Fire And Ice Conflicting Elements

When people received the fire they were amazed by its benefit – it made preparing food faster, brought warmth in a cold area, and illuminated the darkness. The attributes of fire made survival easier for the people until the usage of it became uncontrollable. They found out that fire, when left unkempt, spreads and destroys everything in its path. As time went on people recognized the great power of fire and harassed it to do evil instead of good. People used fire to start wars, demolish forests, and burn others alive. The fact that everyone knew how to start a fire but could not stop it, proves that it should have been left with the immortals. Prometheus’ theft of fire for man irritated Zeus not only because he disliked the people but also because it gave the people the same power and knowledge as the gods. Zeus punished Prometheus for giving fire to the people by tying him to a rock and allowed a vulture to eat out his liver everyday for the rest of his life.

The underworld in Greek mythology was not a lively place, for it was where all the dead souls went. When a person died, the soul would be sent to Hades, a more formal name for the underworld. "The dead would go to Hades because there was no annihilation in the Greek mythology. The dead are dead because they have a flavorless and unhappy existence".

Bilbo enters the dark cave and sees the dragon sleeping on top and under the gold and silver as if protecting it. The author describes the cave as being red lighted with a hot temperature that makes Bilbo sweat. He takes a heavy golden cup and returns back up through the dark tunnel to his dwarf friends. They are so elated to see Bilbo and praise him for his excellent thieving. This descending into darkness, being face to face with the evil dragon, and coming out again with a new appellation represents examples of two archetypes: descent into the underworld and death and resurrection. Hades, as mentioned before, is the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. He is the protector of the lost souls and like the dragon he is evil, uncanny, and deceitful. The underworld is most times described as dark, hot, and scary, as it was for Bilbo to enter the dark cave to steal from the

Hades lives in The Palace of the Underworld; this is because he was forbidden to visit Olympus, where the rest of the gods reside. The Underworld is a deep, dark place under the sea.

Once you got there you would face judgment. How you got judged would decide where you went to the Underworld. This process was what all Greeks believed about death. Now you might be wondering why did they believe this, and that leads me to my next topic.

When the souls were transported to the underworld by the god Hermes, they were ferried by the boatman Charon, sailing through the River Styx. The underworld is described as a dark mournful place and filled with mist. It is important to know these things because you might misunderstand Hades and his Underworld. He’s not really a bad person, Hades is a keeper of the laws of death. Hades might look frightening but he isn’t what he looks like.

In the Odyssey the underworld is known also as Hades after the God who rules the underworld, it’s describe as dreary and dark place where the souls of those who died lived at. you could go to three different places in the underworld all depending how you lived your life on earth. Majority of the souls went to the Asphodel Field, before you enter he soul would drink from the Lethe River making the individual forget everything that happened in their past life. The Asphodel Field is described as a ugly, ghostly, and gray field, this field was for the regular everyday person who didn’t do anything special in their life. The second place other individuals would go to was the Elysian Fields or also known as Elysium.

All mortals have wondered about what happens after death and how the immortal gods rule over this world. Mortals therefore thought of various ways to illustrate what they believed happened after death.The Underworld is a place where the dead go to become shades. Both the people who were generous to others and those who were not arrived in the same place after death. The Underworld is different in many cultures; seen as either a place of birth, death, or both. In the Greek culture, the god Hades ruled over it by dividing the world into two: the top half was for those who have good souls and the lower half was for the people who have committed heinous crimes. Different religions have various interpretations on the Underworld.

The Lake of Fire has been a theological topic of great controversy. Several cults reject the doctrine of eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, instead they assert that the place is purely symbolic in nature, and are adamant that one should not take this teaching literally. However, any good student of the Bible knows that although there is much figurative language throughout the Scriptures, he should always interpret the Bible in the literal sense. Therefore, the believer of God’s Word should consider the Lake of Fire a literal place of torment. The Bible is clear that a place of torment does exist, and that it is a place where many real people will meet their final fate. Moreover, the Bible is clear on who will go to the Lake of

The concept of hell can be viewed as three distinct underworld concepts in the Old and New

A dark, silent, formless void, a perpetual abyss without orientation, this is essentially what the Greeks believed was the origin of the world. The ancient Greeks while trying to further explain the world, invented beguiling myths (Evie). From these myths a world of human like gods and goddesses was formed (Evie). Through narratives, legends, and myths this world justified various abstract ideas, thus creating Greek mythology (Evie). A central element in Greek mythology is the underworld. The underworld is considered to be the place where one’s soul goes to after death. The underworld has played a vital role in Greek culture by serving as an incentive to live a virtuous life, which in turn has affected all aspects of Greek life.

The Odyssey emphasizes the barren and sad nature of the Underworld, showing that the Greeks believe that death is the end of life's happiness. Odysseus' mother explains to Odysseus why he cannot embrace her: “The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together;/ these perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has/left the body, and the soul flits away as though it were a dream” (Homer 6). From this statement, it can be inferred that the Greeks think that death is a great equalizer. The bad have it worse in Hell but they die like the good, feeling rather sad in not being able to live again. Virgil, however, describes the Underworld in greater detail through its sequences and in much more glorified details (Leach 120). In The Aeneid, every seat in the Underworld is a product of judgment on people's lives (121). Virgil depicts Pluto's dome, which has the roman vestibulum where official and honorable guests congregate (121). Virgil also describes the differences between the people of honor and people of sin in the Underworld. Sinners suffer in the cliff guarded by Tisiphone, where vultures eat their livers and experience numerous other forms of suffering. The Underworld also holds heroes who continually fight their legendary battles: “Here found they Tsucer's old heroic race,/ Born better times and happier years to grace./ Assaracus and Ilus here enjoy/ Perpetual fame, with him who founded Troy” (Virgil 6). Virgil is saying that

The remaining four circles of hell are separated from the previous five, in that they are considered the lower parts of hell, where Dante must pass through the walls of the city, Dis. The sixth circle of hell are where the souls of the heretics are found, and burning in their open graves is the way they suffer for the rest of eternity. The seventh circle of hell is where the souls of the violent reside. This circle of hell is separated into three different sections, representing the 3 different types of violence separated by rings; 1) violence against neighbors, 2) violence against oneself, and 3) violence against God. The outer ring, those who commit violence against their neighbors, are punished by being submerged into the Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood. Anyone who tries to leave have arrows shot at them by Centaurs. Those in the middle rings who committed violence against themselves, or suicide, are punished by being turned into trees and bushes, in which harpies feed upon them. The trees can only talk when they have their branches ripped off. The middle ring also houses profligates, or those who destroyed their lives by recklessly spending money. Their punishment is to eternally run away from dogs who try to maul

The underworld was viewed as the opposite of what we think of heavens. It is a dark and shadowy alternative reality of the life on earth. Ancient Mesopotamians believed that the universe is a sphere and that one-half of it was occupied by the living and the other half was occupied by the spirits of the dead. It was believed that this world resides far away from the realm of the living, but it was physically a short distance underground. It was called the "land of no return". However, the world is neither a place of pain and dread but it also is not a place of happiness and comfort, but in fact is a diminished and dim version of the world of the living; thus it was not "hell". It was merely a place for dead spirits whose bodies, graves, or

The Ideas of Hell and Purgatory "Hell has probably caused more personal anxiety and distress than any other Christian belief. Hell has also motivated many Christians to follow the Great Commission and attempt to convert the world to Christianity" ("Various Views of Hell: As seen by Conservative Christians"). The word "hell" derives from the Pagan Norse Queen of the Underworld, Hel.