Despite portraying God as more of [[GodIsEvil an asshole]] than a merciful practitioner of euthanasia, the WordOfDante simply survived as a better [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Orwellian]] control mechanism [[note]]since after all, those Greeks, Romans, Norse and other pagans are pretty much hedonistic or suicidal, and what better way to make them scared of themselves than eternal punishment?