ABSTRACT
When Pope John Paul II died in 2005, he was buried in Rome with 12 golden coins in his pocket. I don’t know why this treasure was left with him, but certainly this act reflects an ancient Greek-Roman belief according to which the departed souls need to pay an obolus (or a coin) to Charon, the ferryman of Hades, to cross the River Acheron. If not, the spirit is condemned to wander the deserted shore without refuge. Dante Alighieri incorporated this fascinating myth into his The Divine Comedy. At the beginning of his visionary journey to the underworld, Dante meets Charon who asks him to leave the Hades because he was still living. In the third Canto of Inferno, we can read about their encounter:
As I looked onwards, I saw people on the bank of a great river, at which I said: ‘Master [Dante to Virgil], now let me understand who these are, and what custom makes them so ready to cross over, as I can see by the dim light.’ And he to me: ‘The thing will be told you, when we halt our steps, on the sad strand of Acheron.’ Then, fearing that my words might have offended him, I stopped myself from speaking, with eyes ashamed and downcast, till we had reached the flood. And see, an old man, with white hoary locks, came towards us in a boat, shouting: ‘Woe to you, wicked spirits! Never hope to see heaven: I come to carry you to the other shore, into eternal darkness, into fire and ice. And you, who are there, a living spirit, depart from those who are dead.’ But when he saw that I did not depart, he said: ‘By other ways, by other means of passage, you will cross to the shore: a quicker boat must carry you.’ And my guide said to him: ‘Charon, do not vex yourself: it is willed there, where what is willed is done: ask no more.’ Then the bearded mouth, of the ferryman of the livid marsh, who had wheels of flame round his eyes, was stilled.
