Humans are obsessed with heaven and hell, according to Professor of Classics at Adelaide University, Dr Han Baltussen who, last month, presented a controversial lecture about life after death, as part of Festival Hellenika 2016.

Maybe Epicurus was actually on the right track

In his short story of heaven and hell, Professor Baltussen examined all kind of philosophical, religious and literary connections with what’s believed to be the greatest paradox of human societies.

“From the old fashioned kind of approach to the more modern theories about what really happens once the soul departs the body, there is a huge distance in time but the question remains the same,” explained Baltussen, who believes that there is a standard kind of arrangement in the way which most cultures think about heaven and hell.

As the Professor’s findings prove, in most religious cultures, including Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, hell (English origin: hidden place) is depicted as a painful and distant place which inflicts guilt and suffering.

Consequently, hell is the place no human being wishes to experience.

Paradise on the other hand, whose etymology comes from the Persian language and refers to a ‘nice garden’, represents the bright and admirable reward of a good and honest life.

“Heaven is a ludicrous place you have to earn in this life, where hell is the great nothingness,” he explained.

According to Baltussen, irrespective of their different approach – every cultural religion – has embraced the idea of reward and punishment continuing to tell a story about the afterlife whilst feeding humankind’s obsession to conquer heaven and beat the infinite fear of the unknown.

“The reason why this fear continues to grow is due to the human lack of knowledge as to what happens after death since no human being has ever returned to solve the mystery,” explained the professor before turning to the more refined moral universe of Roman and Christian intellectuals of ancient history who appeared to delve much deeper into the big questions of the human social importance, through their playwrights.
“The more realistic map of the Greek underworld consists of the new concept of ‘Ωκεανός’ (Okeanos); the oceanic water becomes the clear distinction between heaven and hell.”

The ancient Greeks also introduced the idea of a guarded kingdom which remained ‘out of touch’ until judgement was passed as to whether a human being was worthy of heaven or not.

Ultimately, nobody was exempt from the judgement and assessment of the soul which took one, either up to heaven or down in hell.

Ranging from the Homeric ghosts to the hilarious Aristophanic Monsters, in classical Athens there was a clear concept and certain perspective of crime and punishment, as there was also an attempt to debunk the underworld and put a light spin on every case of mythological figure and story.

In Aristophanes’ comedy Frogs (405BC), the audience got to go down to the cruel underworld and find out things about the underworld that nobody knew until then.

“This is significant because in every ancient society where people device a system of crime and punishment in afterlife, it appears to always be closely correlated to the laws and the rules they had in their own society and own life,” explains Baltussen.

And while it is apparent that every religious culture is great at coming up with sins, torture and torment, for Baltussen the most remarkable story of all is that of Nicodemus’ Gospel, where Jesus breaks down the gates of hell and frees everyone that’s there.

“According to Nicodemus, that apocalypse is upon us very soon and that means, Jesus is the superhero.
“In that respect, the originality of Christianity is really huge with another notion of an in-between status where there is a place of punishment with a little tinge of hope, that one might be pushed in the in-between world and then possibly get awarded a second chance.”

Baltussen lastly, questioned whether those heaven and hell theories were possibly just a clever mechanism to get humans to behave appropriately in this life; he then introduced Greek philosopher Epicurus whose purpose of philosophy was for humans to attain the happy, tranquil life, stripped from any pain and fear, in an infinite and eternal universe, in which death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared.

Epicurus’ gods neither reward nor punish humans and people live a full filling life.

They are ultimately responsible for creating their own personal heaven through the lives they choose to lead.

“Maybe Epicurus was actually on the right track,” admitted Baltussen.