ABSTRACT

Heaven and hell are the words used in English to indicate the world after death, eternal places above and below the earthly realm. At the dawn of the Common Era in the West, heaven was characterized as the celestial dwelling place of the gods wherefrom they might occasionally descend to the earth to intervene in the affairs of humankind. Hell was the underworld, a chthonic place where, along with fallen gods, the shades and shadows of mortals resided after death.