A typical depiction of Charun. From an Etruscan red-figure calyx-crater. End of the 4th century BC-beginning of the 3rd century BC.

The other side of the same artifact, depicting Ajax killing a Trojan prisonner in front of Charun.

In Etruscan mythology, Charun (also spelled Charu, or Karun) was the psychopomp of the underworld, not to be confused with the lord of the underworld, known to the Etruscans as Aita. He is often portrayed with the goddess Vanth, a winged goddess also associated with the underworld. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 501 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1900 × 2275 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 501 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1900 × 2275 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 356 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1500 × 2525 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 356 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1500 × 2525 pixel, file size: 2. ... The Etruscans were a race of unknown origin from North Italy who were eventually integrated into Rome. ... Many sets of religious beliefs have a particular spirit, deity, demon or angel whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife, such as Heaven or Hell. ... // In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ... In Etruscan mythology, Aita was the Etruscan name for the underworld and also the corresponding anthropomorphized deity, borrowed from Greek Hades. ... In Etruscan mythology, Vanth was a demoness who lived in the underworld. ...

Origin of name

His name was imported from Greek Charon ^[1], although it is uncertain whether Etruscans had a native name for a god of the underworld before this. As suggested by alternations in the Etruscan language such as θu "one" changing to θunśna "first", lev "lion" (from Greek leōn) and Apulu (from Greek Apóllōn), words ending in -n after u were disappearing from the language which is why we see his name spelled Хarun and later Хaru. In Greek mythology, Charon (Greek Χάρων, the bright[1]) was the ferryman of Hades. ... Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC Etruscan was a language spoken and written in the ancient region of Etruria (current Tuscany plus western Umbria and northern Latium) and in parts of what are now Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna (where the Etruscans were displaced by Gauls), in Italy. ...

Appearance

The Etruscan Charun was fundamentally different from his Greek counterpart. Guarding the entry to the underworld he is depicted with a hammer, his religious symbol, and is shown with pointed ears, snakes around his arms, and a blueish coloration symbolizing the decay of death. In some images he has enormous wings. He is also depicted as a large creature with snake-like hair,^[2] a vulture's hooked-nose, large tusks like a boar, ^[3], heavy brow ridges ^[4], large lips, fiery eyes, ^[5] pointed ears^[6] , a black beard, enormous wings^[7] discolored (pale cream, bluish or greyish)^[8] skin, and snakes around his arm.^[9] A claw hammer For other uses, see Hammer (disambiguation). ... blue: sea snakes, black: land snakes Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ... Orders Falconiformes (Fam. ... For the article about nose in humans, see human nose Human nose in profile Elephants have prehensile noses Dogs have very sensitive noses Anatomically, a nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which admit and expel air for respiration. ... Pacific Walrus at Cape Peirce A tusk is an extremely long tooth of certain mammals that protrudes when the mouth is closed. ... // Binomial name Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig. ... The mouth, also known as the buccal cavity or the oral cavity, is the opening through which an animal or human takes in food. ... For an alternative meaning, see ear (botany). ... A man with a full beard A beard is the hair that grows on a mans chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip (the opposite is a clean-shaven face). ... The word wing or wings has more than one use: In aeronautics a wing is an apparatus used to create lift. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Epidermis (skin). ...

Function

Larissa Bonfante and Judith Swaddling have this to say about Charun: "Many scenes feature the two purely Etruscan underworld demons, Vanth and Charu, whose job is not to punish the dead but rather to escort them to their final destination. This is the only aspect of the Etruscan Charu, aside from his name, which connects Charu to the Greek Charon, the boatman of the dead." ^[10] Based on their combined expertise in Etruscanology and classical artifacts, they consider the icon of the Charuns' swinging hammers in Pulenas's tomb to be an apotropaic device (a talisman to ward off evil). Apotropic art was the practice of the neighbouring Greeks at this time, as represented by the exaggerated eyes painted on drinking vessels in the 6th century BC to ward away spirits while drinking or the monstrous depiction of Medusa whose image was said to turn men to stone. Through these images of violence and blood-letting, the Etruscans may have believed that they helped to fend off evil spirits from the tomb as well as sanctify the tomb perhaps in place of the actual ritual sacrifice of an animal usually performed in funerary rites.^[11] Giuliano Bonfante (born August 6, 1904 in Milan, Italy; died September 9, 2005 in Rome, Italy) was a linguistics scholar and expert on the language of the Etruscans and other Italic peoples. ... Apotrope (adj. ... Medusa, by Arnold Böcklin (1878) In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα, Médousa, guardian, protectress[1]), was a monstrous chthonic female character, essentially an extension of an apotropaic mask, gazing upon whom could turn onlookers to stone. ...

