Myth & LegendGreek → English
Styx
/stɪks/proper noun
The chief river of the underworld in Greek myth, by whose water the gods swore.
The Greek roots
Στύξ
Stýx
the loathed one
Literally: “the hateful one”
Follow a root:Στύξ2 words
The story of the word
An oath on the water of Styx bound even Zeus, and a god who broke one lay breathless and speechless for a year. The name comes from στυγεῖν, to loathe or shudder at, so the river is the hateful one. Achilles being dipped in it is a late addition that Homer knows nothing about. There is also a real candidate on the ground, the Mavroneri waterfall in Arcadia, which ancient writers identified as the earthly Styx and whose water was said to dissolve every vessel but a horse's hoof.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
In a sentence
Charon would not take him across the Styx without the fare.
The light in the tunnel had a stygian quality that made everyone talk quietly.