Charon Ferryman of the Dead Greek
By: Jonathan Wright

Charon
Description: Charon
Image copyright: https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/8497/
Charon, in Greek mythology, acts as the ferryman of the dead. Hermes brings to him the souls of the deceased, and he ferries them across the river Acheron to hell. Only the dead who are properly buried or burned and who pay the obolus (silver coin) for their passage are accepted on his boat, which is why in ancient greek burial rites the corpse always had an obolus placed under his tongue. A rather somber and severe character, Charon does not hesitate to throw out of his boat without pity the souls whose bodies received improper burial or cremation.

The Styx is only one of the five rivers of the underworld that separate hell from the world of the living. These five rivers of Hell are Acheron (the river of woe), Cocytus (the river of lamentation), Phlegethon (the river of fire), Lethe (the river of forgetfulness), and finally, Styx. The word styx comes from the Greek word stygian, which means \"hateful\" and expresses the horror of death. The eighth century B.C.E.Greek poet Hesiod considered Styx to be the daughter of Oceanus and the mother or Emulation, Victory, Power, and Might. More recently, Styx has been identified with the stream called Mavronéri (Greek for \"black water\") in Arcadia, Greece. Ancient beliefs held that the Styx water was poisonous. According to a legend, Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E.), king of Macedonia and conqueror of much of Asia, was poisoned by Styx water.
The use of the figures of Charon and the River Styx is quite recurrent in Western literature. The most important occurrence is found in the Italian poet Dante\'s (1265–1321) Divine Comedy, in which Charon sees a living man (Dante\'s alter ego) journeying in the inferno and challenges him.


The symbols of Charon and their meanings were as follows:
•The Oar or Pole of a boatman
◦These symbols reflect his role of ferrying dead souls

•The double-headed hammer, maul or mallet
◦The symbol of the maul represents an emblem of violent death

Family connections: Charon was the son of the primordial gods Erebus (God of Darkness) and Nyx (Goddess of Night).
Links:
   Bullet  Charon\'s Picture
   Bullet  Paragraph
   Bullet  Symbols
   Bullet  Charon moon of pluto
   Bullet  Charon obol
   Bullet  Family Tree
This page was edited by Jonathan Wright (Teacher: Carol Zortman) using Web Poster Wizard.