Inferno 3.109 · 3.109

Now Dante names him outright as what he has become: <i>Caron dimonio</i>, Charon the demon. The classical ferryman is fully a fiend, his eyes not merely ringed with flame but made of it — <i>occhi di bragia</i>, eyes of live coal.

And he herds. A beckon gathers the willing; the oar drives the slow. <i>Batte col remo qualunque s'adagia</i> — he beats with his oar whoever settles, whoever lingers. There is no dignity in the loading of the boat, only the brute efficiency of a driver moving cattle. The souls' terror and Charon's blows together make the crossing a thing done to them, never chosen.

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