Charon (mythology)
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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 (x.28) and, later, Dante's Inferno, the river was Acheron.
Dante Alighieri incorporated Charon into Christian mythology in his Divine Comedy. He is the same as his Greek counterpart, being paid an obolus to cross Acheron. He is the first named character Dante meets in hell, in the third Canto of Inferno.
See also
- Charon QC : http://charonqc.wordpress.com/
- Dante's The Divine Comedy
- Charon (Pluto's moon)
- Ian Irvine's The View from the Mirror
Popular Media
- In [[Zork: Grand Inquisitor]], Charon ferries AFGNCAAP across a river to Hades for two Zorkmids. In this he is depicted as a skeleton wearing a red cap, much like a ticket taker's.
- In Animaniacs, Charon ferries Yakko, Wakko, and Dot to Heaven after they have subjected Satan to their silly antics.
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