| − | '''Styx''' (from the Greek verb signifying “to abhor”) in [[Greek mythology]] was one of the principal [[river]]s of the [[netherworld]], where it floeds sluggishly round seven times; and is properly the river of death, which all must cross to enter the unseen world, and of which, in the [[Greek mythology]], [[Charon (mythology)]] was the [[ferryman]]. In their solemn engagements it was by this [[river]] the gods took oath to signify that they would forego their godhood if they swore falsely. The Styx was a branch of the Great Ocean which girds the universe.<ref>{{Nuttall|Styx}}</ref> | + | '''Styx''' (from the Greek verb signifying “to abhor”) in [[Greek mythology]] was one of the principal [[river]]s of the [[netherworld]], where it flowed sluggishly round seven times; and is properly the river of death, which all must cross to enter the unseen world, and of which, in the [[Greek mythology]], [[Charon (mythology)]] was the [[ferryman]] (although in some accounts, it is the river [[Acheron]] which must be crossed to enter [[Hades]]). In their solemn engagements it was by this [[river]] the gods took oath to signify that they would forego their godhood if they swore falsely. The Styx was a branch of the Great Ocean which girds the universe.<ref>{{Nuttall|Styx}}</ref> |
| | + | In [[Dante's Inferno]], the Styx is a marsh which forms the fifth circle of [[Hell]], where the [[sin]] of [[anger]] is punished. [[Dante]] answers the question of which river must be crossed to enter Hell by using both Styx and Acheron: [[Charon]] ferries souls across Acheron to reach Hell, while the [[Greek]] king Phlegyas ferries Dante and [[Virgil]] across Styx to reach lower Hell. |