you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 73 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (8 children)

Yes. That's why the ancient Greeks buried their dead with a coin over each eye.

Edit: Oops, looks like the burial of the Barathian king in Game of Thrones has infected my memory. The coin goes in the mouth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon's_obol

Edit: And the coin is the fare, not the tip. If you don't pay, you don't cross. Make sure your loved ones know about this.

  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 27 points 6 hours ago (4 children)

    Wasn't this "just" the standard payment though to cross the river? E.g. if you can't pay the fare you don't cross?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 21 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

    Yes, I do believe you are correct--the coin is the fare and I see no record of a tipping Charon, so you're probably fine just leaving a positive review.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 1 hour ago

    Outside of Game of Thrones, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence of coins being placed on the eyes of the dead. I saw one example of Polish folklore who believed that when a person died with their eyes open, they were searching for a loved one to drag into death with them, so heavy coins were placed to keep their eyelids closed and protect their living family.

    I also remember reading in a 40 year old novel that silver coins were placed on the eyes of vampire victims to prevent them from returning as undead. Obviously that one isn't a reliable source, but shows the idea has been around for a while.

  • source
  • parent