Thanatos: God of the Death in Greek Mythology

19/11/2020

     Thanatos was, in Greek and Roman Mythology, the God of Death, therefore, the PERSONIFICATION of death, however, not the fatal death but the light and necessary death. 

Thanatos in Greek Mythology:

     Thanatos, in Greek Mythology, was the personification of death, while Hades reigned over the dead in the underworld. Its name is transliterated in Latin like Thanatus and its equivalent in Roman mythology is Mors or Leto (Letum). He is often mistakenly identified with Orco (Orco himself had a Greek equivalent in the form of Horkos, God of Oath). It is known to have an iron heart and bronze entrails.

     Thanatos is the son of Nix, the night, and Erebus, the darkness, children of Chaos. Thanatos is the personification of death, who was born on August 21, had this date as the preferred day to take life away, while Hipno is the personification of sleep. The twin brothers inhabited the Champs-Élysées (Country of Hades, the place of the underworld).

     Thanatos is represented by a silver cloud that took the lives of mortals. He was also represented by a man with silver hair and eyes. His role in Greek mythology is accompanied by Hades, the god of the underworld. Thanatos is a character who appears in countless myths and legends, as well as in the story of Sisyphus and King Midas, who, being the most important, dispersed more easily.

Thanatos and Sisyphus:

     Sisyphus aroused Zeus' anger, as Zeus had transformed himself into an eagle and flew over the kingdom of Sisyphus with Aegina, daughter of Asopo, then when Asopo asked Sisyphus if he had seen Aegina, he told in exchange for a water source. So Zeus sent Thanatos to take him to Hades. However Sisyphus was able to deceive Tannus, praised his beauty and asked him to let him adorn his neck with a necklace, the necklace, in fact, was a collar, with which Sisyphus kept death imprisoned while preventing anyone else. or living thing would die. This time Sisyphus got in trouble with Hades, the god of the dead, and with Ares, the god of war, who needed death to consummate the battles.

     As soon as he was aware, Hades freed Thanatos and ordered him to bring Sisyphus immediately to the mansions of death. When Sisyphus said goodbye to his wife, he was careful to secretly ask her not to bury his body.

     Already in hell, Sisyphus complained to Hades about his wife's lack of respect for not burying him. Then he pleaded for another day, to take revenge on the ungrateful woman and perform the funeral rituals. Hades granted him the request. Sisyphus then resumed his body and ran away with his wife. He had cheated Death a second time.


Thanatos and the Legend of Admetus:

     Thanatos once met Macaria, goddess of the good death and daughter of Hades and Persephone. Thanatos was in love with the goddess, she was also in love with him. So Macária and Tânatos swore that even if they could not be together they would be close to each other. Both proclaimed on the River Styx: "Then dig two graves, if I die I promise I will wake up by your side."

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