In mythology, certain coins are put on dead mens' eyes or in their mouths for the journey over the River Styx. What would be the right coins? The Wikipedia article says the following: "In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (English pronunciation: /ˈkɛərɒn/, /ˈkɛərən/; Greek Χάρων) is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person.[SUP][1][/SUP] Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years. In the catabasis mytheme, heroes — such as Heracles, Orpheus, Aeneas, Dionysus and Psyche — journey to the underworld and return, still alive, conveyed by the boat of Charon." How much would an obulus or a danake cost these days?
No idea about the exchange rates. But, I'd imagine that the coin was equivalent to a typical river crossing fare. So, adjusting for our modern shortage of labor (vs. the ancient shortage of capital goods, like a river boat), I would estimate that you should send off the modern passengers of a riverboat on Styx and Acheron with $10-20. Hopefully Charon has upgraded the size of his ferryboat in the last millenia or two... otherwise the wait in line is going to be at least a century long! Hmm... I wonder when and where Charon was supposed to spend his wages? Or did the Greeks just believe he was piling up a mountain of coin somewhere?
Never heard of the danake, but obolus is an obol. Its a very tiny unit of silver, so one could think of a dime or possibly a half dime value of pure silver today. Trying to put this in modern terms is difficult due to so many things costing differently today than in the past. To put it in some perspective, an obol would probably pay for a good dinner at the time. Btw, if someone really wanted a "coin of Charon", there are some scarce Greek coins with Charon's picture on them. However, for the myth, any Greek obol would be acceptable. Chris
Thanks for that Chris! The legend was that if you were short on change for the ferry ride you would have to wait 100 years before getting a free ride! I was once hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine that has one and only one ferry (canoe) crossing at Caratunk. Some of course choose to try and ford it without help sometimes with disasterous results.
