Also called Mors (Roman).
Their story
Thanatos is the son of Night and twin of Sleep, with a heart of iron that pities no one. Yet in art he is often a gentle winged man, carrying the dead Sarpedon home with his brother. In Euripides's Alcestis, Heracles wrestles him at the tomb and wins Alcestis back. Sisyphus was said to have chained him so that no one could die.
Best times to give to them
- At funerals and memorials
- The Chytroi, the last day of the Anthesteria, when the dead were honoured
- When sitting with the dying
What they like being given
- Fresh water
- Flowers
- A candle
- A handful of earth
How to honour them
- Ask for a peaceful end for those who are dying.
- Remember the dead by name.
- Reflect on your own life without fear, as the ancients did in epitaphs.
How they can help you
- Facing mortality
- Grief
- Sitting with the dying
Symbols
- inverted torch
- wings
- sword
- wreath of poppies
There was little regular cult of Thanatos; he was mainly a figure of poetry and art.
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 211-212, 758-766
- Homer, Iliad 16.666-683
- Euripides, Alcestis