Dante's Universe

Dante's 'Scheme of the Universe' further enforces the idea of a physical and ideological dichotomy between Heaven and Earth. Hell is literally the heart of Earth's mass. Its entrance is, appropriately, through a dark woodland - enforcing a pervasive fear of dark, chaotic and unknown nature. Purgatory is isolated on the other side of the globe, 'geographically' closest to The Empyrean Paradise, which lies beyond all identifiable strata of Celestial Space. The ideology then is clear: existence in Earth's natural environment is by implication tainted in comparison to the prospect of eternity in the celestial paradise.