Styx: Did you mean...?

In Greek mythology the terrible and powerful Titans were those deities which preceded the Olympian gods. Never worshipped as the other gods, they nevertheless helped, through contrast, to clarify the position...

Cassander (c. 355-297 BCE, r. 305-297 BCE) was self-proclaimed king of Macedon during the political turmoil following Alexander's death. Born in Greece as the son of Antipater, the regent of Macedon and Greece in the absence of Alexander...

A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one...

The act of voluntary death was never condemned in antiquity. In fact, The English word "suicide" comes from the Latin for "self-slaying." The reason for a voluntary death had to be one that was honorable and necessary...

When looking at Ancient Greek literature, one can see the importance family plays in Greek culture. We see this displayed in the Greek works Medea by Euripides and Antigone by Sophocles. Throughout these...

A representation of the Titan Oceanus, a figure from Greek mythology who was a personification of the river or ocean which encircled the world and was the source of all other rivers. With the Titan Tethys, he was the father of...

An Attic lekythos vase, c. 450 BCE. This type of vessel was used for storing fine oils and perfume and often dedicated in burials. Here, Charon is depicted, the boatman who ferried souls across the river Styx to Hades. To the right...

A detail of an Attic lekythos vase, c. 450 BCE showing Charon, the boatman who ferried souls across the river Styx to Hades. To the right is Hermes, identified by his kerykeion or herald's staff and fulfilling one of...

A representation of the Titan Oceanus, a figure from Greek mythology who was a personification of the river or ocean which encircled the world and was the source of all other rivers. With the Titan Tethys, he was the father of the Oceanids...

Upon death, ancient Greek culture called for placing a coin, or obol, in the mouth of the deceased to pay Charon for rowing him/her across the River Styx to the afterlife.