Lekythos (oil flask): Charon
450-400 BCE
Artists
Description
Charon, the ferryman of the dead, punts his boat over the river Styx. He wears a short black tunic and a traveller’s cap. The water beneath the boat is now a purple-red color but would originally have been blue. Tall reeds surround the boat. Another, very poorly preserved, figure stands at the other edge of the scene. This might be interpreted as a representation of the deceased person that this vase is intended to commemorate, and who might be thought of as waiting for Charon to carry them over the river to the underworld.
Dimensions
38.6 x 11 cm (15 3/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
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