River Styx

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River Styx

Location Information Use: Boundary between Earth and Hades

The River Styx was the last place Odysseus visited on his way back home to Ithaca.

History

After Odysseus ate his crew (inadvertently, due to their being transformed into pigs) at Circe's island, he said he was going home, and asked Circe which was the way to Ithaca. She replied, "It's not so easy. You must first go through Hades, crossing the River Styx."

Odysseus followed her directions and found the Styx to be a river of fire. The valley it flowed through was also on fire and filled with skeletons dancing to loud rock music. Odysseus was troubled by the sight of the dancing corpses and thought the music was terrible. He blocked his ears and screamed, "This truly is hell!" In spite of these obstacles, Odysseus eventually made it back to Ithaca.

Behind the Laughter

• The River Styx appears in the "D'oh, Brother Where Art Thou?" segment of "Tales from the Public Domain". The segment is a re-telling of the Odyssey with Homer Simpson cast as Odysseus, Lindsey Naegle as Circe and other Springfieldians as the other characters in the story.
• In Greek mythology, the River Styx forms the boundary between Earth and the underworld, commonly referred to as Hades.
• The terms "Hades" and "Hell" are often used interchangeably, which isn't entirely accurate as only one area of Hades corresponds to the Christian concept of Hell.
• The music playing as Odysseus sails the River Styx is "Lady" by the rock band Styx.

Appearances

• Episode – "Tales from the Public Domain"