Questions answered (2024)

When you die, how much exactly do you “pay the ferryman”?

In mythology, the ferryman Charon was paid one obol, representing in weight one half of a scruple of silver (itself 20 grains) or one-sixth of a drachma. It cannot have been a large amount, as the coin was placed under the tongue of the deceased by his family, so he could pay his fare across the River Styx. In The Aeneid, Book VI, Virgil describes Charon as bearded, with fiery eyes like hollow furnaces.

The (one-way) fare was two obols. One obol coin was placed on each closed eyelid.There were no concessions.

Although the story of Charon and his fee to the dead of an