Nancy de Grummond offers a different view. The relief on the sarcophagus of Laris Pulenas at Tarquinia, shows two Charuns swinging their hammers at a person's head, though the head (probably that of Pulenas, the nobleman whose sarcophagus it is) no longer survives in the relief due to an accident of preservation. Years later, in the Colosseum, a Charun-like figure called Dispater would hit the loser with a hammer to make sure he was dead, perhaps in reflection of Charun.^[12] The hammer might also be used to protect the dead; it is sometimes swung at serpents attacking the deceased (as shown on the Orvieto amphora). Most often it is simply held, or the handle planted on the ground and the mallet head leaned upon (above). ^[13] De Grummond notes that the ferry of Charon appears only once in surviving Etruscan art, and that some Etruscan demons are equipped with oars, but they typically use them as weapons rather than in their maritime function. Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy. ... The Colosseum by night: exterior view of the best-preserved section. ... For the French nuclear ballistic missile system, see Hades (missile). ...

Modern views

Many authors tend to take a more sensationalist view of Charun, speaking of him as a "death-demon". Such authors may be inspired by Christian views of Hell and moral punishment. For the Etruscans, as with the Greeks, Hades was merely a morally neutral place of the dead. Neither the "good" nor the "bad" could escape the clutches of death and both were assembled there together. Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) A hell, according to many religious beliefs, is an afterlife of suffering where the wicked or unrighteous dead are punished. ...

Ron Terpening, a professor of Italian literature at the University of Arizona, cites Franz de Ruyt, who claims Charun is similar to Chaldean demons or the Hindu divinities Shiva and Kali^[14]. He is presumed to be the servant of Mantus and Mania, and, like Charon, is comparable to the Greeks' Thanatos, the Erinyes, and the Keres^[15]. The author, like de Grummond, feels that some later Renaissance paintings of Greek Charon may show the continuity of pre-Christian Etruscan beliefs.^[16] Later on when the deity had evolved into the Greek Charontes ^[17] or Caronte in Italian^[18], Terpening notes that Charun's hammer or mallet is sometimes replaced with an oar, although it does not fit with his duties. The University of Arizona (UA or U of A) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. ... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... “Nilakantha” redirects here. ... This article is about the Hindu goddess Kali. ... In Roman and Etruscan mythology, Mantus and his wife, Mania were gods of the underworld. ... In Greek mythology, Mania (insanity) was the personification of insanity. ... Look up Thanatos in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the characters from Greek myth. ... In Greek mythology, the Keres (singular: Ker) were female death-spirits and sources of evils. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... In Greek mythology, Charon (Greek Χάρων, the bright[1]) was the ferryman of Hades. ... A mallet is a type of hammer, and is manufactured in different designs according to their intended use. ... An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. ...

According to Jeff Rovin, Charun guided souls on horseback to the underworld and "brings horses to the newly-dead", but this is idle speculation.^{[citation needed]} He also claims that Charun appears to love violence and participates in warfare adding that Charun enjoys natural disasters as well.^[19] An Etruscan krater from François Tomb (above) depicts Charun with Ajax or Achilles (left, cropped out) slaughtering Trojan prisoners. This urn is currently held in Cabinet des Médailles 920, Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. Rovin says that some accounts depict him with a sword, and that he "slices" souls with it. At least one image shows him guiding a soul on horseback, equipped with both a hammer and a sword, though he is simply carrying it on his person.^[20] A krater (Greek κρατηρ, from the Greek verb κεραννυμι, to mix. ... Ajax Ajax or Aias (Greek: ) was a legendary Greek hero and king of Salamis. ... The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles (also Akhilleus or Achilleus) (Ancient Greek: ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War... Troy or Ilion, see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). ... Gold 20-stater of Eucratides I (175-150 BCE), the largest gold coin ever minted in Antiquity. ... The new buildings of the library. ... It has been suggested that War-sword be merged into this article or section. ...

The Charon of Vergil in the Aeneid is particularly cruel; according to W.F. Jackson Knight^[21], "Vergil's Charon is not only the Greek ferryman of Aristophanes [in The Frogs], but more than half his Etruscan self, Charun, the Etruscan torturing death-devil, no ferryman at all." For other uses see Virgil (disambiguation). ... The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos): is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy where he... Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , c. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Frogs in Greek Frogs (Βάτραχοι (Bátrachoi)) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. ...

Assistants

Charun is believed to have worked with many assistants in the Underworld, although they could be independent deities in their own right. Most of their names are lost to us, but at least one, Tuchulcha, is identified in the tomb of Orcus II, and has hair and wings like a Gorgon. Tuchulcha, whose gender is debated among scholars, appears in a depiction of the story of Theseus (known to the Etruscans as These) visiting the underworld. These and his friend Peirithous are playing a board game, attended by Tuchulcha.^[22] In Etruscan mythology, Tulchulcha was a female demon that lived in the underworld. ... See also Gorgona, for the Colombian/Italian islands. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night. ... In the English language, these is plural of This. ... In Greek mythology, Pirithous (also transliterated as Perithoos or Peirithoos) was the King of the Lapiths and husband of Hippodamia. ... A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a board (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). ...

