Carrier Charon. Mythology of the Ancient World

Ancient mythology is a separate part of literature that fascinates the reader with its rich world and beautiful language. In addition to interesting stories and tales of heroes, it depicts the foundations of the universe, the place of man in it, as well as its dependence on the will of the gods. The deities, in turn, often looked like people with their passions, desires and vices. A special place was occupied by Charon - the mythology predetermined the place of the carrier between the world of the living and the dead.

What did the world look like?

We will examine in more detail who was and how Charon looked. Mythology of the ancient world clearly indicates that in fact there are just three lights: underground, aboveground and underwater. Although underwater can safely be attributed to the terrestrial world. So, these three kingdoms were ruled by three brothers, equal in strength and importance: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades from the Greeks (Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto in the Romans). But nevertheless, Zeus the Thunderer was considered to be the main one, but he did not go into the affairs of his brothers.

People inhabited the world of the living - the kingdom of Zeus, but after the death of their bodies they surrendered to the grave, and the soul went to the abode of Hades. And the first person, if I may say so, whom the soul met on the way to hell, was Charon. Mythology considers him both a carrier, a guard, and a tax inspector. Probably because he kept an eye on him so that live people would not sit in his boat , souls would not return back, and for his work he would take a certain payment.

Ancient Mythology: Charon

The son of Erebus and Nicks, Darkness and Night, the carrier from the underworld had a boat warped with worms. It is believed that the soul he was transporting across the river Styx, but, according to another version, he sailed along the river Acheron. Most often he was described by an old man, very gloomy, dressed in rags.

Dante Alighieri, creator of the "Divine Comedy", placed Charon in the first circle of hell. Probably, it was here that the underground river that shared the world of the living and the dead carried its waters. Virgil acted as the conductor of Dante and ordered the carrier to take the poet alive in his boat. How did he appear before him, what did Charon look like? Roman mythology does not contradict the Hellenic: the old man had an awesome appearance. His braids were disheveled, confused and gray, his eyes burned with fierce fire.

There is another nuance that mythology mentions: Charon carried the souls of the dead only in one direction and only those people who were buried in the graves with the fulfillment of all the rites. And one of the mandatory conditions was to supply the deceased with a coin, to which he could pay with the carrier. The obol was laid dead under the tongue, and it is likely that without money it was impossible to get into the ancient hell.

Charon and the living people

Now the reader knows how Charon (mythology) looked. The photo, of course, is missing, but many artists depicted on their canvases a gloomy old man god from the underworld. As you know, the carrier easily put dead souls in his rook, taking charge for it. If there were souls who did not have obol, then they had to wait a hundred years to get to that shore for free.

However, there were also living people who, by their own will or by someone else's, went to Hades before their time. In the "Aeneid" of Virgil it is said that only a branch from a golden tree growing in the grove of Persephone (Aida's wife) could serve as a pass for them. It was she who used Aeneas at the prompt of the Sibyl.

Cunning made me transport myself to the other side of Orpheus: no one from the world of the living and the dead, neither gods nor mortals, could resist the sounds of his golden cithara. Hercules, performing one of his exploits, also came to Hades. But he was helped by the god Hermes - he ordered to deliver the dead to the ruler of the world. According to another version, the hero forced Kharon to transport him, for which the carrier was later punished by Pluto.

Charon in art

Charon in mythology did not appear immediately. Homer in his epics did not mention him, but at the end of the 6th century. BC. E. This character appeared and firmly took its place. He was often portrayed on vases, his image was used in plays (Aristophanes, Lucian, Prodicus). Often, and artists resorted to this character. A brilliant painter of the Renaissance, Michelangelo, working on the design of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, painted Charon on the canvas "Day of the Last Judgment." The gloomy deity of the ancient world also does its work here, only transports the souls of sinners, and not all dead in a row.