From the earliest times, special attention was paid to hell - a place where eternal torment awaited sinners. Moreover, different religions and peoples had their own myths, in which, one way or another, the location of hell was also indicated.
Hell in ancient myths
In almost all ancient myths, hell, being an integral part of the afterlife, is located in the underground. Moreover, only the dead and, in exceptional cases, any gods could get there. The gates of hell have always been guarded. In most myths, there is a river in the underworld of the god of death, through which a special character, the guide, is ferried. In ancient Greek mythology, for example, as such, there is no clear separation of hell and heaven. There is an underground dark kingdom of Tartarus, ruled by Hades and where everyone inevitably ends up after death. The ancient Greeks believed that the entrance to it was somewhere in the west and that death itself was associated with the west. In the underground kingdom of Hades flowed the river of oblivion Lethe. The ancient Greeks also mention the river Styx, through which the guide Charon ferried the shadows of the dead. The absence of clear lines between hell and heaven and the existence of a certain unified underworld in the minds of the ancient peoples is primarily associated with the syncretic nature of their thinking. They perceived themselves as part of nature, something integral.
Religion and Literature on the Location of Hell
The Christian and Muslim religions clearly distinguish between heaven and hell. Hell also remains in the underworld, while heaven is in heaven. Moreover, there are no references to the exact location of hell, but an indication that it is underground.
Buddhism speaks of a huge number of hells and their special structure, and considers the bowels of the earth under the continent of Jambudwipa to be their location.
The authors of a number of works also refer to the theme of hell. For example, Dante Alighieri in his "Divine Comedy", describing the nine circles of hell, writes that the location of hell is a huge funnel that reaches the earthly center.
The Science of the Whereabouts of Hell
Traditional science casts doubt on the very existence of hell, since it can neither be seen, nor calculated, nor felt. In science, rather, we are talking about some lumps of energy that probably continue to exist after death.
At the present stage, American researchers have studied black holes in the universe and have come to the conclusion that, according to certain signs, they resemble hell.
Thus, mythology, religion and partly literature connect hell with the underworld, traditional science does not recognize the existence of hell, and modern researchers find similarities between universal black holes and hell.
