Pluto (mythology) says that among the Turdetani, it is "Pluto, and not Hades, who inhabits the region down below." In the discourse "On Mourning" by the Greek author Lucian (2nd century AD), Pluto's "wealth" is the dead he rules over in the abyss "(chasma)"; the name "Hades" is reserved for the underworld itself. In Greek religious practice, Pluto is sometimes seen as the "chthonic Zeus" ("Zeus Chthonios" or "Zeus Catachthonios"), or at least as having functions or significance equivalent to those of Zeus but pertaining to the earth or underworld. In ancient Roman and Hellenistic religion, Pluto was identified with a number
Hell Is the Absence of God the Book's lesson was that "virtue isn't always rewarded"? In interviews Chiang has explicitly stated that "Hell Is the Absence of God" is "straight fantasy", because it takes place in a universe "in which the scientific method doesn't work". He said it is about "innocent suffering", and the way people devoted to God deal with it. He also said that the novelette examines the role of faith in religion, and suggests that if God undeniably existed, then faith would no longer be applicable. Robert J. Sawyer and David G. Hartwell described "Hell Is the Absence of God" as the "best