Why do people say "When hell freezes over" if according to Dante, Hell is already frozen?

Question

In the Inferno by Dante Aligheri he describes the deepest section of Hell to be all ice.

So when u tell somebody u want something and they give u the "Yeah, well people in hell want ice water", or when u ask for something and they answer, "Yeah, when hell freezes over", could u just keep going on with your argument?

The only description of Hell we have is from Dante, and according to him, people in Hell are sick of ice, and Hell is already frozen.

Answer 1

There are different interpretations of hell. The most popular description nowadays is that it is a blazing inferno that never stops burning. In ancient mythology hell was believed to be dark, quiet, cold and damp and just a place where souls wander being endlessly deprived of fulfillment of their cravings and desires in life. It had nothing to do with eternal flames. So you can interpret it any way you want to.

Answer 2

Apparently most people didn't read that book. Or watch that movie. Whatever Dante's Inferno is/was. Every reference to Hell in our culture has it as a fiery lake of fire with volcanoes everywhere. It's difficult to freeze a volcano.

Answer 3

well i'm muslim, and we have a decription of hell in the Quran. it's says a lot of things, but about the frozen part and all that it says that there are two parts in hell. there is the hell in which fire is there, it's fire so hot that it's color is black. and then there is the frozen part in which your bones break because of how cold it is. it talks a lot about all the punishments in hell, but i think that if a person does at least one good deed, they will eventually go to heaven after serving time in hell. Because God loves everyone! and he is very forgiving. But that doesn't mean go do whatever u want. oops, i didn't mean to stray off topic :)

Answer 4

that is only the bottom of hell. if you recall there are many different layers with different punishments for different sins. and only the very bottom layer was frozen. this part was below the giants and had lucifer in it with three heads chewing on judas, brutus and someone else. so technically only part of hell is frozen. so you really could go on with your argument but most people would just get annoyed with you.

ps there are many descriptions of hell from various sources

Answer 5

Deep thoughts dude! Well hell is generally believed to be made of flames and fireballs, so the ice thing is just a generalization.

Answer 6

Before Dante was the Bible. In the Bible, Hell is described as a place where people who have chosen to be out of relationship with God get what they want: eternal separation from Him. God's judgment is often described in the Bible in terms of fire. (So hotter'n Hell is logical.)

The clearest illustration of this is in Jesus' story (Luke 16:19-31): "The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw. . .and said, 'Have pity on me and send Lazarus [a man who was in Heaven] to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."

Revelation 20:11-15 has description of the last judgement of God. "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Interesting question. I wonder if your curiosity is the result of a loving God trying to get your attention? Jesus is the one with the keys to death and Hell. And it's His Book that has names of people who are His. Check it out.

Answer 7

Hell, Michigan, est October 13, 1841.
might be frozen over now and I doubt if they want any ice water!

Answer 8

Well. You've got to remember. He was just one man with his own opinion on the matter. Everyone has there on opinions. And some people don't believe in that so its complicated to say.

Answer 9

I just gotta say, hell did freeze over. Didn't you hear it snowed in Arizona?

Answer 10

hell is acording to the Bible to be a hot place full of flame so it means just about never