FAQs
To cross the Styx River, the deceased soul had to pay a ferryman, who the Greeks called Charon, the correct payment. Because of this myth, Ancient Greeks buried their loved ones with a coin in their mouth. They believed this act guaranteed that the deceased would have money to pay for the passage of his soul.
What happens if you swear on the River Styx and break it? ›
In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the gods swear by the water of the Styx as their most binding oath. According to Hesiod's Theogony, if a god perjured himself, he was rendered insensible for a year and then banished from the divine society for nine years.
What happens if you touch the River Styx 5e? ›
Despite its uninviting appearance, the water of the River Styx was still a temptation to thirsty travelers in the Lower Planes. However, just a touch or taste of the water was enough to inflict complete amnesia and an effect similar to a feeblemind spell upon a drinker unable to resist it.
What happens if you step into the River Styx? ›
Oaths made by this river brings something 'worse than death' to the oath bearer if not fulfilled. If anyone bathes in the Styx and survives, that person will bear the Curse of Achilles and become invulnerable to most physical attacks, excluding a small spot on their body that if struck will instantly kill them.
What is the only way to cross the River Styx? ›
After death, the soul would follow this process: first, the soul would come to the first river of the Greek Underworld called the River Styx. If you had been buried according to Greek custom with a golden drachma, you would pay the ferryman named Charon to cross.
What happens if you can't cross the River Styx? ›
If the correct fee is paid, Charon will take the dead across. If the dead cannot afford the fee, however, they will be forced to wander the banks of the River Styx as Wraiths for eternity (or one hundred years, depending on the recount). The greatest oath that a god can make is to swear on the river Styx.
What does Styx mean in Greek? ›
In Greek mythology, Styx (/ˈstɪks/; Ancient Greek: Στύξ [stýks]; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and river of the Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the mother of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia.
Where is the River Styx in real life? ›
Is the River Styx a real place? The River Styx is not a real place in world geography. It was the main river in the Greek mythological Underworld that the souls of the dead crossed.
Why can't you swim across the River Styx? ›
As the story goes ....
When your soul reached the River Styx, a boatman named Charon would give you a ride to the underworld. But the ride was not free. If your family had not buried you with a coin to use as payment, you were stuck. Some souls, who did not have a coin, tried to swim across the River Styx.
What happens if you bathe in the River Styx? ›
embo. oks In Greek mythology if you bathe in the River Styx you sort of become invincible except for one weak spot ("Anyone who bathes in the River Styx will be gifted with the strength, power, speed, and near invincibility of Achilles.
In The Last Olympian, Percy Jackson bathes in the River Styx on Nico's insistence; in the midst of the impending battle against Kronos, the odds appeared to be heavily against Olympus and so Percy resolves to take on the Curse of Achilles in order to compensate.
What happens when you fall in River Styx? ›
Angelo Santos da Cruz, anyone who dives into the River Styz probably died immediately. The Achilles dipped by Thetis story is not in Homer. It seems to be from the late Roman era or Medieval times., I think. Gods swear by the River Styx because it is deadly.
Who killed Achilles? ›
How does Achilles die? Achilles is killed by an arrow, shot by the Trojan prince Paris. In most versions of the story, the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow into his vulnerable spot, his heel. In one version of the myth Achilles is scaling the walls of Troy and about to sack the city when he is shot.
What does being dipped in the River Styx do? ›
In an effort to avoid his son's death, many strategies are employed. She dips his young son into the River Styx. As a result, his son will be both immortal and invulnerable.
What is Percy's Achilles heel? ›
This is where the term "Achilles heel" comes from, a reference to the single point of failure in an otherwise perfect system. When Percy takes a dip in the River Styx to gain this invincibility, he chooses his own weak spot, a tiny point in the small of his back.
What did a person have to do to pass over the River Styx? ›
River Styx Ferryman: Charon
Charon was usually depicted as a human-like man, but sometimes was depicted as a demon or monster. To ensure Charon would actually convey the dead across the river, people would bury their dead with Charon's symbol: Charon's obol.
What does it cost to cross the River Styx? ›
The toll was one coin, a Greek obolus. This toll was known as Charon's Obol, a small payment for the ferryman to show honor for the dead. According to Greek funeral custom, the dead were buried with the obolus underneath their tongue; when they arrived at the banks of the River Styx, they could pay Charon to cross.
Who can cross the River Styx? ›
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (/ˈkɛərɒn, -ən/ KAIR-on, -ən; Ancient Greek: Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and the dead.
What does it mean to cross the River Styx? ›
The Styx, which was also a female deity, formed the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead - Hades. When someone died, the psyche (spirit) of the deceased had to cross the river Styx, carried on a boat by the ferryman Charon, in order to enter the afterlife.
