Chapter 97

Tartarus is the region in The Underworld where sinners are punished according to the sentence they received from the three judges – Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. It is divided into nine levels, which are also called The Nine Circles Of Hell. As the levels go deeper, the punishment gets harsher. The Ninth Circle – the deepest – is where an angel named Lucifer is punished. Considered as the greatest of all sinners, Lucifer was hurled from the heavens to the Ninth Circle for having committed the worst of all offenses – his treachery against The Supreme Being. Together with him in the Ninth Circle are those who, when they were still alive, betrayed and duped the trust of someone. For their punishment, they are submerged from the torso down – with their arms pinned on their side – into a lake, that has been frozen because of extremely cold winds blowing to and fro throughout the place.