Thanatos

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Thanatos
Personification of death
Thanatos as a winged and sword-girt youth. Sculptured marble column drum from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, c. 325–300 BC.
AbodeUnderworld
SymbolTheta, Poppy, Butterfly, Sword, Inverted Torch
Personal information
ParentsNyx, Erebus
SiblingsHypnos, Nemesis, Eris, Keres, Oneiroi, and many others
Roman equivalentMors

Thanatos is the god of death in Greek mythology. He is the son of Nyx and the twin brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep.

Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist, used the word in one of his theories. THANATOS was the god or personified spirit (daimon) of non-violent death. His touch was gentle, likened to that of his twin brother Hypnos(Sleep). Violent death was the domain of Thanatos' blood-craving sisters, the Keres, spirits of slaughter and disease. He is often confused with Hades, who is the god of the dead and underworld, not death itself.

Thanatos plays a prominent role in two myths. Once when he was sent to fetch Alkestis (Alcestis) to the underworld, he was driven off by Herakles in a fight. Another time he was captured by the criminal Sisyphos (Sisyphus) who trapped him in a sack so as to avoid death.