Charon?

Hi there. I've been reading up on Greek myth, and was wondering, would it have been possible for the Greeks to go to the Underworld without needing to pay Charon to get past the river Styx. What would happen if a spirit swam across the River Styx instead of paying Charon to take them across?

What fates awaited the ones who couldn't pay Charon?

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I can't find a lot mentioning crossing the River Styx without Charon, except one mention on the site https://greece.mrdonn.org of souls of the passed being known to sometimes swim across:

As the story goes .... When your soul reached the River Styx, a boatman named Charon would give you a ride to the underworld. But the ride was not free. If your family had not buried you with a coin to use as payment, you were stuck. Some souls, who did not have a coin, tried to swim across the River Styx. Some made it. Most didn't.

For those souls who received a ride in Charon's boat, or managed to swim across the river, there was little to do on the other side except wait to be reborn into a new body.

So, swimming is a known thing, but as the analogy of crossing into the afterlife would have alike with swimming versus taking a boat, the journey was much more difficult swimming and some, to quote the above, didn't make it. Being unfamiliar with Greek myth, I'd assume it means their drowning was the oblivion of the soul, and their removal from any potential rebirth. Hence, hiring the psychopomp (being buried with a coin to pay the toll) was a guarantee to remain in the cycle of rebirth.

As for personal praxis, similar may be said. There are those who believe they've visited some aspect of the afterlife, or have encountered those who have gone before. Some people do work with psychopomps, and some don't. Such might make reaching those goals easier, and I have an idea: Charon requires a toll to cross. Wouldn't he require a second to return on the same boat? So why not be prepared for the crossing, twice? Pay the toll to visit the other side, under the condition that the second toll will only be paid upon your return to the side of the living.

Granted, Charon is not the only psychopomp, even in Greek mythology. You may also consider Thanatos, Artemis, Hermes, or the Keres (a Kere may be a spirit of death, some texts having Ker as a goddess, some having a Ker as the daughter of the goddess Nyx; Keres being plural). Do a bit of reading, and decide which of your several options (including Charon, of course) is the entity or type of entity you wish to employ for your journey.

I was wondering, what connection that Artemis have with the Underworld

From what I know of Greek mythology, you're best to seek favour of Styx (goddess of the River Styx) since the Water of Styx is meant to be able to dissolve your will to live, and sap you of memories and everything, if you had Styx's favour you may be able to swim through

Artemis doesn't really have one, she's goddess of the hunt and moon so she doesn't really associate with the Underworld

Artemis, as a goddess of the hunt, can be seen as a Psychopomp has hunting is a way of transferring a soul from life to death.

Maybe, but in that sense, wouldn't Ares also be a psychopomp since he's associated with War? I think Artemis and Ares aren't directly connected to the underworld, so they likely wouldn't be couned as psychopomps