# Clash of the Titans question: Is Charon's ferry ever mentioned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890 "2008-12-05T18:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/1 "2008-12-05T18:22:15Z")
I haven’t seen the movie in dozens of moons, and frankly don’t have the patience to watch it just for one line in a story. But I am very anal. Brought you to by the campaign for pithy OPs. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/2 "2008-12-05T18:25:47Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I haven’t seen the movie in dozens of moons, and frankly don’t have the patience to watch it just for one line in a story. But I am very anal. > > Brought you to by the campaign for pithy OPs. I’m not sure what you mean, but Charon actually APPEARS in the movie. He’s the skeleton dressed in rags that oars the boat to the “Isle of the Dead” (where Medusa the Gorgon lurks). He demands a coin from Perseus before taking him across the waters. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/3 "2008-12-05T18:26:26Z")
Yep. [Here’s a little synopsis of it.](http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/clash-of-the-titans/) As the page mentions, it was actually fairly creepy, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/4 "2008-12-05T18:48:15Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > Yep. > > [Here’s a little synopsis of it.](http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/clash-of-the-titans/) > > As the page mentions, it was actually fairly creepy, IIRC. Crap. I was hoping the answer was no. That and my anal-retentiveness just cost me a joke. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/5 "2008-12-05T19:00:01Z")
as mentioned above, Charon does appear, glimpsed briefly as a skeleton (unfortunately not animated by Harryhausen – animated skeletons were a Harryhausen trade,ark, appearing in **The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , **Jason and the Argonauts** , and **First Men in the Moon**. And the “ghouls” in **Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger** were virtually skeletons.) One of Perseus’ companions gives him coins (obols, I suspect) to pay Charon his traditional fare. I should point out that there is absolutely no record , in any of the accounts of the Perseus legend, of him being rowed over by Charon. Usually he’s shown flying to where the Gorgons (plural) are located, using the magic flying slippers the nymphs gave him. But in this version, he uses Pegasus for flying – that’s got a smattering of support behind it, because in one of his other poems (not the **Metamorphoses** ) Ovid had Perseus flying on Pegasus. Some artwork seems to show him doing this, too. And a Renaissance opera has him flying on Pegasus. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/6 "2008-12-05T19:05:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I should point out that there is absolutely no record , in any of the accounts of the Perseus legend, of him being rowed over by Charon. Usually he’s shown flying to where the Gorgons (plural) are located, using the magic flying slippers the nymphs gave him. But in this version, he uses Pegasus for flying – that’s got a smattering of support behind it, because in one of his other poems (not the **Metamorphoses** ) Ovid had Perseus flying on Pegasus. Some artwork seems to show him doing this, too. And a Renaissance opera has him flying on Pegasus. Oh, I know Charon is a movie addition. In the story I’m writing, two children are swept into a fantasy world inhabited by, ah, fabulous creatures. One of the kids has never voluntarily cracked open a book and thus only recognizes creatures who happen to have appeared in movies; when he sees a gorgon he naturally thinks, “Just like in Clash of the Titans, except I’m not being turned into stone. Also she’s hot. Actually nothing like Clash of the Titans, now that I think about it.” In a later scene, the other character refers to Charon’s boat, which the first character doesn’t recognize, and I just noticed the inconsistency. Brought to you by the campaign for too much damn detail. Does the movie name the river around its soi-disant Island of the Dead? I can resurrect the reference that way. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/7 "2008-12-05T21:43:40Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > Yep. > > [Here’s a little synopsis of it.](http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/clash-of-the-titans/) > > As the page mentions, it was actually fairly creepy, IIRC. Yeah, remember how he silently held out his creaking, bony hand, and opened it to receive the coin? _cr-reee-ee-ak_ My brother and I used to giggle about how much it would suck if you dropped the coin in his palm and it slipped down between the bones and plopped into the water. Because then he would silently turn to you and _cr-r-ree-ak_ again. Better hope that’s not your last coin… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/8 "2008-12-05T21:47:09Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Better hope that’s not your last coin… Well, traditionally you get _two_… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/9 "2008-12-05T22:04:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Does the movie name the river around its soi-disant Island of the Dead? I can resurrect the reference that way. Without dragging out my own copy and re-watching it, I find a useful synopsys on-line, from which I get: > [@](#): > > Leaving Andromeda and Ammon behind, Perseus, Thallo and the soldiers head toward the River Styx. > “The River Styx,” Perseus notes. “I hear it has strange powers.” > [Thallo–who they decide should stay behind with some soldiers–throws Perseus a gold coin.] > “It’s for Charon, the Ferryman.” > Placed at seaside is a horn. Perseus blows into it and looks into the distance, where the Ferryman appears and slowly rows its raft toward them. Perseus deposits a gold coin into its skeletal hand, and he and the soldiers board the raft. The Ferryman begins the journey over to the Isle of the Dead, which Medusa calls home. > **[Clash of the Titans](https://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/NewCV/cvlib-titanclash.htm)** You can also find plenty of information at the Wikipedia site: > **[Clash of the Titans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_the_Titans)** > > Clash of the Titans may refer to: For some strange reason, I find this writeup uniquely gratifying. If your protagonists watch a lot of movies, they might pick up information about the Gorgon from those, too. **Perseus Against the Gorgon’sHead/Perseus the Invincible/Son of Hercules Against Medusa** makes an absolute mash of the geography, not to mention the legend (Medusa isn’t even on an island), but Medusa and the Sea Monster were both built by Carlo Rambaldi, who later went on to do the arms for 1976’s King Kong, and the head for Alien, among other things. Medusa looks like a walking tree with a great big Eye in it. Medusa also shows up in **The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao**. A different gorgon shows up in the Hammer film **The Gorgon** , which puts her in some Germanic country (!) Probably the most faithful re-telling is in Jim Henson’s **The Storyteller – The Greek Myths**. But if you want a beautiful Gorgon, track down a copy of the cartoon **Metamorphoses/Winds of Change** : [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078495/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078495/) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/10 "2008-12-05T22:11:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If your protagonists watch a lot of movies, they might pick up information about the Gorgon from those, too. **Perseus Against the Gorgon’sHead/Perseus the Invincible/Son of Hercules Against Medusa** makes an absolute mash of the geography, not to mention the legend (Medusa isn’t even on an island), but Medusa and the Sea Monster were both built by Carlo Rambaldi, who later went on to do the arms for 1976’s King Kong, and the head for Alien, among other things. Medusa looks like a walking tree with a great big Eye in it. Even I’m not that anal. I just needed an explanation for my ownself as to why a kid who would sooner bite off his own thumbs than read Bulfinch would know about gorgons & fauns. \*Clash of the Titans \*and the \*Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe \*cartoon answered nicely. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clash-of-the-titans-question-is-charons-ferry-ever-mentioned/475890/11 "2008-12-06T00:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Better hope that’s not your last coin… [/QUOTE] > [@silenus](#): > > Well, traditionally you get _two_… Is the second one for a tip?