Hades In Oedipus Gregory

encouraged the development of works outside of the Christian canon. For instance, the falsely attributed apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus contains a fanciful description of a trip through many levels of hades in which Jesus frees people and spirits who are struggling. In addition, the gate keeping people inside is broken due to God’s supreme dominion over all places in the natural order: “He hath looked down to hear the groans of the prisoners, and to set loose those who are appointed to death. And now, thou filthy and stinking prince of hell, open thy gates, that the King of Glory may enter in; for he is the Lord of heaven and earth” (Crawford, 16). Fourth century fiction continues to favor early Greek inferences of the concept of hades,

For instance, in 404 C.E., Augustine records, “Most, if not very many in our day, who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments” (Works of Augustine). Basil the Great affirms, “The mass of men (Christians) say there is to be an end to punishment and to those who are punished” (Basil the Great). Gregory of Nyssa, an influential Bishop of the fourth century who was later canonized a saint, played a significant role in the development and perceived necessity of core Christian doctrines such as the Trinity. Despite his influence on expanding the declared essentials of Christianity, Gregory never advocated for belief in eternal torment in the afterlife; instead, he continued the overwhelmingly majority theology of advocating for free will and purgatorial cleansing, for everyone, either in this life or the

For instance, the wagon typically had a gateway in which character actors could choose to enter heaven, the top of the cart-stage, through a glorious, celebratory, and illustrative gate. The alternative was to be thrown into a large, fiery, smoking, and chomping jackal-fish mouthed appendage called a “hellmouth.” The hellmouth, operated by over a dozen men, led to the seemly underside of the wagon. The purpose of the powerful persuasion in the drama was to lead a person toward a decision away from Hell, since no one wanted to be “thrown under the cart” (Cawley). Thus, due to resultant popular influences and theology of Dante and morality plays, the dramatic simplification of hell removes nuance from Christian ideas of