Irlandos at 15:10, December 29, 2005

2005-12-29T15:10:44Z

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In [[Greek mythology]], '''Charon''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]] Χάρων, ''fierce brightness'') was the ferryman of [[Hades]]. He took the newly dead from one side of the river [[Acheron]] to the other if they had an [[obolus]] (coin) to pay for the ride. Corpses in ancient [[Greece]] were always buried with a coin underneath their tongue to pay Charon. Those who could not pay had to wander the banks of the Acheron for one hundred years.

According to Virgil's ''Aeneid'' (book 6), the Cumaean Sibyl directs [[Aeneas]] to the golden bough necessary to cross the river while still alive and return to the world. [[Orpheus]] also made the trip to the underworld and returned back alive.

Charon was the son of [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx]].

He was depicted as a cranky, skinny old man or a winged demon with a double hammer.

It is often said that he ferried souls across the river [[Styx]]. This is suggested by Virgil in his ''Aeneid'' (book 6, line 369). However, by most accounts, including [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (x.28) and, later, Dante's ''Inferno'', the river was Acheron.

[[Category:Greek mythology]]

Charon - Revision history

Irlandos at 15:10, December 29, 2005