When Dean Winchester is pulled from the pit by Castiel, it follows along with this mythological tradition that only by some divine force could a person become freed from Hell. However, not every Winchester needed the help of an angel to get out of the fiery depths. When a Devil’s Gate, a portal between Hell and Earth, is temporarily opened in Wyoming (of all places) by one of the yellow-eyed demon’s “special children” in “All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 2,” John Winchester manages to claw his way out of the pit on his own.
One of the fairly new ideas concerning the concept of Hell has to do with its relation to time. It is said that human time crawls in comparison to “Hell time.” For example, Dean Winchester’s seemingly brief three-month stint in the pit was actually more like forty years as time passes in Hell. John Winchester suffered in that horrible place for just short of one human year, or roughly one hundred “Hell years.” Similar portrayals of this idea have occurred in such films as the 2005 movie Constantine, in which time is shown to stop when the boundary between Hell and Earth is crossed. The main character of the film states: “Take it from me, two minutes in Hell is a lifetime.”
HELL ACCORDING TO DANTE
While the Hell mythology used by the creators of Supernatural is not specifically named, there are clues that would suggest that certain elements have been adopted from medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. While in Latin the term inferno literally means an out-of-control fire, in Italian it is used in reference to Hell. This work is the first part of a three-part collection titled La Divina Commedia (or The Divine Comedy), the next two sections being Purgatorio (Purgatory, also known as Limbo) and Paradiso (Paradise, or Heaven).
Dante’s tale begins on the day preceding Good Friday in the year 1300, when the narrator (Dante himself) is thirty-five years old. While Dante’s true date of birth is unknown, many scholars use the poem as a reference point, and so it is commonly believed that he was born sometime in May or June of 1265. Though the tale is meant to be considered allegorical instead of literal, at the time there were many in the church who viewed it as a divine revelation.
In the story, Dante awakens in a “Dark Wood” and finds himself face-to-face with the ancient Roman poet Virgil. From this dark and morbid forest the pair embarks on a detailed tour of the various levels of Hell. In Dante’s mythology, the entrance to Hell is found at the edge of the Dark Wood, beyond which is an outer area, “the Vestibule,” in which are punished the Opportunists, meaning those who were neither good nor evil in their lives but instead selfishly chose only to do that which was most beneficial to them. These souls are forced to forever chase an unreachable banner (a symbol of “choosing a side”), on a ground covered by maggots, all the while being themselves chased by hordes of stinging hornets. These people were not evil, so they do not deserve the extreme punishments of Hell. However, they were not good people, either, and so have not earned their places in Heaven. Dante claims that an afterlife in the Vestibule is the ultimate price of a life of indifference.
At the edge of the Vestibule is the river Acheron. There Dante and Virgil are given passage across by the ferryman Charon, an obvious reference to the Greek mythological ferryman Charon who ferried souls across the river Styx to the underworld realm of the god Hades. Once across the river Acheron, Dante is introduced to nine specific levels of Hell. These levels are usually depicted in one of two ways. The first way is one-dimensional, depicted as concentric circles that move inward (basically, the deeper into Hell Dante goes, the smaller the circle becomes). However, the more popular depiction is three-dimensional, showing the levels as sections of an ever-narrowing cone, with the wide lip being Limbo and the deepest level of Hell being the tip. The levels of Dante’s Hell are as follows:
LEVEL 1—LIMBO: Limbo, or Purgatory, is reserved for “virtuous pagans” (such as Virgil), many of whom were brought there during Christ’s Harrowing of Hell. Dante claims this is where good people who were not Christians end up. And Limbo is not all that bad, to be honest. No terrible punishments are reserved for those who dwell here. However, there are no heavenly rewards, either. While this certainly would not be the kind of tormented existence common of the devil’s pit, you have to admit that it sounds really, really boring. Imagine having to spend eternity just sitting around, staring at the walls (would Limbo even have walls?), and you have a good idea what it would be like in this first level of Hell.
Purgatory is vast, underutilized, and Hell adjacent . . . and I want it.
—CROWLEY, “FAMILY MATTERS” (6-7)
As already stated, Purgatory is a realm of the afterlife that is reserved for those individuals who were neither entirely good nor evil during their lives. In the episode “Family Matters” (6-7), we learn that this realm (according to the mythos of Supernatural) is also where the souls of monsters go when they die. This would seem to go against the natural conclusion that monsters would go to Hell. However, upon further consideration, Purgatory is a much more fitting destination for the souls of the monstrous. After all, monsters cannot help but be what they are. In their minds, they are not evil; they are just trying to survive. Vampires will die if they do not feed on blood, just as a lion will die if it does not feed on the gazelle. And, like the lion, the vampire would have no choice. By this rationale, Hell would be neither a just nor appropriate final destination for the souls of monsters. Monsters are evil, certainly, from the mortal human point of view. However, it is their inherent natures that make them so.
LEVEL 2—THE LUSTFUL: This is the first real “punishment” level of Hell. The inhabitants of this level are condemned to an eternity of being thrashed about and torn apart by a terrible and unceasing storm.
