ANCIENT AND MODERN IDEAS OF HELL. 493 



ter xxii). Those men who are sent to the left hand on the judg- 

 ment-day " shall dwell amid burning winds and scalding water, 

 under the shade of a black smoke, neither cool nor agreeable." 

 Ye " shall surely eat of the fruit of the tree of al-Zakhum* and 

 shall fill your bellies therewith ; and ye shall drink there only 

 boiling water." 



In the Greek mythology, which was copied by the Romans, the 

 place of future punishment is called Tartarus. The universe is 

 represented in the poetry of Homer and Hesiod as a hollow globe, 

 divided by the flat earth. In the top of the upper hemisphere was 

 Olympus, the home of the gods ; in the hemisphere beneath the 

 earth was hades, the abode of all the dead ; and in its lowest depths 

 was Tartarus. An anvil would be nine days and nights in falling 

 from Olympus to the earth ; nine days and nights from the earth 

 to the bottom of Tartarus. " Around it, moreover, a brazen fence 

 has been forged ; and about it Night is poured in three rows." \ In 

 Tartarus there is darkness, and the air has no motion. It was at 

 this time regarded as the place of punishment for the Titans, who 

 had rebelled against the powers of Olympus. Later the poets 

 began to speak of mortals who had offended the gods, or had 

 been unjust to their fellow-men, being sent there after death. 

 Prometheus, who was guilty of overreaching Zeus, was punished 

 by being chained to a rock, part of the time on earth and part in 

 Tartarus. An eagle devoured his liver every day, and it was re- 

 newed every night. \ Ixion, who had been treacherous to Zeus, 

 was chained by the hands and feet to a wheel, which is described 

 as winged or fiery, and said to have rolled perpetually in the air. 

 He is further said to have been scourged and compelled to ex- 

 claim, u Benefactors should be honored." J 



Sisyphus is represented by different authors as guilty of 

 treachery of various kinds. "His wickedness during life was 

 severely punished in the lower world, where he had to roll up 

 hill a huge marble block, which, as soon as it reached the top, 

 always rolled down again." \ Tantalus was a wealthy king, who 

 divulged the secrets of Zeus. " The gods punished him by placing 

 him in the nether world in the midst of a lake, but rendering it 

 impossible for him to drink when he was thirsty, the water always 

 withdrawing when he stooped. Branches laden with fruit, more- 

 over, hung over his head, but when he stretched out his hand to 

 reach the fruit the branches withdrew. Over his head there was 

 suspended a huge rock, ever threatening to crush him." % The 

 Danaides, or fifty daughters of Danaus, all but one of whom in 



* A thorny tree with a fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter (Sale). 



f Hesiod, Theogony. 



\ Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 



