The Ferryman is one of the oldest characters in human history, and his purpose was to take you to the Underworld.

So why does he turn up in so many stories and cultures, and not just Greek Mythology? He has a past that has a huge history, and here we look at some of his myths, and use our understanding of him and his common traits, to see if we can trace him back, back far in time, and probably far longer back than you would first imagine, making him one of the oldest characters in story telling history.

And with the information we discover we can start understanding how our ancestors thought of death.

So welcome to myths of Odin, the Proto Indo Europeans and their Centum and Satem divisions, and the Persians. We discuss bridges, boats, and psychopomps, and how our view of death has changed over time. And welcome to the story of the Ferry man.

And rememeber don't pay the ferryman!

Text and Book References include:

Pausians 10.28.2
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 4.2.5.10
Śvetāsvatara Upaisạd 2.8
Dēnkart 3.182
Maṇḍukaka Upanisad 1.2.7
Frogs (139f), Aristophane
Alcestis 441, Euripides
Yasna 46.10, Gāthic Avesta
Navigation of Saint Brendon
A Second Century Satirist, Lucian
Russian Laments for the Dead
Poetic Edda, Carolyne Larrington, Oxford World Classics
Prose Edda, Anthony Faulkes Trans., Everyman Publishing
Vita Merlini, Geoffrey of Monmouth
De Bello Gothico, Procopius
Vergil's Aeneid, Oxford Press
Mahabharata (Abridged), Penguin Books
India's "Tīrthas": "Crossings" in Sacred Geography, Diana L. Eck, History of Religions , May, 1981, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 323344
Gods and Men in Vedic Ritualism: Toward a Hierarchy of Resemblance, Brian K. Smith, History of Religions , May, 1985, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 291307
The Orpheus Myth in North America, A. H. Gayton, The Journal of American Folklore , Jul. Sep., 1935, Vol. 48, No. 189, pp. 263293
Lincoln, Bruce, et al. Death, war, and sacrifice: studies in ideology and practice. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1991


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Chapters
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0:00 Introduction
0:58 The Greek Myth of Kharon and Charon, and his personification
5:15 Where did the Greeks think the Ferryman come from?
7:10 What are the common traits of the Ferryman in Greek culture?
10:35 Old Norse stories of the Ferryman
16:30 The Ferryman in Celtic culture
20:16 What does all this mean, and the Two Branches of the Proto Indo Europeans
21:42 The Russian Laments
22:37 The Indian Hymns and Vedic Culture
28:44 Why the difference in the beliefs and doctrines?
31:08 Zarathustra's influence and his names meaning
33:01 The Ferryman's actual name and our view of death
34:02 The Myth of Orpheus
35:20 The Native American Tribes have a story
36:32 Coincide or a 15,000 year old story?
37:22 The true age and meaning of the Ferryman