In Irish mythology, there is an unusual character, the monster Acheron, who swallows damned souls. He is taller than any mountain, and his body is covered with scales.
Acheron has no eyes or nose. His mouth is huge and always open. It is held open by two people - one is on his feet, the other on his head. These sinners are doomed to keep the jaws of the monster forever. The mouth is huge, it can fit twelve thousand people. Acheron has three mouths, from each escaping an unquenchable fire. There are three tongues in the mouths of Acheron, which wriggle like snakes. From the womb of the monster comes the cry and cries of the sinners swallowed by him. In addition to the damned souls, dogs, bears, lions and centaurs languish in the womb of Acheron.
Apparently, the image of Acheron came to Irish mythology from the Greek. There, Acheron is one of the rivers of the underworld, into which Piriflegeton and Cocytus flow. The river in the kingdom of the dead and the monster of the same name inhabiting it are mentioned in Ovid's epic "Metamorphoses", in Virgil's "Aeneid", in the historical poem "Farsalia" by Lucan. One of the verses of Dante's Divine Comedy begins with the following words: "On the sad shore of Acheron …"
The Greeks, and after them the Romans, called hell Hades, or Acheron. Apparently, Dante used the Visions of Tundal, a Celtic epic, translated into Latin by an Italian merchant who visited Ireland, to create his Comedy. According to legend, Tundal was a man of noble blood, a brave warrior and a successful hunter. However, he was famous for his drunkenness and debauchery, as well as for seducing other people's wives. Once in the house of his mistress, he unexpectedly fell to the floor and lost consciousness.
For three days and three nights he was considered dead and had already brought a coffin to bury him, but then suddenly Tundal woke up and told an amazing story. His guardian angel allegedly led him to the underworld and showed him the river in which the terrible monster Acheron lives. The angel did this in order to show Tundal what fate awaits him in the next world if he does not stop sinning.
Tundal, however, could not pull himself together and continued to indulge in debauchery, the guardian angel left him, and the poor man fell right into the mouth of Acheron. Now he is tormented in the womb of a monster along with other sinners and screams the loudest, as he is stung by snakes, torn apart by lions and dogs, roasting flames and freezing cold.
In Etruscan mythology, in the first millennium BC. inhabiting the Apennine Peninsula, Acheron is also mentioned. Among the Etruscans, the legends set forth in the "Books of Fate" or "Books of Acheron" were popular, which are instructions to the soul after death. The “Books” contained the following words: “The soul of an evil person will endure the heat of fire, ice cold, insect and snake bites. Only the righteous will not drown in Acheron."
A similar character is popular in other regions of the world. In Hindu mythology, there is an evil goddess Kali. The goddess Kali, the female incarnation of the god Shiva, is in the service of the terrible beast Ahon. It is covered in scales and has a huge head without eyes. Kali lets the beast on those she wants to destroy.
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The sacrifices of the goddess fall into the deep throat of the beast. Scorching heat and painful spider bites await them in the womb, of which there are a great many. Only Shiva can pull the unfortunate out of the womb. In India, especially in Bengal, where the cult of Kali is widespread, the relatives of a person who died young pray and make a sacrifice to Shiva. They hope that he will free their loved one from the captivity of Achon, and then he will be resurrected and return home.
The analogy between the Indian Achon and the Irish-Greek Acheron is obvious - even their names are consonant. So the image of a huge monster without eyes, in whose womb sinners suffer, is found in the mythology of different peoples. Probably, he is very ancient and came to mythology from the consciousness of the pre-man, who, according to the views of modern science, appeared in Africa.
The similarity of Acheron to dinosaurs is striking, possibly reflecting the human genetic memory of long-extinct animals.