Gates of hell

{{About|supposed portals to the underworld from the surface of the earth|other uses|Gates of Hell (disambiguation)}}

File:Gates of Hell at Fengdu Ghost City.JPG]]

The gates of hell are various places on the surface of the world that have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld. Often they are found in regions of unusual geological activity, particularly volcanic areas, or sometimes at lakes, caves, or mountains.

Gates in the Greco-Roman world

Legends from both ancient Greece and Rome record stories of mortals who entered or were abducted into the netherworld through such gates. Aeneas visited the underworld, entering through a cave at the edge of Lake Avernus on the Bay of Naples.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RtpCgAAQBAJ|title=Handbook of Medieval Culture|last=Classen|first=Albrecht|date=August 31, 2015|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-11-026730-3|page=664|language=en}} Hercules entered the Underworld from this same spot. In the middle of the Roman Forum is another entrance, Lacus Curtius, where according to legend, a Roman soldier named Curtius, bravely rode his horse into the entrance in a successful effort to close it, although both he and his horse perished in the deed.The Marvels of Rome (New York: Italica Press, 1986).

Lerna Lake was one of the entrances to the Underworld.{{Cite web|url=http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Places/Lerna/lerna.html|title=Lerna|website=www.greekmythology.com|access-date=March 28, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gini-graham-scott/trump-and-the-many-headed_b_9545452.html|title=Trump and the Many Headed Monsters|website=The Huffington Post|date=March 25, 2016|access-date=March 28, 2016}}

Odysseus visited the Underworld, entering through river Acheron in northwest Greece.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=igrUAgAAQBAJ|title=History of Toxicology and Environmental Health: Toxicology in Antiquity|last=Wexler|first=Philip|date=May 22, 2014|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-800463-0|page=95|language=en}}

Orpheus traveled to the Greek underworld in search of Eurydice by entering a cave at Taenarum or Cape Tenaron on the southern tip of the Peloponnese.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/04/13/archeologists-discover-gates-of-hell-in-turkey/|title=Archeologists Discover 'Gates of Hell' in Turkey|website=JEWSNEWS|access-date=March 28, 2016|archive-date=April 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411204509/http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/04/13/archeologists-discover-gates-of-hell-in-turkey/|url-status=dead}}

Pluto's Gate, Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin, in modern-day Turkey unearthed by Italian archaeologists is said to be the entry gate to the Underworld; it is linked to the Greco-Roman mythology and tradition.{{Cite web|url=http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/01/17554605-plutos-gate-to-hell-uncovered-in-turkey|title=Pluto's 'Gate to Hell' uncovered in Turkey|website=NBC News|access-date=March 28, 2016}}

Rivers Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon and Styx were also entrances to the Underworld.

The god Hades kidnapped the goddess Persephone from a field in Sicily and led her to the Underworld through a cleft in the earth so he could marry her.{{Cite web|url=http://mythmaniacs.com/homewk08.htm|title=Homework Page Eight|website=mythmaniacs.com|access-date=March 28, 2016}}

Medieval gates

Into the Middle Ages, Mount Etna in Sicily was considered to be an entryway to hell.

The gates of hell were commonly depicted as jaws, forming the Hellmouth, which was simultaneously the entrance to hell and the mouth of a huge monster.

Art

Auguste Rodin was commissioned to make a pair of bronze doors to symbolize the gates of hell. He received the commission on August 20, 1880, for a new art museum in Paris, to exhibit at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, which ultimately did not open; however in 1900, some of them were part of his first solo exhibition in Paris. Rodin spent seven years making the doors, with over 200 figures appearing on it. He was first inspired by Dante's Inferno but focused more on universal human emotions. During his lifetime the model was never cast and it was first cast in 1925. The Gates of Hell was described as one of the defining works of Rodin.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rodinmuseum.org/collections/collectiontheme/4.html|title=Rodin Museum : The Collection|last=Museum|first=Rodin|website=www.rodinmuseum.org|access-date=March 28, 2016}}Albert Alhadeff, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3048395 "Rodin: A Self-Portrait in the Gates of Hell"] Art Bulletin 48(3/4)(September–December 1966): 393–395. doi: 10.2307/3048395 Having hoped to exhibit his Gates at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, but probably too busy to finish them, the sculptor stopped working on them circa 1890.

File:Gates of Hell sculpture by Rodin; angled view from right.JPG|Rodin's sculpture at Stanford University, California

File:Simon Marmion (Flemish, active 1450 - 1489) - The Gates of Hell and Lucifer - Google Art Project.jpg|Simon Marmion (Flemish, active 1450{{ndash}}1489){{snds}}The Gates of Hell and Lucifer{{snds}}Google Art Project

File:Bomarzo2013parco21.jpg|Orcus mouth in the Gardens of Bomarzo, c.1560

Other gates

File:Darvasa_gas_crater_panorama.jpg, Turkmenistan.]]

