page_title: Harrowing of Hell
section_title: Literature
hierarchical_section_title: Harrowing of Hell / In culture / Literature
context_page_description: In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell is the triumphant descent of Christ into Hell between the time of his Crucifixion and his Resurrection when he brought salvation to all of the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world. After his death, Jesus descended into the realm of the dead.
  Christ's Descent into the world of the dead is referred to in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed, which state that Jesus Christ "descended into the underworld", although neither mention that he liberated the dead. His descent to the underworld is alluded to in the New Testament in 1 Peter 4:6, which states that the "good tidings were proclaimed to the dead". The Catholic Catechism interprets Ephesians 4:9, which states that "[Christ] descended into the lower parts of the earth", as also supporting this interpretation. These passages in the Christian Bible have given rise to differing interpretations. The Harrowing of Hell is commemorated in the liturgical calendar on Holy Saturday.
context_section_description: In Dante's Inferno the Harrowing of Hell is mentioned in Canto IV by the pilgrim's guide Virgil. Virgil was in Limbo (the first circle of Hell) in the first place because he was not exposed to Christianity in his lifetime, and therefore he describes in generic terms Christ as a "mighty one" who rescued the Hebrew forefathers of Christianity, but left him and other righteous pagans behind in the very same circle. It is clear that Virgil does not fully understand the significance of the event, as Dante does.
  An incomplete Middle English telling of the Harrowing of Hell is found in the Auchinleck manuscript.
  Although the Orfeo legend has its origin in pagan antiquity, the Medieval romance of Sir Orfeo has often been interpreted as drawing parallels between the Greek hero and Jesus freeing souls from Hell, with the explication of Orpheus' descent and return from the Underworld as an allegory for Christ's as early as the Ovide Moralisé (1340).
  In Stephen Lawhead's novel Byzantium (1997), a young Irish monk is asked to explain Jesus' life to a group of Vikings, who were particularly impressed with Jesus' "descent to the underworld" (Helreið).
  Parallels in Jewish literature refer to legends of Enoch and Abraham's harrowings of the Underworld, unrelated to Christian themes. These have been updated in Isaac Leib Peretz's short story "Neilah in Gehenna", in which a Jewish hazzan descends to Hell and uses his unique voice to bring about the repentance and liberation of the souls imprisoned there.
caption: Christ in Limbo, by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch
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