Thanatos the name of
Death
Classification: Personification or Spirit
Culture: Greek
Associated: Gentle Death
Literature References: The Theogony, The Illiad
Minor God of death. Greek culture According to legend his is
one of the sons of Nyx the goddess of the night. He lives on aa remote cave beside
the river Lethe which her shares with his brother Hypnos who personified sleep.
His name literally translates to “death” in Greek. In some
myths, he's considered to be a personified spirit of death rather than a god.
The touch of Thanatos was gentle, often compared to the touch of Hypnos, who
was the god of sleep.
Most literature states that Thanatos was the son of the
night goddess NYX, and that he had no father. Rather than being the offspring
of gods, he was a broken-off piece of Nyx’s essence or spirit.
Thanatos has a dominant role in two Greek myths. There’s a
myth wherein he was sent to bring Alkestis back to the underworld. However,
HERACLES drove him off through combat. In another myth, Sisyphus was a criminal
who trapped Thanatos in a sack so that he wouldn’t die.
In the Iliad, Thanatos were charged by Zeus via Apollo with
the swift delivery of the slain hero Sarpedon to his homeland of Lycia.
"Then (Apollon) gave him [Sarpedon] into the charge of
swift messengers to carry him, of Hypnos and Thanatos, who are twin brothers,
and these two presently laid him down within the rich countryside of broad
Lycia." [6]
Counted among Thanatos' siblings were other negative
personifications such as Geras (Old Age), Oizys (Suffering), Moros (Doom),
Apate (Deception), Momus (Blame), Eris (Strife), Nemesis (Retribution) and even
the Acherousian/Stygian boatman Charon.
Thanatos was loosely associated with the three Moirai
daughters of Night), particularly Atropos, who was a goddess of death in her
own right.
And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings,
Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams,
neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from heaven. And the
former of them roams peacefully over the earth and the sea's broad back and is
kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is
pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he
is hateful even to the deathless gods.
Thanatos was thus regarded as merciless and indiscriminate,
hated by – and hateful towards — mortals and gods alike. But in myths which
feature him, Thanatos could occasionally be outwitted, a feat that the sly King
Sisyphus of Korinth twice accomplished. When it came time for Sisyphus to die,
Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain Sisyphus up in Tartarus. Sisyphus cheated death
by tricking Thanatos into his own shackles, thereby preventing the demise of
any mortal while Thanatos was so enchained.
He was freed by the War god Ares who need Thanatos Free so
that warriors could die.
"Thanatos: Much talk. Talking will win you nothing. All
the same, the woman goes with me to Hades' house. I go to take her now, and
dedicate her with my sword, for all whose hair is cut in consecration by this
blade's edge are devoted to the gods below.
Thanatophobia is the fear of things associated with or
reminiscent of death and mortality, such as corpses or graveyards. It is
related to necrophobia, although the latter term typically refers to a specific
fear of dead bodies rather than a fear of death in general.
Thanatology is the academic and scientific study of death
among human beings. It investigates the circumstances surrounding a person's
death, the grief experienced by the deceased's loved ones, and larger social
attitudes towards death such as ritual and memorialization. It is primarily an
interdisciplinary study, frequently undertaken by professionals in nursing,
psychology, sociology, psychiatry, social work and veterinary science. It also
describes bodily changes that accompany death and the after-death period.
Thanatophoric dysplasia is a severe skeletal disorder characterized
by extremely short limbs and folds of extra (redundant) skin on the arms and
legs. Other features of this condition include a narrow chest, short ribs,
underdeveloped lungs, and an enlarged head with a large forehead and prominent,
wide-spaced eyes.
The term thanatophoric is Greek for "death
bearing." Infants with thanatophoric dysplasia are usually stillborn or
die shortly after birth from respiratory failure.
Euthanasia, "good death" in Greek, is the act or
practice of ending the life of an individual who would otherwise experience
severe, incurable suffering or disability.
Though a minor figure in ancient times Thanatos lives in
modern mythology as a powerful creature who has wrestled control of the primal
elements of the universe.
"Thanatos: Much talk. Talking will win you nothing. All
the same, the woman goes with me to Hades' house. I go to take her now, and
dedicate her with my sword, for all whose hair is cut in consecration by this
blade's edge are devoted to the gods below.
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