Editing Charun (section)

==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.

[[Ron Terpening]], a professor of Italian literature at the [[University of Arizona]], cites Franz de Ruyt, who claims Charun is similar to [[Mesopotamian mythology|Chaldean]] demons or the [[Hindu]] divinities [[Shiva]] and [[Kali]].<ref>de Ruyt, p. 236, cited in Terpening, p. 14.</ref> He is presumed to be the servant of [[Mantus]] and [[Mania (mythology)|Mania]], and, like Charon, is comparable to the Greeks' [[Thanatos]], the [[Erinyes]], and the [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]].<ref>Terpening, p. 15</ref> The author, like de Grummond, feels that some later [[Renaissance]] paintings of Greek [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] may show the continuity of pre-Christian Etruscan beliefs.<ref>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).</ref>  Later on when the deity had evolved into the Greek '''Charon''',<ref>Rose, p. 65.</ref> or '''Caronte''' in Italian,<ref>Rocco</ref> Terpening notes that Charun's hammer or [[mallet]] is sometimes replaced with an [[oar]], although it does not fit with his duties.

According to Jeff Rovin {{who?|date=March 2024}}, Charun guided souls on horseback to the underworld and "brings horses to the newly-dead". He also claims that Charun appears to love violence and participates in warfare adding that Charun enjoys natural disasters as well.<ref>Rovin, p. 50.</ref> An Etruscan [[krater]] from François Tomb ''(above)'' depicts Charun with [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]] or [[Achilles]] ''(left, cropped out)'' slaughtering [[Troy|Trojan]] prisoners.  This urn is currently held in [[Cabinet des Médailles]] 920, [[Bibliothéque Nationale]], Paris. Rovin says that some accounts depict him with a [[sword]], and that he "slices" souls with it. At least one image shows him guiding a soul on horseback, equipped with both a hammer and a sword, though he is simply carrying it on his person.<ref>[http://www.costaetrusca.com/infoet1.jpg Image] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507141911/http://www.costaetrusca.com/infoet1.jpg |date=May 7, 2006 }}</ref>

The Charon of [[Vergil]] in the ''[[Aeneid]]'' is particularly cruel; according to W.F. Jackson Knight,<ref>Knight, p. 257 (quoted in Terpening, 85).</ref> "Vergil's Charon is not only the Greek ferryman of [[Aristophanes]] [in ''[[The Frogs]]''], but more than half his Etruscan self, Charun, the Etruscan torturing death-devil, no ferryman at all."