Elisian Fields

ELISIAN FIELDS. This is the name given to certain plains in Hell, abounding with woods, meadows and agreeable fountains, whither, according to the Heathen Theology, Heroes and good Men went after death, while the wicked were tormented with different sorts of punishments in black Tartarus. The name Elisian Eleg. 3.Fields is supposed to be derived from the Hebrw, Halaz, which significes to rejoice, because the souls which are in the Elisian Fields, continue there in rest and joy.

Says Virgil¹. Others derive it from Eliza the Bernold. and Hornius Hist. Philos.son of Jaran, who peopled part of Peloponnesus.

The Elisian Fields are thought by some to have been the invention of the Greeks; but I do not at all question that they came rather from the Egyptians and Hebrews. We find some descriptions in the Prophets, of the state wherein the souls of Heroes were believed to be after their death, and these relate very much to what prophane Authors tells us of the Elisian Fields; for example: Upon the day of Ashur’s descent into Hell, I Ezek. xxxi. 15, &c.ordained a general mourning, saith the Lord, I covered the deep for him, and I did restrain the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed, (here we have Acheron, and the other rivers of Hell) I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Hell with them that descend into the pit, and all the excellent trees of Eden, or all the trees of the delicious garden, which are in the nether parts of the earth, even the best of Lebanon, and all that are nourished with waters shall be comforted. They also went down to Hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword and his arm, and they that dwell under his shadow in the midst of the Heathen. To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet thou shalt be cast down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that be slain with the sword: this is Pharaoh and all his multitude.

We see throughout this description, that the King of Assyria is compared to a Cedar in Lebanus, which shakes all the trees of this mountain with its fall: that the Kings and Princes who were tributaries to the King of Assyria are compared to trees in the land of Eden. All these trees descended into Hell, in order to form a forest there, or delicious garden. Isaiah represents to us the Kings of the nations, seated upon thrones in Hell, and coming to meet the King of Babylon. Hell was disturbed at thy arrival, says he to the Isai. xiv. 9, &c.King of Babylon, the giants rose to meet thee: the Princes of the earth, and Kings of the nations descended from their thrones (to do thee honour) and addressed themselves to thee, saying, Thou therefore hast been pierced with wounds as well as we, thou art become like one of us; thy pride hath plunged thee into Hell, (or the grave) thy bed shall be putrifaction, and worms shall be thy covering.

In like manner as the Elisian Fields, according to the Pagan notion of them, were separated from Tartarus, and the dwellings of the wicked, by such walls as were not to be got over, and by a river of fire, which prevented all passage from one to the other; so in the Scripture-account, there is a great gulf which separates the blessed, who are in Abraham’s bosom, from the wicked who are in Hell. Between you and us there is a great gulf set, so that they who would go from hence to you, cannot, neither can they come from thence to us. This however did not obstruct the wicked from beholding the happiness of good men, and even this made one part of their punishment. Thus we see the rich man speaking to Abraham, and desiring him to admonish his brethren, that they might take care how they fell into this place of torments. Thus in the Book of Wisdom, the wicked are witnesses to the glory of good Wisd. v. 1, 2, 3.men: When they see him, they shall be vexed with humble fear, and shall be amazed for his wonderful deliverance, and shall say within themselves, This is he, whom we some time had in derision, and in a parable of reproach. Thus in Virgil, the cries and the groans of the damned are heard, the lashes Virg. Æn. VI. vf. 557.which are given them, and the rattling of the chains wherewith they are loaded.

Hinc exaudiri gemitus & sæva sonare Verbera:

tum stridor ferri, tractæque catenæ. As the Jews believe the souls of those who are not buried, wander about the earth, and can have no rest till their bodies are interred; Virg. Æn. VI. vf. 324.so among the Heathens, they who were not buried, could not be received into Charon’s boat, nor pass to the place appointed for them.

Lastly, as the Rabbins believe the Souls of the departed may, and in reality do come back again, particularly for the first twelve months after their decease, and then return to Hell, or the place where the souls expect a general resurrection; so the Heathens believed that apparitions, particu larly of persons, who had been dead but a short time, were frequent, that the souls of men very often went out of Hell, and returned thither again², excepting however those of very great villains, who were not allowed this liberty. For this reason Ezekiel says, that God shut the door of the Abyss upon the King of Ashur, when he Ezek. xxxi. 15.descended into Hell; and in the book of Enoch, God commands St. Michael to load the rebellious Angels with chains, and cast them down into the nether parts of the Earth; and in the Revelations, the Angel Rev. xx. 1.descends from Heaven with the key of the great deep in his hands, seizes the Devil, chains him, and throws him into the bottomless pit, shuts the door upon him, and seals it, that he might be never able to get out. The rich men in St. Luke could find no way out of the place of torment. Luke xvi. 23, 24, &c.

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