DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0223
206
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XLI.
Note.—The Cbabun of the Etruscans.
The Charun of the Etruscans was by no means identical with the
Charon of the Greeks. Dr. Ambrosch, in his work, " De Charonte
Etrusco," endeavours to show that there was no analogy between them ;
though referring the origin of the Etruscan, as of the Greek, to Egypt
(Diod. Sic. I. c. 92, p. 82, ed. Rhod.), whence Charon was introduced into
Greece, together with the Orphic doctrines, between the 30th and 40th
Olympiad (660—620 b. c.) ; and though he thinks the Etruscan Charun
owes his origin immediately to the scenic travesties of the Greek
dramatic poets. Dr. Braun (Ann. Inst. 1837, 2. p. 269), however,
who rejects this Orphic origin of the Etruscan Charun, and thinks him
Cabiric, maintains the analogy between him and the aged ferryman of
Hellenic mythology. But in the Etruscan system he is not merely
" the pilot of the livid lake ;" his office is also to destroy life ; to
conduct shades to the other world ; and, moreover, to torment the souls
of the guilty.
Like the ferryman of the Styx, the Etruscan Charun is generally
represented as a squalid and hideous old man, with flaming eyes, and
savage aspect; but he has, moreover, the ears, and often the tusks, of a
brute, and has sometimes negro features and complexion, and frequently
wings—in short, he answers well, cloven feet excepted, to the modern
conception of the devil. See the frontispiece to this volume. He is
principally, however, distinguished by his attributes, chief of which is
the hammer or mallet; but he has sometimes a sword in addition, or in
place of it; or else a rudder, or oar, which indicates his analogy to the
Charon of the Greeks ; or a forked stick, perhaps equivalent to the
caduceus of Mercury, to whom as an infernal deity he also corresponds ;
or, it may be, a torch, or snakes, the usual attributes of a Fury.
He is most frequently introduced as intervening in cases of violent
death, and in such instances we find his name recorded ; as in the relief
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XLI.
Note.—The Cbabun of the Etruscans.
The Charun of the Etruscans was by no means identical with the
Charon of the Greeks. Dr. Ambrosch, in his work, " De Charonte
Etrusco," endeavours to show that there was no analogy between them ;
though referring the origin of the Etruscan, as of the Greek, to Egypt
(Diod. Sic. I. c. 92, p. 82, ed. Rhod.), whence Charon was introduced into
Greece, together with the Orphic doctrines, between the 30th and 40th
Olympiad (660—620 b. c.) ; and though he thinks the Etruscan Charun
owes his origin immediately to the scenic travesties of the Greek
dramatic poets. Dr. Braun (Ann. Inst. 1837, 2. p. 269), however,
who rejects this Orphic origin of the Etruscan Charun, and thinks him
Cabiric, maintains the analogy between him and the aged ferryman of
Hellenic mythology. But in the Etruscan system he is not merely
" the pilot of the livid lake ;" his office is also to destroy life ; to
conduct shades to the other world ; and, moreover, to torment the souls
of the guilty.
Like the ferryman of the Styx, the Etruscan Charun is generally
represented as a squalid and hideous old man, with flaming eyes, and
savage aspect; but he has, moreover, the ears, and often the tusks, of a
brute, and has sometimes negro features and complexion, and frequently
wings—in short, he answers well, cloven feet excepted, to the modern
conception of the devil. See the frontispiece to this volume. He is
principally, however, distinguished by his attributes, chief of which is
the hammer or mallet; but he has sometimes a sword in addition, or in
place of it; or else a rudder, or oar, which indicates his analogy to the
Charon of the Greeks ; or a forked stick, perhaps equivalent to the
caduceus of Mercury, to whom as an infernal deity he also corresponds ;
or, it may be, a torch, or snakes, the usual attributes of a Fury.
He is most frequently introduced as intervening in cases of violent
death, and in such instances we find his name recorded ; as in the relief