9 World Chronicles

 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.