Thanatos is ...? Thanatos in mythology, art and psychology

Thanatos is a god who personifies death in the mythology of ancient Greece. Most often depicted in the image of a young man in a black cloak with wings behind his back, holding the extinguished torch in his hand, as a symbol of extinct life.

Thanatos in art

A huge part of the works of masters of ancient Greece was dedicated to myths - these are sculptures, paintings, frescos, and vessels. In modern culture, we can also find works on myths. In addition, the image of death for many artists is very attractive.

In the image to the left - Eros and Thanatos, the Instinct of Life and the Death Instinct, a modern sculpture. To the right - Thanatos, bas-relief on a marble column in the temple of Artemis.

Each rich, self-respecting person was obliged to have in his house painted vessels and vases, in which masters were immortalized various scenes from the mythology and life of the ancient Greeks.

The vessel shown below shows the twin brothers Hypnos (left) and Thanatos (right), carrying away the warrior Sarpedon from the battlefield. This is how the Greeks imagined Thanatos.

Thanatos in mythology

Thanatos is the son of Nekta (Nyukty, Nyx) and the god of darkness of Erebus. Nikta is the goddess of the night, mother of Thanatos and Ether (eternal light), Gemera (bright day) and Kera (annihilation), as well as Hypnos (sleep), Eris (strife), Apta (deception) and many others.

The God of death lives in Tartarus, but usually dwells next to the throne of the god of the kingdom of the dead Hades. He also has a twin brother Hypnos, of which you have already read above. Hypnos - the god, always accompanying Death, bringing on his wings a dream. He is calm and supportive of people. The goddesses of the fate of Moira and Nemesid (goddess of justice) were their sisters.

Thanatos is the only god who does not recognize the gifts. Mythology also reports that he had an iron heart, and he was the object of hatred of all the Greek gods.

When the term of life, assigned to man by goddesses of destiny by moira, ended, the man was Thanatos. This meant an inevitable death. However, in each rule there are exceptions, but about them later. According to legend, the death god cut his hair with a sword from the dying strands of hair to dedicate it to Aida, and then carried away the souls to the realm of the dead.

How Hercules defeated Death

The ancient Greeks believed that only from Thanatos the death of a person depends, that only he is free to decide, kill or keep alive. That is, he could well give someone a second chance at life, or he could be persuaded to do it.

King Admet and his wife Alkesta (Alcestida) were the happiest, loving and richest people in Thessaly. But then Admet sharply and very seriously ill, can not move neither hands nor feet, falls into unconsciousness. Alkesty remains only to pray the gods that her beloved husband will recover. She prayed that the god of death Thanatos would take his heavy hand away from her husband. It worked.

However, instead of Admet must go to the realm of the dead someone else. And neither parents nor friends dared to die for the beautiful Admet. Alkeste had to take a hit on herself, and she died.

Admet recovered, but did not find a place, always sad and mourned over his wife. At this time, Hercules comes to visit him. At first Admetus pretends that nothing has happened, and then runs out of the hall in tears. Then Hercules and learns the sad story of the king from his old servant and decides to save Alkesta, triggering a duel of Thanatos. He defeated him, never touching the body of the god of death, because there was an opinion that one touch to Thanatos deprives life. And then demanded the return of Alcestida. The God of death had no choice but to agree, or Hercules would have pierced his neck with his sword. Alcestida returned to her husband from the realm of the dead. Hercules defeated Death.

Below is a picture of Frederic Leighton on the subject of this myth, but on it Hercules still touches Thanatos.

How Sisyphus Deceived Death

Sisyphus is a Corinthian king who twice deceived death. One day, Zeus sent Zeus to Thanatos, who was supposed to take the life and soul of Sisyphus, as the god of death deserved. But the cunning ruler of Corinth did not lose his head and deceived the god of death himself with chains, he only asked to explain how to use them.

And the angry Thanatos remained imprisoned by Sisyphus for several years. This contributed to the fact that the god could not perform his functions, and people simply became immortal. Even if a person was beheaded, he remained alive. The wounded could not die dead. I wonder how for a couple of years the gods of Olympus could not see this? The first to become enraged was Hades, when he finally realized that souls were not coming to him in the realm. And then the gods sent Ares to free poor Thanatos.

Sisyphus was immediately taken to the realm of the dead for such an act, but he was able to shine with cunning even here. Before his death, the king asked his wife not to perform funeral rites and not to sacrifice. Sisyphus asked the death god for three days to punish his wife for such a misdemeanor, but back, as already guessed, did not return, and Hermes had to catch him.

And Sisyphus was cruelly punished by Hades for his actions. It is about him that the phraseology "Sisyphean labor". His task is to turn a huge boulder to the top of the mountain, but every time almost at the very top the stone breaks, and Sisyphus needs to start all over again. Do not joke with death, do you?

Thanatos in Psychology

Many philosophers of different times puzzled over what drives the life activity of man. The most famous psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud also pondered on this issue and decided to study it in more detail.

Freud began to consider the primary drives driving life activity, concepts such as "the instinct of life" and the "death instinct" - Eros and Thanatos. Freud writes that on the basis of these two instincts the whole life activity of man is built.

They constantly interact with each other. Thanks to Eros, culture develops, because the instinct of life and love helps people interact with each other and unite in a family, people, state. The troubles, devastation and horror that the First World War brought, testify to the person's inclination to cruelty, aggression and self-destruction, this prompted Freud to think about the "instinct of death."

"The goal of all life is death," Freud said, Eros and Thanatos constantly struggling with each other. Agree with this or not - it's up to you.

A few words about mythology

Greek mythology, like any other, carries a lot of information about the people, among the beautiful fairy tales are hidden any lessons (remember the story with Sisyphus, who played with death?). Myths are easy to remember, because they have a lot of simple and understandable images.

Mythology served as an impetus for the development of art, this topic was very popular among creators of different times and peoples. So read, study, look and think.