Stygiophobia

Stygiophobia, also called stigiophobia or hadephobia, is the fear of Hell.[1] The word is derived from the Greek words Stygios, meaning "hell", and phobos, meaning "fear". The former is derived from the River Styx over which souls were carried into the underworld. The latter is itself derived from the Greek god Phobos, who was the son of Ares and accompanied him into battle.

The fear of Hell has been postulated as the basis for the human fear of death, apparently out-weighing various beliefs in a rewarding afterlife.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Doctor, Ronald M.; Kahn, Ada P. (2008), The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears and Anxieties (3rd ed.), New York, New York: Facts On File, Inc., p. 271, ISBN 978-0-8160-6453-3, retrieved 2012-03-19
  2. ↑ Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M. (2002). "Why do we fear death? The construction and validation of the reasons for the death fear scale". Death Studies 26 (8): 669–680. doi:10.1080/07481180290088365.
  3. ↑ Rose, Brigid M.; Michael J. O'Sullivan (2002). "Afterlife beliefs and death anxiety: An exploration of the relationship between afterlife expectations and fear of death in an undergraduate population". OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying 45 (3): 229–243.

External links

Look up stygiophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.