In the epic tale of Achilles’ anger during the Trojan War, spread across 24 books, there are a whopping 240 deaths on the battlefield. Whether it’s from swords or spears, about ten fighters bite the dust in each book. But what about the god who guides these souls to the afterlife? While most people know Hades, the king of the underworld, the actual Greek god of death, Thanatos, doesn’t get as much attention. From Homer to Hesiod, and all the way from ancient theater to modern artwork, there’s a fascinating mythology surrounding this dark yet lesser-known deity.
Who Are the Parents of the Greek God Thanatos
You might wonder why Thanatos isn’t as well-known in pop culture compared to Hades, who’s got a pretty high-profile gig as the god of the underworld. Hades is Zeus’s brother and the oldest of the three siblings, which includes Poseidon. Being the eldest meant he had to deal with some serious family drama, like being swallowed by their dad, Cronus, before finally getting spit out.
On the flip side, Thanatos doesn’t have a dad. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, an ancient poem that lays out Greek mythology and the lineage of the gods, Thanatos is the child of Nyx, the goddess of Night. He also has a brother named Hypnos, who’s the god of Sleep.
When it comes to Thanatos, his portrayal is pretty dark, fitting for the god of death. Hesiod describes him as someone even the sun avoids, and he’s not exactly popular among other gods either. His personality is described as cold and unyielding—once he grabs hold of someone, there’s no getting away. But interestingly, he’s not the worst of the death gods; in some stories, he represents a peaceful passing, while those who die violently are taken by the more vicious Keres, who are female spirits of death.
Thanatos has some other siblings that embody negative traits too, like Geras (Old Age), Oizys (Suffering), Nemesis (Retribution), and Moros (Doom). In Hesiod’s tales, he’s also linked to the Three Fates, who are also daughters of Nyx and technically his sisters. Of the Fates, he’s most closely tied to Atropos, who’s another goddess associated with death.
Death Cheated: Thanatos and Sisyphus
Even though Thanatos seems like an unyielding and ruthless figure, there are times in Greek mythology when some clever characters—both human and divine—managed to outsmart him, even if just for a little while. One of the most famous stories is about Sisyphus, the super sly King of Corinth, who actually pulled this off not once, but twice!
The first time, Thanatos was sent to drag Sisyphus down to the underworld, where he would be locked up in Tartarus as punishment for betraying Aegina’s trust to her dad, the river god Asopus. In return, Asopus made a spring flow from the Acropolis in Corinth.
Thanatos fell for a classic trick—though it might not have been that old back then. Sisyphus asked him to show how the chains worked in Tartarus, and then he managed to trap the god of death right there! This caused total chaos on Earth because, with Thanatos unable to do his job, mortals were living it up. But Ares, the god of war, wasn’t happy about it since his battles became pointless. Eventually, Thanatos got freed from his embarrassing situation, and Sisyphus was handed over to him again.
Not satisfied with just one victory over Thanatos, Sisyphus got another chance. He tricked Persephone, Hades’ wife, into thinking he hadn’t been properly buried by his wife. So, she let him escape the underworld. When he got back, he gave his wife a hard time for not respecting him. But once again, Sisyphus didn’t want to go back to the land of the dead. Hermes, the messenger god, had to come and drag him back down. There, Sisyphus faced his never-ending punishment: rolling a massive boulder up a steep hill in Tartarus. But every time he reached the top, the boulder would magically roll back down, forcing him to start all over again—forever.
Character Building: Thanatos in Greek Literature
The story about Thanatos getting tricked by Sisyphus comes from a fragment of a poem by Alcaeus, dating back to the 6th century BCE. Besides this fragment and Hesiod’s Theogony, you can find mentions of the god of death in other ancient Greek texts, including Homer’s works. Even though Thanatos doesn’t have a huge role in a tale filled with warrior deaths, he does make an appearance. In Book 16, Zeus sends him and his brother Hypnos to bring the fallen hero Sarpedon back to Lycia.
Now, one of the most well-known stories involving Thanatos is in Euripides’ play Alcestis. This play, which first hit the stage at the City Dionysia festival in 438 BCE, is hard to pin down as just a tragedy or comedy. It revolves around Admetus, the king of Pherai (in Thessaly), who tries to dodge death. His wife, Alcestis, sacrifices herself so he can live.
In the play, Herakles drops by to visit Admetus, and the king treats him like royalty. To repay the king’s kindness, Herakles decides to take on death for him, hoping to save both Admetus and Alcestis. When Thanatos shows up to take Alcestis away, Herakles grabs him and overpowers him. Alcestis is brought back, and Thanatos, feeling embarrassed and defeated, makes a hasty exit.
Playing at Death: Thanatosis
So, etymology is all about where words come from. A lot of words in European languages trace back to ancient times, especially Greek and Latin. These old myths have given us tons of words, phrases, and sayings we still use today, including “Thanatos.” The name comes from the Greek verb Thnesko, which means “I die.” There’s also a term called thanatosis, which is basically when an animal pretends to be dead to trick predators. Some animals even use this tactic to lure in their prey.
One of the most famous examples of thanatosis is the opossum. These North American mammals will play dead to escape threats, but sometimes it doesn’t work out so well, especially when they do it in front of cars. The whole idea of playing dead has become so linked with opossums that we even say “to play possum” when we mean to pretend to be dead.
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Thanatos in Modern Culture: Greek God of Death Re-imagined
Even though Thanatos didn’t have a huge role in ancient Greek mythology, he’s had quite an interesting journey in modern culture. Back in the day, they even put him on coins in places like Thrace and Moesia during the Roman Empire, often alongside some pretty ruthless emperors like Caracalla.
Thanatos has also made his way into psychology. Sigmund Freud didn’t specifically call it that, but he referred to the human death drive as Thanatos. This concept is kind of the opposite of the life instinct, which he named after Eros, the god of love. In this psychological view, the death drive represents that part of us that can lead to risky or self-destructive behavior.
Throughout history, artists have reinterpreted Thanatos in various forms. From abstract pieces to more traditional styles, the god of death has been depicted in many ways. One notable example is John William Waterhouse’s painting Sleep and His Half-Brother Death, created in 1874. This piece shows the two Greek gods lounging together, with Hypnos (the god of sleep) bathed in light while Thanatos is shrouded in shadow. This contrast reflects how people have viewed these deities since ancient times. Waterhouse might have been inspired by personal loss, as both of his younger brothers passed away from tuberculosis before he showcased this painting.Check out this cool statuette of a young guy thought to be Thanatos, dating back to the late 1st century BCE. You can find it at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Nowadays, people probably know about Thanatos more from movies than from history or psychology classes. This ancient Greek god of death has even made his way into Freudian psychology and inspired the Marvel villain, Thanos. He first appeared in 1973, and his most famous storyline revolves around him trying to impress Mistress Death (the goddess of death in the Marvel world) by gathering all six infinity stones to wipe out half of the universe’s population.
It’s kind of wild how Thanatos went from ancient texts to comic books, but as the villain might say, it was bound to happen. The ancient Greek god of death will keep getting reimagined and stay relevant in pop culture, no matter how dark his theme is.
