{"id":6552,"date":"2016-12-14T12:01:41","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T19:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/?p=6552"},"modified":"2016-07-27T14:35:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T21:35:46","slug":"charon-the-grumpy-ferryman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/14\/charon-the-grumpy-ferryman\/","title":{"rendered":"Charon the grumpy Ferryman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"img\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com\/736x\/25\/10\/a1\/2510a1b3b8d6b32b0122c1105da5946c.jpg\" width=\"288\" height=\"432\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who ferries the newly deceased souls across the rivers Styx and Acheron which divide the world of the living from the world of the dead. To pay for the passage you need a coin to pay Charon. Normally an obolus or danake was placed in or on the mouth of the dead person to pay for this passage.\u00a0 If the dead could not pay the fee, or if the body is left unburied those souls were left to wonder the shores for hundred of years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi inLxKrFNySRM-pQOPx8XEepE aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/7\/77\/DemetriusObol.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"448\" height=\"198\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Watch how Perseus gains passage from Charon to Medusa&#8217;s Island in the 1981 movie &#8220;Clash of the Titans.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"video-container\"><iframe title=\"Clash of the Titans (1981) CharonTheFerryman.mov\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sKsOpYkwqbQ?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0&#038;showinfo=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Colleen uses the myth of Charon the Ferryman in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Recreated-Reawakened-Colleen-Houck\/dp\/038537660X\">Recreated<\/a> and named the crusty old ferryman as Cherty. \u00a0 Lily is desperately trying to get to Amon who is stuck wandering the underworld and needs to gain the favor of Cherty to cross over to the afterlife.\u00a0 He&#8217;s grumpy and doesn&#8217;t want to bring a living human across the treacherous waters of the cosmic river.\u00a0 Cherty became sympathetic to her cause and they soon boarded the boat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi inLxKrFNySRM-pQOPx8XEepE aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/orig14.deviantart.net\/dec2\/f\/2012\/085\/e\/1\/the_river_styx_by_dm7-d4u0h4b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"276\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6574 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CHARON-RON-SWANSON-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"CHARON RON SWANSON\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CHARON-RON-SWANSON-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CHARON-RON-SWANSON-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CHARON-RON-SWANSON-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CHARON-RON-SWANSON.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">When I read the part about Lily and Cherty my mind pictured a character called Ron Swanson from the hit TV comedy &#8220;Parks and Recreation.&#8221; He&#8217;s a grouchy man&#8217;s man who loves meat and being left alone.\u00a0 He&#8217;s what I like to call an <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi iDMLYwqm8268-pQOPx8XEepE\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unsportsmanlike.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/MMS-superbowl-halftime-commercial-is-hilarious.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"37\" height=\"38\" \/>personality.\u00a0 He&#8217;s hard on the outside but soft and melty on the inside.\u00a0 I created a little picture with Charon with Ron Swanson&#8217;s face for fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Below is just how he looks most of the time!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi i8Oz0w6G_CY0-pQOPx8XEepE\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Ke47tp7LFEI\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"558\" height=\"314\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Here&#8217;s a little clip video of Ron Swanson in the show so you can see if grouchy personality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"video-container\"><iframe title=\"Ron Swanson&#039;s Best Moments (Supercut) | Parks and Recreation\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SrLZgP-OR6s?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0&#038;showinfo=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"player\" class=\"full-frame\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Remember in the Disney movie Hercules when Hades uses Charon as a taxi service to the underworld and fire blasts the spirits in the river Styx.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/uploads.disquscdn.com\/images\/05c8b1d09459f90488a5831f3b87080b7d5a806bd1e401470addbeaaa483b10b.gif\" width=\"500\" height=\"244\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">IN the 1st century BC the Roman poet Virgil wrote this about Charon in his rust colored skiff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><i>There Chairon stands, who rules the dreary coast &#8211;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><i>A sordid god: down from his hairy chin<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><i>A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><i>His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><i>A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumbimage alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/7e\/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg\/220px-Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/7e\/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg\/330px-Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/7e\/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg\/440px-Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_10_%28Canto_III_-_Charon_herds_the_sinners_onto_his_boat%29.jpg 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"180\" data-file-height=\"2314\" data-file-width=\"2826\" \/>The Greek hero Hercules used this strength and Charon&#8217;s own pole to wrestle his way onto the boat, and is often the first to greet the deceased. In the 14th Century the Divine Comedy by Dante, Charon is depicted beating reluctant sinners with his oar to board his boat.\u00a0 In most depictions Charon is unclean, grumpy, and a bit aggressive.\u00a0 In more recent depictions he is more like the skeletal Grim Reaper you saw in the clip from the Clash of the Titan movie at the start of this blog.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Either way Charon has a rough job and his countenance reflects that.\u00a0 Visitors come and go like Dionysus, Odysseus, and Theseus, but there\u00a0are no days off for Charon\u00a0as the cruise director of those traveling to the afterlife.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">-Shara<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 14pt\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; 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text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 14pt\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c none no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 0.85; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 4083px; left: 20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 14pt\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 0.85; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 36px; left: 196px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who ferries the newly deceased souls across the rivers Styx and Acheron which divide the world of the living from the world of the dead. To pay for the passage you need a coin to pay Charon. Normally an obolus or danake was placed in or on the mouth of the dead person to pay for this passage.\u00a0 If the dead could not pay the fee, or if the body is left unburied those souls were left to wonder the shores for hundred of years. Watch how Perseus gains passage from &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"class_list":["post-6552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recreated"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6552"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6587,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6552\/revisions\/6587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}