Charon's Toll
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A com, about equal to a penny, placed in the mouth or hand of the dead by the ancient Greeks to pay Charon (see STYX) for ferrying the spirit across the river Styx to the Elysian fields.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Charon's Toll” mean?
A com, about equal to a penny, placed in the mouth or hand of the dead by the ancient Greeks to pay Charon (see STYX) for ferrying the spirit across the river Styx to the Elysian fields.
Is “Charon's Toll” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.