Hell was a place opposed to Heaven in all kinds of myths and legends. According to legend, the souls of the wicked fell into Hell, where they were scorched by endless flames and endured every manner of painful punishment, paying the price for the sins they had committed in life.
Hell in DC bore some resemblance to the Hell of myths and legends, but it was not quite the same. It was not actually responsible for punishing sinful souls. Rather, any soul that had made a contract with a demon or could not enter Heaven ended up there.
DC's Hell was also somewhat different from Marvel's. Marvel's Hell was actually a dimension, and although the Hell Dimension called itself Hell, it did not truly have any fixed duties.
Mephisto called himself the Lord of Hell and claimed to be the One true Satan in the world, but in truth, he was neither the Lord of Hell nor the only Satan.
Mephisto could call himself Satan, and other Dimensional Demon Gods could call themselves Satan as well. It was not an official title, merely a self-bestowed name. The dimensions they possessed were only their own territories, not public places. The souls gathered there were merely their own collections, belonging to the Lord of Dimensions.
DC's Hell, on the other hand, exercised a certain degree of public authority. It was responsible for taking in souls that could neither ascend to Heaven nor dissipate where they were. At the same time, demons in Hell could make deals with humans, exchanging all manner of terms for ownership of their souls.
At the same time, power in DC's Hell changed hands in a highly complicated fashion. Aside from Lucifer, quite a few other beings had become Satan—the true Lord of Hell.
First and foremost, there