Editing Thanatos (section)

== In myth and poetry ==
The [[Greece|Greek]] [[poet]] [[Hesiod]] established in his ''[[Theogony]]'' that Thánatos has no father, but is the son of [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]] (Night) and brother of [[Hypnos]] (Sleep).<ref name=Theogony>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 758 ff, trans. Evelyn-White, Greek epic 8th or 7th century BC</ref>

[[Homer]] earlier described Hypnos and Thanatos as twin brothers in his epic poem, the ''[[Iliad]]'', where they were charged by [[Zeus]] via [[Apollo]] with the swift delivery of the slain hero [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] to his homeland of [[Lycia]].

{{blockquote|Then [Apollon] gave him (Sarpedon) into the charge of swift messengers to carry him, of Hypnos and Thanatos, who are twin brothers, and these two presently laid him down within the rich countryside of broad Lycia.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 16. 681 ff, trans. Lattimore, Greek epic 8th century BC</ref>}}

Counted among Thanatos' siblings were other negative personifications such as [[Geras]] (Old Age), [[Oizys]] (Suffering), [[Moros]] (Doom), [[Apate (deity)|Apate]] (Deception), [[Momus]] (Blame), [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] (Strife), and [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]] (Retribution). Thanatos was loosely associated with the three [[Moirai]] (for Hesiod, also daughters of Night), particularly [[Atropos]], who was a goddess of death in her own right. He is also, at times, specified as being exclusive to a peaceful death, while the bloodthirsty [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]] embodied violent death. His duties as a [[Psychopomp|Guide of the Dead]] were sometimes superseded by [[Hermes]] Psychopompos.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The god's character is established by [[Hesiod]] in the following passage of the Theogony:

{{blockquote|And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from heaven. And the former of them roam peacefully over the earth and the sea's broad back and is kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods.<ref name=Theogony />}}

Thanatos was thus regarded as merciless and indiscriminate, hated by – and hateful towards — mortals and gods alike. But in myths which feature him, Thanatos could occasionally be outwitted, a feat that the sly King [[Sisyphus]] of [[Ancient Corinth|Korinth]] twice accomplished. When it came time for Sisyphus to die, Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain Sisyphus up in [[Tartarus]]. Sisyphus cheated death by tricking Thanatos into his own shackles, thereby preventing the demise of any mortal while Thanatos was so enchained.

Eventually [[Ares]], the bloodthirsty god of war, grew frustrated with the battles he incited, since neither side could suffer any casualties. He released Thanatos and handed his captor over to the god. Sisyphus would evade Death a second time by convincing [[Persephone]] to allow him to return to his wife stating that she never gave him a proper funeral. This time, Sisyphus was forcefully dragged back to the Underworld by [[Hermes]], where he was sentenced to an eternity of frustration in Tartarus, rolling a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down when he got close to the top.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus. ''Bibliotheca, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=9&highlight=Sisyphus 1.9.3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402232142/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.3&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=9&highlight=Sisyphus |date=2022-04-02 }}''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng2:11.13-11.13 |title=Homeros, Odyssey, 11.13 |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |access-date=2014-10-09}}</ref><ref name="Odyssey, xi. 593">''[[Odyssey]]'', xi. 593</ref>

A fragment of [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]], a Greek lyric poet of the 6th century BC, refers to this episode:

{{blockquote|King Sisyphos, son of [[Aiolos]], wisest of men, supposed that he was master of Thanatos; but despite his cunning he crossed eddying Akheron twice at fate's command.<ref>Alcaeus, Fragment 38a, trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric I, .</ref>}}

[[File:Marble statuette of a naked youth (1st cent. B.C.) at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on 30 August 2018.jpg|thumb|left|Statuette of a youth with torches, perhaps Thanatos, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|NAMA]].]]

As the son of [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]] (and thus a descendant of the Titan [[Prometheus]]), Sisyphus was a more-than-mortal figure: when it came to ordinary humans, Thanatos was usually thought of as inexorable. The sole time he was successfully prevented from claiming a mortal life was by the intervention of the hero [[Heracles]], a son of [[Zeus]]. Thanatos had come to take the soul of [[Alcestis|Alkestis]], who had offered her life in exchange for the continued life of her husband, King [[Admetus|Admetos]] of [[Pherae|Pherai]]. Heracles was an honored guest in the House of Admetos at the time and offered to repay the king's hospitality by contending with Death itself for Alkestis' life. When Thanatos ascended from [[Greek underworld|Hades]] to claim Alkestis, Heracles sprung upon the god and overpowered him, winning the right to have Alkestis remain, while Thanatos fled, cheated of his quarry.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Heracles|url = http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/heracles.html|website = www.timelessmyths.com|access-date = 2015-12-11}}</ref>

[[Euripides]], in ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'':

{{blockquote|Thanatos: Much talk. Talking will win you nothing. All the same, the woman goes with me to Hades' house. I go to take her now and dedicate her with my sword, for all whose hair is cut in consecration by this blade's edge are devoted to the gods below.<ref>Euripides, ''Alcestis'' 19 ff, trans. Vellacott, Greek tragedy c. 5th century BC</ref>}}