In ancient cosmologies, the Empyrean Heaven, or simply the Empyrean, was the place in the highest heaven, which was supposed to be occupied by the element of

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

(or

aether Aether, æther or ether may refer to: Metaphysics and mythology * Aether (classical element), the material supposed to fill the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere * Aether (mythology), the personification of the "upper sky", sp ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

's natural philosophy). The word derives from the

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used f ...

''empyreus'', an adaptation of the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''empyros'' (), meaning "in or on the fire (''pyr'')". The Empyrean was thus used as a name for the incorporeal "heaven of the first day", and in

Christian literature Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media, and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. Scripture While falling within the strict definition of literature, the Bible is not generally considered literature. H ...

for the dwelling-place of God, the blessed, celestial beings so divine they are made of pure light, and the source of light and creation. Notably, at the very end of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

's ''

Paradiso Paradiso (Italian: ''Heaven'', literally: Paradise); may refer to: People * Paradiso (surname) Places * Gran Paradiso, a 4,000 metres mountain in Italy * Paradiso railway station (Luxembourg) * Paradiso, Switzerland, a municipality of the Ital ...

'', Dante visits God in the Empyrean. The word is used both as a noun and as an adjective, but ''empyreal'' is an alternate adjective form. The scientific words ''empyreuma'' and ''empyreumatic'', applied to the characteristic smell of the burning or charring of vegetable or animal matter, have the same Greek origin.

Sources

; Attribution * Early scientific cosmologies Religious cosmologies Christian cosmology Conceptions of heaven {{cosmology-stub

See also

Sources