Charun
In
Origins
His name was imported from
Appearance
The Etruscan Charun was fundamentally different from his Greek counterpart. Guarding the entry to the underworld, he is depicted with a
Function
Larissa Bonfante and Judith Swaddling have this to say about Charun: "Many scenes feature the two purely Etruscan underworld demons, Vanth and Charu, whose job is not to punish the dead but rather to escort them to their final destination."[10] However, there are at least two examples, on the sarcophagus of Laris Pulenas as well as a red figure stamnos from Orbetello, that do illustrate Charun in a menacing fashion.[11] Each depicts Charun threatening a male figure with his hammer.
The grotesque nature of the depiction of Charun appears to have been at least partly apotropaic in nature. Apotropaic art was the practice of the neighboring Greeks at this time, as represented by the exaggerated eyes painted on drinking vessels in the 6th century BC to ward away spirits while drinking or the monstrous depiction of Medusa whose image was said to turn men to stone. Through these images of the grotesque, violence, and blood-letting, the Etruscans may have believed that they helped to fend off evil spirits from the tomb as well as sanctify the tomb perhaps in place of the actual ritual sacrifice of an animal usually performed in funerary rites.[12]
Nancy de Grummond offers a different view. The relief on the sarcophagus of Laris Pulenas at
Modern views
Many authors tend to take a more sensationalist view of Charun, speaking of him as a "death-demon". Such authors may be inspired by Christian views of Hell and moral punishment. For the Etruscans, as with the Greeks, Hades was merely a morally neutral place of the dead. Neither the "good" nor the "bad" could escape the clutches of death, and both were assembled there together.
According to Jeff Rovin [
The Charon of
Assistants
Charun is believed to have worked with many assistants in the Underworld, although they could be independent deities in their own right. Most of their names are lost to us, but at least one,
There are four Charuns shown in a fresco in the Tomb of the Charuns, and each appear to have sub-names. These are Charun Chunchules, the heavily blistered Charun Huths, Charun Lufe, and the fourth has crumbled away to illegibility.[24] On Laris Pulena's sarcophagus, there are also two Charuns and two Vanths on either side of the figure in the center who is presumably Laris Pulena himself. De Grummond does not cite these figures as assistants, but believes Charun may be a type of creature rather than a singular demon.
Many of Charun's other presumed assistants appear in the Tomb of the Blue Demons, which is also the home of the only Etruscan rendering of the aforementioned ferry of Charon.[25]
Popular culture
In contemporary times, Charun has never been as popular as his Greek counterpart, though there have been some occurrences.
- He appears in the poem "Back Matter" by Rachel Blau DuPlessis, invoking the imagery of the Tomb of the Charuns.
- Charun is Monster in My Pocket #97. Unlike Ancient depictions, he is bald, bulky, appears to be wearing no clothing, and his wings look leathery (perhaps in reference to Rovin's claim of "leathery skin") and lack feathers. [5]
- A brief reference to Charun in The Tribune's Curse: SPQR VII a 2003 novel by John Maddox Roberts in an invocation to "Father Dis" and related figures, including "Charun of the hammer" (p. 65).
- Charun is referred to in the song "The one who will not be named" by the metal band GWAR
References
- ^ Nancy DeGrummond & Erika Simon, The Religion of the Etruscans, 2006, p. 57.
- ^ Terpening, p. 15.
- ISBN 0-226-71235-4p. 164;
- ^ Richardson, p. 164.
- ^ Terpening, p. 15;
- Blackwell Publishing, 1998, 2000, p. 242 (compares ears to that of an ass); Rovin compares them to a boar like the tusks
- ^ de Grummond, 227; Richardson, 164; "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), [1], [2] - ^ De Grummond, chapter X
- ^ Rovin, p. 50; [3], [4]
- ^ Larissa Bonfante and Judith Swaddling. Etruscan Myths. University of Texas Press, 2006. p. 33.
- ^ del Chiaro, plate XLVII
- ^ Arnobius, II, 62.
- ^ Starr, 451; de Grummond, Chapter X.
- ^ de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006, Chapter X.
- ^ de Ruyt, p. 236, cited in Terpening, p. 14.
- ^ Terpening, p. 15
- ^ Terpening, pp. 14, 141 (where Michelangelo's depiction of Charon in the Sistine Chapel's Last Judgment shows the influence of Dante's Commedia [Inf. 3. 109-111], in turn influenced by Vergil's Aeneid 6, where the ferryman Charon has some Etruscan traits).
- ^ Rose, p. 65.
- ^ Rocco
- ^ Rovin, p. 50.
- ^ Image Archived May 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Knight, p. 257 (quoted in Terpening, 85).
- ^ de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006. pp. 229-230.
- ^ de Grummond, Chapter X.
- ^ de Grummond, p. 230.
- Sources
- Bonfante, Larissa, and Judith Swaddling. Etruscan Myths. University of Texas Press, 2006.
- de Grummond, Nancy. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Museum, 2006.
- de Ruyt, Franz. Charun: Démon étrusque de la mort. Rome: Institut Historique Belge, 1934.
- del Chiaro, Mario. The Etruscan Funnel Group. Florence: Sansoni Editore. 1974.
- Knight, W.F. Jackson. Roman Vergil. 1944. Reprint Middlesex: Penguin, 1966.
- Lurker, Manfred. A Dictionary of Gods & Goddesses, Devils & Demons. Routledge, 1987.
- Müller, Carl Ottfried. Ancient Art and Its Remains; or a Manual of the Archæology of Art. Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. pp. 155 and 159.
- Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History. Cornell University Press, 1992. p. 17
- Starr, Chester G. A History of the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1991. p 451.
- Terpening, Ronnie H. Charon and the Crossing: Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Transformations of a Myth. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1984.
- Turner, Alice K. The History of Hell. Harvest Books, 1995. pp. 7, 25. She states on the latter page, "Eurynomus could have been one of the keres or derivative of Etruscan Charun, but Pausanias does not seem to think so."