The purpose of placing two coins over a deceased individual’s eyelids is a payment to gain access across the river of Styx in Greek Mythology, this tradition is referred to as Charon’s obol. If coins were not placed upon the eyelids then the wondering spirit would not get to ride on Charon’s ferry into the underworld, therefore causing the spirit to wander the banks of the river of Styx for hundreds, or possibly even thousands of years, because who likes to work for free, Charon the underworld ferryman surely didn’t. This wasn’t such a strange tradition back then, it was in fact a very popular one, in some rare cases the ancient tradition is still used today, except not with obols. One tradition that wasn’t so popular is having your skull used as a stage prop for the play Hamlet. Yes, you heard that right, a guy requested that his skull be used as a stage prop for a world-famous play, it took decades before someone felt comfortable enough to use his skull onstage, but that’s a different topic that we’ll cover some other time.Join Seth as he dives into the history behind Charons Obol. Thanks for listening to this episode.
