In Dante’s The Divine Comedy, he describes the very center of Hell as an icy, frozen place. This is a direct contrast to what people normally believe Hell to be like, as expressed in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in which it is rather described as a place full of fire, a literal furnace. Our minds are immediately drawn to a fiery Hell, as that is what is traditionally pictured in modern-day pop culture and the like. However, I believe Dante was right in his description, that ice is a metaphor better suited to Hell than fire. Firstly, I must start with what fire represents in literature and culture. Hestia, who is the goddess of the hearth in Greek mythology, is known as a kind and gentle deity. Her fire is a symbol of the home and of the
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As far as we know, Hell itself is located deep underground, far below Earth. It is a sharp contrast to Heaven, which is traditionally said to be far above Earth, way up in the clouds. We can assume that Hell’s center goes even deeper into the ground, to the darkest, most secluded part of the Underworld. It is supposed to be the place where the very worst offenders are sent, so my description of it makes logical sense. It would also be fair to say that absolutely no light can get into Hell, for it is so far away from the surface of the Earth and the Sun’s rays. We get warmth from the Sun, so how could Hell be warm, in fact, hot to the point of being a fiery furnace, if it gets no light at all? I’m sure Satan could conjure up some fire quite easily, but it would take a lot of work to keep it going boiling hot 24/7. Instead, he was smart enough to use Hell’s location to his advantage, being that it was probably already cold, all he had to do was contribute just a little more ice. That way, he can focus most of his energy on doing his job, which was to punish the souls who had done wrong in life.
All in all, Dante has chosen a very logical environment to situate his version of Hell’s center. It is not traditional, but it makes sense and shows how far Dante went to imagine a whole new picture of hell, different from any other author up to that point. Of course, this detail will always be open to interpretation,
As far as we know, Hell itself is located deep underground, far below Earth. It is a sharp contrast to Heaven, which is traditionally said to be far above Earth, way up in the clouds. We can assume that Hell’s center goes even deeper into the ground, to the darkest, most secluded part of the Underworld. It is supposed to be the place where the very worst offenders are sent, so my description of it makes logical sense. It would also be fair to say that absolutely no light can get into Hell, for it is so far away from the surface of the Earth and the Sun’s rays. We get warmth from the Sun, so how could Hell be warm, in fact, hot to the point of being a fiery furnace, if it gets no light at all? I’m sure Satan could conjure up some fire quite easily, but it would take a lot of work to keep it going boiling hot 24/7. Instead, he was smart enough to use Hell’s location to his advantage, being that it was probably already cold, all he had to do was contribute just a little more ice. That way, he can focus most of his energy on doing his job, which was to punish the souls who had done wrong in life.
All in all, Dante has chosen a very logical environment to situate his version of Hell’s center. It is not traditional, but it makes sense and shows how far Dante went to imagine a whole new picture of hell, different from any other author up to that point. Of course, this detail will always be open to interpretation,