they get to the center of the Earth.
In addition to all this, he represented hell with corners such as a river of blood that boils and becomes the destiny of all those people who blaspheme, who are usurers or who have committed a crime. Of course, as it could not be otherwise, he uses his representation to “scare” the heretics and establishes that those who do not believe in God will end up in that same river.
To all this set of elements we should also add that Dante considers that in hell there are a whole series of creatures belonging to what was pagan mythology, such as harpies and centaurs.
Dante Alighieri is one of the authors who wrote about hell.
John Milton's vision
The English poet John Milton also spoke at the time about hell and he represented it as a place very similar to a huge oven but full of darkness.
So much so that, as he explained, it would be full of flames everywhere although it also has an area, that of the condemned, where the cold reigns because it has snow, ice and wind.
Other ways to understand hell
For some religions, hell is not even a symbolic space, but rather a state of suffering . Souls found in hell are tortured for all eternity.
Beyond the differences between each religion , hell usually appears as the threat of punishment for those who deviate from divine will. Simply put, people who obey God go to heaven, while sinners end up in hell.
In everyday language, hell is the place or situation in which there is great commotion, violence or destruction: “The street is hell, there are protests on every corner,” “We have to turn the field into hell for the team.” visitor.”