File:Volcán Masaya.jpg

In China, Fengdu has a long history in the Taoist tradition of being a portal to hell.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/biz_commentary/2008/09/17/113876.html|title=Rebuilding a Ghost Town|website=www.eeo.com.cn|access-date=March 29, 2016}}
In Derweze, Turkmenistan, a burning natural gas fire in the middle of the Karakum Desert is known as the Door to Hell or Darvaza gas crater.{{Cite web| url= https://www.vice.com/en/article/turkmenistan-has-its-very-own-gate-to-hell/|title=Turkmenistan Has Its Very Own 'Gate to Hell'| last= Bland| first= Stephen| date= 2014-04-08|website=Vice.com |language=en-us|access-date=2017-01-28}}
According to Hawaiian folklore, Waipio Valley contains an entrance to the lower world, Lua-o-Milu, which is now concealed with sand.{{cite book |last=Thrum |first=Thomas |title=Hawaiian Folk Tales |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hft/hft08.htm |publisher=A. C. McClurg |year=1907 |page=12}}
Hellam Township near York, Pennsylvania, is the subject of a modern urban legend claiming that it contains the Seven Gates of Hell.{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-seven-gates-of-hell|title=The Seven Gates of Hell|website=Atlas Obscura|access-date=March 29, 2016}}
Mount Osore in northern Japan is said to be an entrance to hell.{{Cite web|url=http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/mount-osore-entrance-to-the-Japanese-afterlife|title=Mount Osore: The Dark Side of the River|website=Japan Talk|access-date=March 28, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/world/asia/21japan.html|title=As Japan's Mediums Die, Ancient Tradition Fades|last=Fackler|first=Martin|date=August 20, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=March 28, 2016}}
Murgo ({{lit|"the gateway of darkness"}} in Tibetan{{cite book|last=Kapadia|first=Harish|title=High Himalaya Unknown Valleys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNhJXSjSk70C&pg=PA307|date=March 2002|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-117-7|page=307|quote='Gateway of darkness or hell' (Murgo, Mur: hell, go: gate).}}) was a caravan stop along Karakoram Pass during historical times. The valley to the east of Murgo is the furthest west in India, which the Chinese People's Liberation Army reached during the India Chinese war in 1962.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/lessons-from-the-gate-of-hell/article5810987.ece|title=Lessons from the Gate of Hell |date= March 21, 2014|access-date=March 30, 2016|newspaper=The Hindu}}
Hell's Gate National Park is a National Park in Kenya which is named for the intense geothermal activity within its boundaries.{{cite web |title=Hells Gate National Park - Kenya Wildlife Service |url=http://www.kws.go.ke/content/hells-gate-national-park |access-date=12 August 2020}}
Masaya Volcano located in Nicaragua is known as another gate of hell, it is part of the first national park in the country. According to local lore, the volcano was a deity unto itself. It is locally known to the indigenous as the "mouth of hell".{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/09/04/where-are-the-gates-of-hell/| title = Where are the gates of Hell? - The Washington Post| newspaper = The Washington Post}} In the park is a lava tube formed by lava flows; one can find bats and look inside and observe the glowing lava in the dark crater mouth of the volcano. It is an active volcano, constantly emitting gases. Daytime and nighttime visits are available at the park, it is a popular tourist attraction for locals and international tourists.[https://www.vianica.com/activity/2/visiting-masaya-volcano-national-park Masaya Volcano National Park]vianica.com

Religious contexts

In 1878, Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage delivered a widely reprinted sermon titled "The Gates of Hell" at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, based on the scripture Matthew 16:18, message by Jesus to Peter "...on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." Talmage's gates were metaphorical, including "infamous literature," "dissolute dance," "indiscreet apparel," and "alcoholic beverage".[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4754364/talmages_gates_of_hell_sermon_1878/ "The Gates of Hell; Talmage on Both Sides of Them"] The Times (October 28, 1878): 1. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}{{cite book|author1=Gordon Severance|author2=Diana Severance|title=Against the Gates of Hell: The Life & Times of Henry Perry, A Christian Missionary in a Moslem World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=op9NAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2|date=October 22, 2012|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-62032-525-4|pages=2–}}

In ancient Indian Hindu tradition the Orion constellation where the vernal equinox is stated to occur, the Milky Way and the Canis were considered to form the border between Devaloka (heaven) and Yamaloka (hell); the Milky Way forming the dividing river between heaven and hell and the Canis Major and Canis Minor representing dogs that guarded the Gates of Hell.{{cite book|author=Joydeep Sen|title=Astronomy in India, 1784–1876|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OA5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|date=July 22, 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-31843-9|pages=160–}}

In popular culture

In August 2010, the History Channel premiered a show entitled "The Gates of Hell" (History Specials: Gates of Hell (Season 1, Episode 105), which visited caves and volcanoes in Nicaragua, Belize, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Ethiopia, to examine the origins of these myths. It featured archaeologists, scholars, explorers and others working in this field.{{Cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/08/tuesdays-tv-highlights-gates-of-hell-the-history-channel.html|title=Tuesday's TV Highlights: 'Gates of Hell' the History Channel|date=August 16, 2010|website=LA Times Blogs – Show Tracker|language=en-US|access-date=March 29, 2016}}
The September 2012 edition of Weird NJ magazine describes a large tunnel, referred to by urban legends as "The Gates of Hell". It is a storm drain in Clifton, New Jersey.{{cite web | url = http://weirdnj.com/stories/gates-of-hell/ | title = The Gates of Hell | date = September 2012 | website = Weird NJ | access-date = December 27, 2015 }}
The February 2016 edition of Weird Ohio magazine describes a similar sewer system referred to as "The Gates of Hell" or the "Blood Bowl" in the High Street area of Columbus, Ohio.{{cite web | url = http://weirdus.com/states/ohio/local_legends/gates_of_hell_columbus/index.php | title = The Gates of Hell | date = February 2016 | website = Weird OH | access-date = February 21, 2016 }}

Gates of hell

Gates in the Greco-Roman world

Medieval gates

Art

Other gates

Religious contexts

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading