Care to comment? (Ping to other Orthodox, please.)
The harrowing of Hell was described very graphically in Dante's Inferno.
Well, here's a snip, in English, from the Paschal Sermon of +John Chrysostomos which is proclaimed at every Pasha Liturgy. I think it explains the Icon of the Descent into Hades (otherwise the Resurrection Icon)
"Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!"
The problem here is not with any theological point, but rather with what the English word "Hell" has come to mean. I don't know when the "hell fire and brimstone" image arose in the West. Certainly Dante gave it a certain currency. The idea of The Place of the Dead long precedes Christianity but at least in the East didn't carry with it the idea of devils with pitchforks and firey furnaces. In my opinion saying descended to the dead is more descriptive of what happened given the "modern" understanding of the word "hell" and the mistaken, or at least confused, theological implications which likely stem from its use in this context.