| Thanatos | |
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Real Name |
Thanatos, Thanatus, Mors, or Letum |
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First Appearance |
Greek Mythology |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person. His name is transliterated in Latin as Thanatus, but his counterpart in Roman mythology is Mors or Letum.
The Greek poet Hesiod established in his Theogony that Thánatos has no father, but is the son of Nyx (Night) and brother of Hypnos (Sleep).
Homer earlier described Hypnos and Thanatos as twin brothers in his epic poem, the Iliad, where they were charged by Zeus via Apollo with the swift delivery of the slain hero Sarpedon to his homeland of Lycia.
Counted among Thanatos' siblings were other negative personifications such as Geras (Old Age), Oizys (Suffering), Moros (Doom), Apate (Deception), Momus (Blame), Eris (Strife), and Nemesis (Retribution). Thanatos was loosely associated with the three Moirai (for Hesiod, also daughters of Night), particularly Atropos, who was a goddess of death in her own right. He is also, at times, specified as being exclusive to a peaceful death, while the bloodthirsty Keres embodied violent death.
Thanatos was 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.
Eventually Ares, the bloodthirsty god of war, grew frustrated with the battles he incited, since neither side could suffer any casualties. He released Thanatos and handed his captor over to the god. Sisyphus would evade Death a second time by convincing Persephone to allow him to return to his wife stating that she never gave him a proper funeral. This time, Sisyphus was forcefully dragged back to the Underworld by Hermes, where he was sentenced to an eternity of frustration in Tartarus, rolling a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down when he got close to the top.
The sole time he was successfully prevented from claiming a mortal life was by the intervention of the hero Heracles, a son of Zeus. Thanatos had come to take the soul of Alkestis, who had offered her life in exchange for the continued life of her husband, King Admetos of Pherai. Heracles was an honored guest in the House of Admetos at the time and offered to repay the king's hospitality by contending with Death itself for Alkestis' life. When Thanatos ascended from Hades to claim Alkestis, Heracles sprung upon the god and overpowered him, winning the right to have Alkestis remain, while Thanatos fled, cheated of his quarry.
Thanatos is often shown carrying an inverted torch (holding it upside down in his hands), representing a life extinguished. He is also usually described as winged and with a sword sheathed at his belt. In Euripides' Alcestis (438 BCE), he is depicted dressed in black and carrying a sword. Thanatos was rarely portrayed in art without his twin brother Hypnos.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Thanatos from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Iliad
- The Odyssey
- Theogony
- Fables
- Greek Lyric I Terpander, Fragments
- Greek Lyric I Alcaeus, Fragments
- Greek Lyric II Anacreontea, Fragments
- Greek Lyric III Ibycus, Fragments
- Greek Lyric III Simonides, Fragments
- Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Fragments
- Fragments
- Alcestis
- Frogs
- Description of Greece
- The Orphic Hymns
- Historical Miscellany
- Life of Apollonius of Tyana
- The Rape of Helen
- Fabulae
- Aeneid
- Georgics
- De Natura Deorum
- Hercules Furens
- Medea
- Oedipus
- The Argonautica
- Thebaid
- Silvae
Notes[]
- According to his creator Jim Starlin, the Marvel supervillain Thanos was inspired by Sigmund Freud's concept of human Death drive, or Thanatos.