The Myth Of Karon, The Ferryman To The Underworld

The Myth of Karon is a tale of a very interesting person whose job it was to transport the dead to their final resting place: Hades or the underworld. Karon was a mysterious person with an ugly personality. He was a creature shaped by night and shadows.

The myth of Karon is one of the most mysterious characters in Greek mythology: the Ferryman to the Underworld. His mission was to transport the souls of the recently deceased to Hades, where they were to rest forever.

This character is a ragged and careless old man with a big long white full beard. In his face he is grim, dark and gloomy, and he had a very rough attitude. The myth of Karon tells that he moved his boat using a stake that was hoisted sails, and his boat always appeared rusty and almost dilapidated.

Karon sailed along the river Archeron, which means “river of pain”. His work was endless and boring, so he had a somewhat rude behavior.

The only situation that could pull him out of his routine was if a living person tried to penetrate down to the underworld. In fact, Hercules and Orpheus succeeded. Otherwise, his activity consisted of an eternal repetition of the usual.

The origin of the myth of Karon

The myth of Karon tells that the boatman to the underworld was the son of Nyx and Erebus. He had also been born so far back in history that there were no memories of his birth.

Nyx was the goddess of the night, endowed with such a striking beauty that even Zeus feared her. In addition, she was the daughter of Chaos and was involved in the formation of the universe.

Similarly, Erebus was the god of darkness and shadows. So he ruled over deep mists that surrounded the ends of the Earth. Moreover, he was present everywhere in the underworld. In fact, he was Nyx’s brother and had two children with her: Ether, the Shining and Luminous, and Hemera, the Day.

According to the myth of Karon, Nyx managed to raise children with others without the intervention of her brother and husband, Erebus.

This was how she got the ferryman’s brothers, who were: Moors, fate; Ker, doom; Thanatos, death; Hypnosis, the dream; Geras, ancient times; Oyzis, pains; Apate, amount; Nemesis, deserved punishment; Eris, ufred; Philotes, sensitivity; Momo, sarcasm; Hesperides, daughter of the evening; Oniros, the dreams; Keres spirit of destruction and death; and Moirai, destiny.

The myth of the ferryman

The myth of Karon tells that the name of this person literally means “intense light”. This is because just a second before you die, people get a particularly luminous expression in their eyes or they also report it.

This is linked to the name of the ferryman. In fact, one of the most common translations is “him with a wild look” or “him who stares violently”.

Some also say that his sisters, Moirai, instructed him to complete his duty. They endowed him with an impatience when a person was dying.

Then it was that Karon reached the shore and waited for the souls of the recently deceased to come. But not everyone could cross the river of pain or Archeron with him. The souls had to use a coin to pay for their crossing.

The Greeks therefore buried their dead with a coin under their tongue. It would then have to be the payment to the ferryman to take them over to Hades.

If the dead now did not have a coin or if they had not been properly buried, they would have to wander up and down the river for 100 years. When that time had passed, Karon would take them over for free.

Karon and Hades

Finally, the myth of Karon tells us that only two people were able to get to Hades without dying during the experiment. One of them was Hercules, whom Karon transported to the underworld without knowing much about why, and without asking for payment. For that reason, the gods had to punish him and send him to jail for a year.

Orpheus was the second mortal to cross after enchanting and fooling the ferryman with his magic music. May also allowed the goddess, Psyche, the goddess of the soul, to come over thanks to the tricks she used to confuse him.

Although Karon mainly operated on the Archeron River, he was also allowed to navigate other rivers to the underworld such as Cocytos, the river of the Complainants; Flegeton, the river of fire; Search, the river of negligence, and Styx, the river of invulnerability.