LEVEL 3—THE GLUTTONOUS: Those condemned to this level are trapped up to their torsos in rotting, putrid, stinking soil, which symbolizes how their lives were wasted on overindulgence. They are allowed neither to eat nor drink, and under the weight of the nasty soil, they are rendered helpless as the three-headed beast of legend, the dark hound called Cerberus (yet another reference to Greek mythology), tears them to pieces over and over.
LEVEL 4—THE WASTEFUL AND GREEDY: This section of Hell is reserved for those who wasted their resources on unnecessary frivolities as well as for those who hoarded their possessions or gave no alms to the poor despite having the means. The punishment in this level is rather weird. The Hoarders and the Wasters are set against one another in an eternal jousting match. However, the jousters are forced to use ridiculously heavy weights instead of lances. The Hoarders charge at the Wasters with the battle cry “Why do you waste?” and the Wasters charge the Hoarders with “Why do you hoard?”
LEVEL 5—THE TOWER OF STYX: The fifth level is surrounded by the boiling waters of the river Styx (yet another reference to Greek and Roman mythology). Here, the Wrathful, that is, the quick-tempered, vengeful, and unforgiving, swim the surface of the scalding waters of the Styx, forever fighting one another. Below the terrible waters are trapped the Sullen, people who unnecessarily feel sorry for themselves and enjoy selfishly evoking pity from others.
THE WALLS OF DIS : If Hell is a prison, then the levels up to this point have held the “light offenders.” Beyond these walls lies the “City of Dis,” which contains the deepest levels of Hell. These levels house the worst of Hell’s inhabitants. The walls of Dis are guarded by the Three Furies and the Gorgon Medusa. In Greek and Roman mythology, the Furies were winged and wrathful female demigods who worked as the agents of divine justice. When the gods wished to punish an injustice, they sent the Furies. Medusa was a cursed, snake-haired, serpentlike female figure, capable of turning even half-god heroes and Titans to stone with no more than a look. These frightening figures attempt to bar Dante and Virgil from entering and threaten to do the poets harm until an angel arrives in order to secure their passage into the City of Dis.
LEVEL 6—HERETICS: Now, this is the Hell that most of us know! In this level, each of the condemned is encased in his or her own flaming sarcophagus. They suffer t
he constant and terrible pains of being burned alive, yet they are never allowed to die, and their bodies do not burn away.
LEVEL 7—THE THREE VIOLENT SINS : This section of Hell is broken up into specific subsections, based on three kinds of violence:
1. River Phlegethon—Violence against Community: A boiling river of blood known as Phlegethon is home to those who committed acts of violence against their neighbors and communities and acts of vandalism.
2. Wood of Suicides—Violence against Self: Those who took their own lives, committing violence against themselves, are condemned to the Wood of Suicides, where they are forced to assume the inanimate form of trees. In this unmovable state they are constantly torn apart by Harpies, birdlike creatures with the shrieking heads of women from Greek myth. Some inhabitants are allowed to keep their bodies, namely those who died as a result of their own foolish actions instead of by an act of deliberate suicide, but they are chased about the woods and repeatedly ripped apart by vicious black dogs.
3. The Burning Sands—Violence against God or the Natural Order: This desert, in which fire rains gently down from the sky like snowflakes, is for blasphemers, sexual perverts, and rapists. It is also where usurers (not to be confused with usurpers) are kept. Usurers are loan-givers who charge unfair interest.
LEVEL 8—MALEBOLGE, “THE TERRIBLE DITCH”: This is one of the scariest levels of Hell, and like level 7 it is broken up into various subsections. However, to go into detail about each would take up multiple chapters. To give a basic rundown, this terrible level of Hell is reserved for the following types of offenders:
Panderers and Seducers: People who begged for money despite being able to work or who used other dishonest means to obtain money are considered panderers and seducers. In the modern vernacular, we would say con artists, pimps, prostitutes, and gold diggers.
Sycophants and Flatterers: These are individuals who, during life, gave insincere flattery in order to gain status or favor.
Sorcerers and False Prophets: This refers to those who use dark magic (or pretend to be able to do so) for personal gain as well as to those who falsely claim to have been granted divine knowledge.
Bribers and Simoniacs: In Dante’s time, this specifically referred to those who practiced simony, the buying of high-ranking religious offices. A modern equivalent of simony might be lobbyists who bribe politicians for political favors.
Extortionists and Power Abusers: These individuals misuse power or use their authority for personal gain.
Hypocrites: These are people who don’t do as they tell others to do or who criticize others for doing things they do themselves.
Thieves: These are people who made their livings by theft.
False Advisers: This refers to those who intentionally give false counsel or do so under false credentials.
Sowers of Discord: People who incite chaos and hostility and who bring about wars for personal gain fall into this category.
Falsifiers and Counterfeiters: For Dante, this would have referred mainly to those who created false documents.
LEVEL 9—COCYTUS: This final level of Hell is reserved for traitors. This section consists almost entirely of ice and is encircled by giants and Titans (integrating both biblical and Greek myths) who are trapped in it. Since this level of Hell is for betrayers, perhaps it is only fitting that this is where the fallen angel Lucifer, the big cheese of Hell himself, is kept trapped. In the center of Cocytus, the Prince of Lies stands encased in solid ice up to his chest (so, yes, it would seem Hell has frozen over). Among those keeping Lucifer company in Cocytus are Judas, who betrayed Christ, and Brutus, who conspired to assassinate Julius Caesar.
