Public Domain Super Heroes
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Charon
CarontediMichelagelo

Real Name

Charon, Kharon

First Appearance

Greek Myth

Created by

Greek Myth

Origin[]

In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and the dead.

Archaeology confirms that, in some burials, low-value coins known generically as Charon's obols were placed in, on, or near the mouth of the deceased, or next to the cremation urn containing their ashes. This has been taken to confirm that at least some aspects of Charon's mytheme are reflected in some Greek and Roman funeral practices, or else the coins function as a viaticum for the soul's journey.

In Virgil's epic poem, Aeneid, the dead who could not pay the fee, and those who had received no funeral rites, had to wander the near shores of the Styx for one hundred years before they were allowed to cross the river. Charon also ferried the living mortals Heracles and Aeneas to the underworld and back again.

In the 14th century, Dante Alighieri described Charon in his Divine Comedy, drawing from Virgil's depiction in Aeneid 6. Charon is the first named mythological character Dante meets in the underworld, in Canto III of the Inferno. Dante depicts him as having eyes of fire. Elsewhere, Charon appears as a mean-spirited and gaunt old man or as a winged demon wielding a double hammer, although Michelangelo's interpretation, influenced by Dante's depiction in the Inferno, shows him with an oar over his shoulder, ready to beat those who delay ("batte col remo qualunque s'adagia", Inferno 3, verse 111). In modern times, he is commonly depicted as a living skeleton in a cowl, much like the Grim Reaper.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of Charon published before Janurary 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances include:

  • Aeneid
  • Metamorphoses
  • Oedipus
  • Argonautica
  • Dante's Inferno

Notes[]

  • Charon, the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto, is named after him.
  • The hadrosaurid Charonosaurus is named in Charon's honor because it was found along the banks of the Amur River in the Far East.
  • In Pokémon Platinum, one of Team Galactic's four Commanders is named after Charon.

See Also[]

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