Psychopomp: Greek Edition III


Thanatos
God of Death
Lieutenant of Hades
Chief Reaper of Souls
Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of kings.
Thanatos is the God of Peaceful Death. He is the son of Nyx and the twin brother of Hypnos. His Roman counterpart is Letus (Mors). Thanatos was called the god of peaceful death while the Keres were his antithesis as the spirits of violent death. His coming was marked by pain and grief. Thanatos was the son of the primordial gods Erebus (God of Darkness) and Nyx (the dark Goddess of Night) and the brother of the many of the dark gods of death, night, pain and other miseries of humanity.
Once he was tricked by Sisyphus which was one of the reasons why the mortal was condemned to the Fields of Punishment. When Thanatos came to take Sisyphus to the Underworld, the cunning man chained up the god, and shoved him under his bed, effectively stopping death until Ares freed him. No matter what you think of death, Thanatos was a noble god who could not be bribed. When it was your time to die, he would make certain that it happened, but he did not take those whose time had not come. Thanatos could not be talked out of claiming someone scheduled to die, but he could be beaten out of collecting his prize. Thanatos also wrestled with Heracles for the life of Queen Alcestis, the wife of King Admetus. He lost the match, and was forced to bring the queen back to life. He previously owned a scroll now owns a pure black iPad that he uses to keep track of the escaped souls. This item is also able to use video conferencing and has Hades’s (Pluto's) Skype address.  
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 Necromancy: since Thanatos is the god of death, he has absolute control over death, and the ability to kill someone with a touch. As part of his duties, Thanatos is able to separate the dead from the living. He captures souls trying to escape from the Underworld and sends them back.
·         Doors of Death: as the god of death, Thanatos is usually in complete control of the Doors of Death, and is able to quickly pass between the world of the living and the dead. The Doors of Death act as a fast passage in and out of the Underworld for Thanatos, who is in control of bring people to the Underworld, as well as making sure that no one ever escapes as well. Also Thanatos is able to tell where the Doors of Death are at all times, even if they are not under his control.
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Invisibility: After Ares, God of War, frees Thanatos from Sisyphus, the god of death no longer openly approaches souls directly, and instead, chooses to reap them while staying invisible.
·         Flight: with the help of his huge black wings, Thanatos can quickly glide through the air, which helps him capture souls at very high speeds.
Over the years, Thanatos used several forms and guises in order to escort the spirits or shades of the dead to their respective afterlife. In most forms, he takes on the appearance of a handsome non-assuming young man or a beautiful young woman where needed. Thanatos's wings were always on his back, just like Eros, the god of love.
During the Dark Ages, he was often pictured as a grim skeleton in tattered robes carrying a scythe, especially during times of plague, called the Grim Reaper, but he is actually a harmless and peaceful entity of great compassion devoted to making the end of mortal life as peaceful as possible. He has been deceived and waylaid on occasion, but eventually, death becomes inevitable. His depiction as carrying a scythe and being 'the Reaper of Souls' is similar to many folklores' description of the Grim Reaper, a hooded skeleton carrying a scythe to 'mow down' the dead. This implies Thanatos may have inspired these legends and the Angel of Death.

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