Based on what we have seen and heard about his time in Hell, it would appear that Dean Winchester was subjected to several different tortures found in the sublevels of the pit of Malebolge. For example, at the end of the season 3 finale, “No Rest for the Wicked,” we are shown Dean being suspended from flesh hooks over a fiery sea of red and black.
In the parts of Malebolge reserved for the corrupt and extortionists, souls are strung up by demons using flesh hooks and suspended over boiling cauldrons of black tar. In the bolge (pit) that is specially reserved for Sowers of Discord, a blade-wielding demon slices his victims to ribbons over and over again. Alastair, the demon who tortured Dean in Hell by flaying him alive every day, is often referred to as “Picasso with a razor.” Perhaps Alastair is a Malebranche, a demon of Malebolge, or even the Malacoda (leader of the Malebranche) incarnate.
Alastair is also referred to by the title of Hell’s chief torturer, which would certainly match up with the role of Dante’s Malacoda. As explained in chapter 3, there is no known demon in mythology that goes by the name Alastair. However, under the pretense of allowing Dante and Virgil safe passage, Malacoda deceives the two men, and for a time he and his Malebranche chase and threaten them within the fifth pit of Malebolge. This combination of malice, torture, and deception certainly seems to describe Alastair.
Of the forty or so Hell years that Dean Winchester spent down in the pit, he was tormented by Alastair for only thirty of them. Every day, Dean would be sliced to pieces by Alastair only to be regenerated so that he could suffer the whole ordeal again. And each day his demonic tormenter would offer him the same deal. If Dean would only agree to take up a blade and torture other souls (perhaps to become one of the Malebranche?), then he would cease to be tortured. But every man has a breaking point, and Dean’s was thirty years. For the next ten Hell years, Dean joined Alastair and actively tortured other damned souls. After a time, Dean later confessed to Sam, he even grew to like it. Who knows how close Dean came to becoming a demon himself?
THE SACRIFICE PARADOX
Mythical tradition states that any person who trades his or her soul to the devil is doomed to suffer in Hell for all eternity. However, Christian belief also states that sacrificing oneself for another is the most righteous act any human can perform. In fact, Jesus states in John 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend.” Taking both of these into consideration, a conflict arises.
What if one sacrifices one’s life and soul in order to save someone else’s, as John and Dean Winchester have done? According to the mythos surrounding Hell, making a deal with the devil (or crossroads demon) leads to damnation. Then again, this idea seems to contradict the universally held Christian belief in the righteousness of sacrifice. In Supernatural, a deal with a crossroads demon (regardless of your reasons for making it) is seen as a binding contract that cannot be broken, and you must submit to Hell’s wrath once your contract’s allotted time has expired.
Supernatural is not the only work in recent years to address this scenario of selling one’s soul to save another. In the 2005 film Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves and based on the comic book series Hellblazer, the protagonist escapes Hell’s clutches by making a deal with Lucifer that would trade his own soul for a young woman who committed suicide to avoid being possessed. Lucifer agrees to the deal but then finds himself unable to collect as Constantine is torn from his grip by an unseen divine force.
WHERE IN THE HELL IS HELL, ANYWAY?
Over the many millennia of human existence, there have probably existed just as many ideas about exactly where Hell is located. Modern belief usually considers Hell, if it is believed to even be a place, as a nonphysical dimension that exists separately from and/ or overlapping with our own. Some believe that Hell is a metaphor for the suffering caused by existing in our physical three-dimensional reality. Some myths have said that Hell is a place in the depths of the Earth. Some religious traditions have even claimed that Hell is located in the sun (though this idea has long been dismissed). The truth of the matter is . . . who in the hell knows where to find Hell?
In Supernatural, the barrier between Hell and Earth is a pretty flimsy one. The only thing keeping nearly every last member of the legions of Hell . . . well, in Hell where they belong . . . is a series of rare portals called Devil’s
Gates. When these portals are opened, it’s every demon for itself. It is generally agreed that demons prefer torturing the living far more than they do the damned. And when this happens, it often results in cases of demonic possession.
The idea of a real-life Devil’s Gate might seem far-fetched. However, in recent centuries thousands of people have bought into (some quite literally) a fictitious account of one such gate. In fact, it stands as one of the most widespread religious-centered urban legends of modern times.
The story usually goes something like this:
While performing deep drilling in a remote location in Russia (usually Siberia), a drill crew began to experience increasingly strange phenomena. Upon reaching an extreme depth, the drill bit began to rotate unusually quickly as if it had hit a hollow section. Soon, the instruments began to give strange temperature readings of roughly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The bit was then removed and a probe was sent down into the pipe in order to record information. The recording device on the probe was said to have recorded the sounds of terrible screams and demonic laughter. The drilling crew, it seemed, had drilled into Hell itself.
The Mythology of Supernatural Page 10
