A Question of Greek Mythology

[Katie-Ellen]

There is no wrong answer here, but out of interest, do you associate the legend of Charon The Ferryman with:

a) The River Styx
b) The River Acheron
c) Neither
d) Both
e) Not a clue

 

[Rich.]

a)

But now I fear a broadening of horizons coming on. To Wikipedia...!

 

[Carol Rose]

A!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

It's not WRONG, @Rich. There is an alternative answer, but that doesn't make either wrong. I'm interested in the immediate association.

 

[Barbara]

Both, well, all rivers (not just those two)?

And isn't there a similar figure in some other mythology? I have a vague memory of having heard of a similar figure somewhere away from the Greek. Googling time.

 

[Leonora]

A

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Somewhere in the Far East also has a river crossing death myth, I think, @Barbara. They say it still affects death bed visions today.

Thank you, folks. That's very helpful. There are 5 rivers around the Underworld according the the Greco-Roman myth. The most famous, Styx (Hate), and Lethe (Oblivion), Acheron (Woe), Phlegethon (Fire), and Cocytus (Wailing)

My question was particularly linked to Charon The Ferryman, a demi-god, the son of Night and Shadow, Nyx and Erebus. The Roman version of accounts generally said Charon collected the dead from the banks of the Styx. The older Greek version of accounts generally said Charon collected the dead from the banks of the Acheron which is also a real river in Greece.

A classicist might argue it should be the Acheron, but I wanted to know your immediate thoughts, so as not to thrown any spanner into the works of a story.

Writer's dilemma......If in a novel I said it was the Acheron, a classicist might say that's more correct, but far more readers might think, eh? And be thrown. Not because they've wrong, but that's the version that holds more sway nowadays which you've pretty much confirmed.

And indeed as @Barbara suggests...any river can be viewed as an allegory of life and death.

 

[Barbara]

Didn't Shakespeare use the river crossing death image too in some way? .... Or am I remembering things wrong?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

....Says our actor. I can't call it to my mind. Lots of water imagery for sure. But probably. He knew his classics.

Styx Boat on the River

I like this poem, American poet William Stafford

 

[Barbara]

Says our actor.

I don't actually know. It's just a vague somethingoranother. I'm not a Shakespearean at all. I've never studied him much because 'viz zis Sviss accent of mine I vill never be cast in Shakespeare'.

 

[Barbara]

@Katie-Ellen Hazeldine.

Found this:

Crossing The River: The Journey of Death in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia | RelTech

religionandtechnology.com

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Fantastic. Thank you @Barbara. And in Polynesia

In Polynesian mythology, a woman named Takua was once abducted by two evil spirits, and they stole the baby inside her. Than the sea rose, and the two spirits dissolved in a cloud. The boy, called Tahoratakarar, was raised by the sea itself. Other sea spirits built him a big boat that was tied to the Underworld. It sailed by night and stopped if someone died at sea, collecting his or her soul. The boat was known in myth as the Boat of Souls, or the Boat of the Dead. The myth resembles that of Charon in Greek mythology.

Read more: https://www.lenntech.com/water-mythology.htm#ixzz61mD4BtcW

 

[MartinR]

A for me, Katie-Ellen.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

A

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I'll stick with the Styx then, and let the purists chase me with their corrections, thank you, folks.

 

[Nikky Lee]

My first instinct is to say A.

@Katie-Ellen Hazeldine.

Found this:

Crossing The River: The Journey of Death in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia | RelTech

religionandtechnology.com

Thanks for the link! Very timely as I'm working on a story set in Mesopotamia

 

[MartinR]

Have you read Stephen Fry's book on Greek mythology, Mythos, Katie-Ellen? I'd enjoyed his other books and expected to like this one, but must admit I didn't. Although funny in parts, I found it a bit dry and lacking his usual pizzazz. If you would like it, I can send it to you - even though I haven't exactly given it a ringing endorsement!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Greek mythology was my first reading passion. That is SO kind @MartinR. But I trust your assessment absolutely.

For research or just good reading, hitting the ground running, the rather spooky, not to say miserable, Robert Graves, author of 'Goodbye To All That' and 'I, Claudius', is perhaps even better known for this dictionary, written 50 years ago.

 

[KateESal]

A.

Love a bit of Greek mythology

 

[Leonora]

Love Robert Graves.

 

[MartinR]

Thanks for reminding me of 'Goodbye To All That' - a lovely title and another book to add to my To Be Read list!

 

[Patricia D]

another A

 

[Patricia D]

Greek mythology was my first reading passion. That is SO kind @MartinR. But I trust your assessment absolutely.

For research or just good reading, hitting the ground running, the rather spooky, not to say miserable, Robert Graves, author of 'Goodbye To All That' and 'I, Claudius', is perhaps even better known for this dictionary, written 50 years ago.

View attachment 4379

Mythology was my second reading passion, after Walter Farley's horse books. In grade school, if I'd finished the assignment, the teacher allowed me to read mythology. Thank you for reminding me of this old passion. It's been a few years.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Nice to see you about the place @Patricia D

 

[Patricia D]

Nice to see you about the place @Patricia D

thank you. It's nice to be back