Definition: Psychopompos is a word for the guider of souls. Hermes is the psychopompos. Hermes leads souls from the bodies of the dead to the banks of the Styx where he hands them over to Charon.
Examples:
On the role of the psychopompos: "As the divine crosser of borders, Hermes leads the souls to Charon, controls the 'traffic' between the upper and lower worlds, and enforces their separation."
On religious rituals:"[S]acrifices in honor of Hermes Chthonios
or Psychopompos are performed in Athens during
the Anthesteria...."
Source:
"A Funerary Base from Kallithea: New Light on Fifth-Century Eschatology"
Angeliki Kosmopoulou
American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 102, No. 3 (Jul., 1998), pp. 531-545
