Charun

thumb|A typical depiction of Charun. From an Etruscan red-figure calyx-crater. End of the 4th century BC-beginning of the 3rd century BC. thumb|The other side of the same artifact, depicting Ajax killing a Trojan prisoner in front of Charun. In Etruscan mythology, Charun (also spelled Charu, or Karun) acted as one of the psychopompoi of the underworld (not to be confused with the god of the underworld, known to the Etruscans as Aita). He is often portrayed with Vanth, a winged figure also associated with the underworld.

==Origins== His name was imported from Greek Charon, although it is uncertain whether Etruscans had a native name for a god of the underworld before this. As suggested by alternations in the Etruscan language such as θu "one" changing to θunśna "first", lev "lion" (from Greek leōn) and Apulu (from Greek Apóllōn), words ending in -n after u were disappearing from the language which is why we see his name spelled Xarun and later Xaru.