There are four Charuns shown in a fresco in the Tomb of the Charuns, and each appear to have sub-names. These are Charun Chunchules, the heavily blistered Charun Huths, Charun Lufe, and the fourth has crumbled away to illegibility.^[23] On Laris Pulena's sarcophagus, there are also two Charuns and two Vanths on either side of the figure in the center who is presumably Laris Pulena himself. De Grummond does not cite these figures as assistants, but believes Charun may be a type of creature rather than a singular god. In Etruscan mythology, Vanth was a demoness who lived in the underworld. ...

Many of Charun's other presumed assistants appear in the Tomb of the Blue Demons, which is also the home of the only Etruscan rendering of the aforementioned ferry of Charon.^[24]

In contemporary popular culture

In contemporary times, Charun has never been as popular as his Greek counterpart, though there have been some occurrences.

• He appears in the poem "Back Matter" by Rachel Blau DuPlessis, invoking the imagery of the Tomb of the Charuns.
• Charun is Monster in My Pocket #97. Unlike Ancient depictions, he is bald, bulky, appears to be wearing no clothing, and his wings look leathery (perhaps in reference to Rovin's claim of "leathery skin") and lack feathers. [6]
• A brief reference to Charun in The Tribune's Curse: SPQR VII a 2003 novel by John Maddox Roberts in an invocation to "Father Dis" and related figures, including "Charun of the hammer" (p. 65).

Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born 1941), American poet and essayist, is known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry. ... Monster in My Pocket was a toy line developed by Morrison Entertainment Group, headed by Joe Morrison and John Weems, and released by Matchbox in 1990 consisting of small, soft plastic monsters from religion and mythology, literary fantasy, and unexplained phenomena. ... The SPQR series is a collection of detective stories by John Maddox Roberts set in the time of the Roman Republic. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... John Maddox Roberts John Maddox Roberts born in Ohio, is an author who has written many science fiction and fantasy novels such as SPQR and Hannibals Children. ...

References

• Bonfante, Larissa, and Judith Swaddling. Etruscan Myths. University of Texas Press, 2006.
• de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006.
• de Ruyt, Franz. Charun: Démon étrusque de la mort. Rome: Institut Historique Belge, 1934.
• Knight, W.F. Jackson. Roman Vergil. 1944. Reprint Middlesex: Penguin, 1966.
• Lurker, Manfred. A Dictionary of Gods & Goddesses, Devils & Demons. Routledge, 1987.
• Müller, Carl Ottfried. Ancient Art and Its Remains; or a Manual of the Archæology of Art. Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. pp 155 and 159.
• Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History. Cornell University Press, 1992. p. 17
• Starr, Chester G. A History of the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1991. p 451.
• Terpening, Ronnie H. Charon and the Crossing: Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Transformations of a Myth. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1984.
• Turner, Alice K. The History of Hell. Harvest Books, 1995. pp. 7, 25. She states on the latter page, "Eurynomus could have been one of the keres or derivative of Etruscan Charun, but Pausanias does not seem to think so."

Routledge is an imprint for books in the humanities part of the Taylor & Francis Group, which also has Brunner-Routledge, RoutledgeCurzon and RoutledgeFalmer divisions. ... Cornell University Press, established in 1869, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States and is one of the countrys largest university presses. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 km) south by east of Williamsport and 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. ... Bucknell University is a private university located along the Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ...

Notes

1. ^ Nancy DeGrummond & Erika Simon, The Religion of the Etruscans, 2006, p.57.
2. ^ Terpening, 15;
3. ^ Emeline Hill Richardson. The Etruscans: Their Art and Civilization. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964, 1976, ISBN 0-226-71234-6 ; ISBN 0-226-71235-4 p. 164;
4. ^ Richardson, 164
5. ^ Terpening, 15;
6. ^ Graeme Barker and Tom Rasmussen. The Etruscans. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 1998, 2000, p. 242 (compares ears to that of an ass); Rovin compares them to a boar like the tusks
7. ^ de Grummond, 227; Richardson, 164; [1], [2], [3]
8. ^ De Grummond, chapter X
9. ^ Rovin, 50; [4], [5]
10. ^ Larissa Bonfante and Judith Swaddling. Etruscan Myths. University of Texas Press, 2006. p.33
11. ^ Arnobius, II, 62.
12. ^ Starr, 451; De Grummond, Chapter X)
13. ^ de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006, chapter X.
14. ^ de Ruyt, 236, cited in Terpening, 14
15. ^ Terpening, 15
16. ^ Terpening, 14, 141 (where Michelangelo's depiction of Charon in the Sistine Chapel's Last Judgment shows the influence of Dante's Commedia [Inf. 3. 109-111], in turn influenced by Vergil's Aeneid 6, where the ferryman Charon has some Etruscan traits).
17. ^ Rose, 65
18. ^ Rocco
19. ^ Rovin, 50 (Rovin .)
20. ^ http://www.costaetrusca.com/infoet1.jpg
21. ^ p. 257 (quoted in Terpening, 85)
22. ^ de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006. pp. 229-230
23. ^ de Grummond, Chapter X
24. ^ de Grummond, 230

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See also

• Etruscan mythology
• Charon
• Vanth