What’s the first thing you think about if I asked you about the underworld? More specifically, what comes to mind when I ask you what mythological creatures can be found there? Most of you probably thought of Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld. He’s an intimidating creature to be feared and avoided at all costs, so it makes sense that he’s the creature people are most familiar with.
There’s another creature in the underworld that I don’t think gets the recognition he deserves though (and I’m not talking about Hades!). There’s a creature named Charon, and he’s the ferryman that gathers the spirits at the edge of the underworld. Spirits of the newly deceased are not instantly sent to the heart of the underworld. Rather, they are sent to a shore named Akherousian that borders a large sea. This sea separates Akherousian from the underworld, so people have to cross it before they can settle down in peace.
This is where Charon comes in. These spirits are not allowed to cross the sea for free. They have to pay a fee to Charon if they want to get on his boat and enter the underworld. If they can’t pay, he condemns them to wander aimlessly on Akherousian for one hundred years. He is not unfair; it was known to the Greeks that the dead could not cross the sea without money. Therefore, they always buried their deceased with an obolos coin. Charon only punished those who would not sacrifice a small portion of their material possessions from their time on earth.
The important thing to remember is that Charon isn’t the creature that many people think he is. Charon is often thought of as a human-like, which doesn’t seem to merit the “mythological creature” title. However, he probably looked nothing like a human. He is often portrayed as a dark presence, who was very intangible. In the myths where he did manifest himself, he was still not whole. He had gaps in his form, and he might have been covered in bandages. There are even myths where he is looks like a skeleton with long, white hair. His torso was bone, but his lower half was clocked by a shroud of black that billowed like the bottom of a robe.
Charon was born to Nyx and Erebus. Nyx personified the night, and Erebus personified darkness. No wonder Charon was forced to find employment in the underworld! He’s angry all the time, and his job may have something to do with it. Either that or he just inherited a pessimistic personality from his parents. Charon was known for his eyes, which are often described as giving him a “keen gaze.” His eyes are a bluish-gray, and they are fierce, flashing, and feverish. They would change depending on his mood, or on the cooperation of the spirits that he was dealing with that day.
I don’t personally believe in the Greek God Hades, or in the underworld. However, if I did, I feel like Charon would be a creature to be taken seriously. After all, my fate after death would technically depend on him.