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Not a joke question. Why did the River of Styx need money? Why place two coins on a dead persons eyes to give him? Was it ever explained somewhere? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by Patnou@lemmy.world to c/askhistorians@lemmy.world

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[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

First off, the practice was to put the coin in the deceased’s mouth, not on the eyes. And second, it was more widespread than the Greeks, appearing from the ancient near east to early European Christians—so the myth that it was payment for passage over the Styx was probably an attempt to explain a preexisting practice.

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