Abstract
The article examines the genesis, evolution, and poetic transformation of the mythological image of Charon in world literature from antiquity to the present day. The myth of Charon is analyzed as a universal transitional entity representing the boundary between being and non-being, going beyond the purely mythological function and becoming a dialectical resource for understanding existential problems. Considering myth as a dynamic semiotic system, the path of transformation of the image of the stern boatman is traced from its origins in the ancient Greek tragedies of Aeschylus’ “Seven Against Thebes” and Euripides’ “Alcestis”, where the psychopomp function is gradually personalized, to satirical demythologization in Aristophanes’ comedies and Lucian’s philosophical dialogues. Special attention is paid to the Roman tradition, in particular to the texts of Virgil’s “Aeneid”, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, and Apuleius’ “The Golden Ass”, where the image of Charon is endowed with grotesque and everyday features and becomes an instrument of criticism of human vices. Emphasis is placed on the Christian reception of Dante Alighieri, who integrates the ferryman into the moral-hierarchical model of Hell in “The Divine Comedy” as a strict executor of divine judgment. It is proven that in modernist and postmodernist literature, the figure of Charon is reinterpreted and finally transformed into a flexible intertextual construct. The example of R. Riordan’s “The Lightning Thief” shows a playful deconstruction of the myth, where the sacred ritual of death is adapted to the realities of contemporary mass culture. Particular emphasis is placed on I. Pavliuk’s novel “I See You Are Interested in Darkness”, in which the myth of Charon takes on a profound existential and ethical meaning. The author’s strategy of anthropologizing the image through the character of Kharyton Baaliuk, who acts not only as a guide but also as a moral mediator and “examiner” of the human soul. It is summarized that the modern interpretation of the image of Charon shifts the emphasis from the mechanical transportation of souls to the psychological salvation of the individual and the overcoming of inner darkness, which affirms this archetype as an integral code of humanity’s collective experience in understanding death, guilt, and the possibility of spiritual rebirth.