this is after i watched the movie troy, starring brad pitt. an old, unexplained superstition is also practiced here in the philippines.
2006-06-12 21:38:53 · 23 answers · asked by roberto 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
wow guys!!! that was fast! thanks for the info.
2006-06-12 21:51:39 · update #1
Ackshally, ahem, ackshally these folks have it partly right.
The practice of putting coins on the eyes is rather recent ... more 16-17th century. The Greeks would put a coin in the dead man's MOUTH so he could pay the fare into the land o' the dead.
The later practice of putting coins over the EYES was for the convenience of the mourners, not the corpse.
Coins were traditional (the "fare"), and the funeral organizers needed something to cover the corpse's eyeholes.
See, pre-refrigeration, eyes were among the first targets of insects looking for dinner, if you'll pardon the indelicacy. Eyes are particularly vulnerable and are among the first body parts to go on an exposed corpse. The coins hid any maggots that might have started chowing down while the family was gathering for the funeral.
Gack.
2006-06-12 23:53:45 · answer #1 · answered by Grendle 6 · 6⤊ 1⤋
What the folks have already said. But that the river styx was guarded by Charon who also had a three headed dog. So the folks could only get across to Hades (underworld) if they had the fare. The river separated the living world from the dead world.
According to the source website the coin is known as Obol.
2006-06-13 04:45:54 · answer #2 · answered by bushbaby_rsa 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The dead needed to pay Charon the ferry master to take them over the river Styx to Hades. Thus the coins.
2006-06-15 14:32:16 · answer #3 · answered by samanthajanecaroline 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The coins were to pay the ferry man on the Styx (or what ever the religion your practicing calls the person who brings the soul to the afterlife) for the soul's ride to the underworld.
2006-06-13 10:17:03 · answer #4 · answered by arkady166 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i was gonna mention that it was in the mouth, but one person already mentioned that. yes, it was put there, just one coin, to pay Charon, that the soul may get into hades, for the ferry was never free. Charon did not have a three headed dog though, Hades did, and the purpose of the dog was to keep the living out of the realm of the underworld.
the Norse had a similar custom, when their's died, they were either set in boat-pyres or cairns. they kept their shoes on, and the leather from the shoes was taken, and later put into the shoe that killed fenrir
2006-06-13 07:09:59 · answer #5 · answered by Jim 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to Greek mythology it's payment to Haron to ferry over the river Styx to the kingdom of Aid.
2006-06-13 04:47:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are 2 reasons in fact, to pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx into Hades and also to keep the eyelids shut.
2006-06-13 04:42:31 · answer #7 · answered by diceman74 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To pay the ferryman to take them across the river Styx to the land of the dead
2006-06-13 12:13:20 · answer #8 · answered by lele3996 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they did this, noy only to keep the dead's eyes shut but mostly to ensure that once that individual was buried, burned, wrapped in a shroud and tossed off of a boat, etc., that their soulwould have enough money to pay the oarsman to cross the River Styx and be allowed into the underworld.
2006-06-13 04:44:22 · answer #9 · answered by madipocre 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are placed on the eyes to pay the ferry to the realm of the dead.
2006-06-13 13:44:27 · answer #10 · answered by sixspdsxdrv 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