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Glite Dictionary
River Styx

River Styx

1 9.9
A river in Greek myths that souls cross to reach the land of the dead
  • proper noun
  • Literature
translation icon : río Estigia

Examples

  • He will leave you at the banks of the River Styx.

    Blog text (12)

  • Only the dead are permitted to cross the River Styx.

  • He will leave you at the banks of the River Styx.

  • With his singing and playing, he charmed the ferryman Charon and the dog Cerberus, guardians of the River Styx.

Synonyms

Styx
vsRiver Styx
  • Literature
10 9.9

A river in Greek myth that souls cross to reach the world of the dead

is the same name but written with the full conventional form

Surface Forms

River Styx main

Morphology

river + Styx

The noun 'river' is transparent, but 'Styx' is a culture-specific proper name whose mythological referent (the underworld river crossed by Charon) cannot be derived from the constituent words alone. A B1 learner who knows the literal meanings of the parts but lacks the necessary cultural/encyclopedic knowledge would not infer the MWE's specific mythological meaning, so it is opaque.

Etymology

River Styx is a famous river from old Greek stories where the boatman Charon carried the souls across to the 'land of the dead'. Because it was the last, dangerous crossing, the name came to mean the border between life and death and is also used for very serious, 'unbreakable' promises.