The River Acheron

And he to me: "The whole day shall be made known;
Only have patience till we stay our feet
On yonder sorrowful shore of Acheron."

Abashed, I dropped my eyes; and, lest unmeet
Chatter should vex him, held my tongue, and so
Paced on with him, in silence and discreet,

To the riverside. When from the far bank lo!
A boat shot forth, whose white-haired boatman old
Bawled as he came: "Woe to the wicked! Woe!

Never you hope to look on Heaven - behold!
I come to ferry you hence across the tide
To endless night, fierce fires and shramming cold.

And thou, the living man there! stand aside
From those who are dead!" I budged not, but abode;
So, when he saw me hold my ground, he cried:

"Away with thee! for by another road
And other ferries thou shalt make the shore,
Not here; a lighter skiff must bear thy load."

-Inferno III 76-93

Dante and Virgil approach the River Acheron ("the joyless"). From across the river, the boatman Charon appears. This is the first of many references to Greek and Roman mythology in the Divine Comedy. In Dante's time, much of this mythology was integrated with Christian eschatology.

Also beginning a trend, the ferryman of the dead, Charon, comments on the physical form that Dante takes, noting that a "lighter skiff must bear thy load."

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