What is thanatos. Thanatos (Thanat, Fanat), death and winged god of death. Thanatos in mythology
TANATOS
TANATOS, Fanatos, Thanat, Fanat (Greek Thanatos - death) - 1) the god of death in ancient mythology. According to the widespread ancient Greek mythological version, the god of death T. was the son of Nyukta (Night) and the twin brother of the god of sleep Hypnos. He was usually depicted as a winged youth, with an extinguished torch in his hand (sometimes with wings and a slashing sword). For a long time, the cult of T. existed in Sparta. 2) the personification of death. 3) a personified designation of the death instinct, the death drive, the instinct and drive for aggression and destruction. As a general emblematic designation of death, T. received various reflections in mythology, art, and psychology (mainly in psychoanalysis). In psychology of the 20th century. the formation of ideas about the existence of the forces of death was carried out under the influence of the corresponding philosophical (Schopenhauer and others) and biological (A. Weisman and others) ideas. The most systematic ideas about the existence of the death instinct and the drive for death, the instinct and drive for destruction and aggression were developed by a group of prominent psychoanalysts (E. Weiss, M. Klein, P. Federn, Freud, Spielrein, V. Stekel, A. Sterke and many others. .). The Austrian psychoanalyst V. Stekel introduced the concept of T. and the concept itself into psychoanalysis. The consolidation and dissemination of the concept of T. and giving it a categorical status was largely associated with the works of the Austrian psychoanalyst II. Fe-turf. In the writings of Freud, the concept of T. was not used, although, according to E. Jones, Freud repeatedly used it orally to denote the death instinct postulated by him (the drive for death, destruction and aggression), which is opposed by Eros (the instinct of sexuality, life and self-preservation). In psychoanalysis, the struggle between Eros and T. is interpreted as an active, fundamental and defining basis of human life and mental activity. According to Freud, the death instinct functions on the basis of the libido energy. Its orientation outward (towards people and various objects) appears in the form of aggression or destructive actions (for example, sadism, vandalism, etc.), and its orientation inward (towards the individual who is its bearer) appears in the forms of masochism and other perversions, self-destruction and suicide. The concept of T. is now actively and very often used not only in psychoanalysis and psychology, but also outside them. Although the problem of the existence of the instinct (drive) for death (for death) and the complex of related issues is the subject of scientific discussions.
The latest philosophical dictionary. - Minsk: Book House... A. A. Gritsanov. 1999.
Synonyms:See what "TANATOS" is in other dictionaries:
thanatos- (Fanatos, Thanat, Fanat; from the Greek thanatos death) 1) the god of death; 2) the personification of death; 3) a personified designation of the death instinct, death drive, instinct and drive for aggression and destruction. As a general symbolic designation ... ... Big psychological encyclopedia
Fan (Θάνατος), in Greek mythology the personification of death (Nes. Theog. 211 next; Note. P. XIV 231 next). The tragedy of Euripides "Alkestida" expounds the myth of how Hercules fought off T. Alkestida. The cunning Sisif managed to shackle T. and hold him in ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology
God of Death Dictionary of Russian synonyms. thanatos noun, number of synonyms: 2 god (375) death (69) ... Synonym dictionary
Thanatos- Thanatos, thanatology (gr. Thanatos - alim, Thanatos - alim adayy) - alim turaly ilim. Psychoanalysisdin keibir өkіlderinin kөzқarasy boyinsha қanaғatқa (өmirge) aңdausyz ұmtylumen қatar өlimge sanasyz ұmtyludy (irresponsible craving), adam zhuris - ... ... Philosophies
- (Thanat Fanat), in Greek mythology, the god is the personification of death, the son of Nikta of the Night and the twin brother of the god of sleep Hypnos ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Thanat, Fan), in Greek mythology, the god is the personification of death, the son of Nikta (see NIKTA) of the Night and the twin brother of the god of sleep Hypnos (see HYPNOS) ... encyclopedic Dictionary
The mythological personification of death among the ancient Greeks, the god of death, the son of the night, the brother of sleep. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910 ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Thanatos- - 1.Greek. God of death; 2. in psychoanalysis - the instinct of death, destruction. It is manifested by a tendency to suicide, self-harm, refusal of pleasures, etc. The theory of the death instinct has remained virtually undeveloped in psychoanalysis, although it is ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy
Hypnos and Thanatos take Sarpedon away, Hermes watches Thanatos ... Wikipedia
In Greek mythology, the personification of death, the son of the Night and the brother of the Dream. When Thanatos took Alcesta, Hercules forced her to give her back and returned her to her husband Admet ... Collier's Encyclopedia
Thanatos is the god who personified death in ancient Greek mythology. Most often he was depicted as a young man in a black cloak with wings behind his back, holding an extinguished torch in his hand, as a symbol of extinct life.
Thanatos in art
A huge part of the works of the masters of ancient Greece was devoted to myths - these are sculptures, paintings, frescoes, and vessels. In modern culture, we can also find works on the theme of myths. In addition, the image of death for many artists is very attractive.
Image on the left - Eros and Thanatos, Life Instinct and Death Instinct, contemporary sculpture. On the right is Thanatos, a bas-relief on a marble column in the Temple of Artemis.
Every rich, self-respecting person was obliged to have painted vessels and vases in his home, on which the masters immortalized various scenes from the mythology and life of the ancient Greeks.
The vessel below shows the twin brothers Hypnos (left) and Thanatos (right) carrying the warrior Sarpedon off the battlefield. This is how the Greeks envisioned Thanatos.
Thanatos in mythology
Thanatos is the son of Nikta (Nykta, Nyx) and the god of darkness Erebus. Nikta is the goddess of the night, the mother of Thanatos and Ether (eternal light), Hemera (bright day) and Kera (destruction), as well as Hypnos (sleep), Eris (discord), Apty (deception) and many others.
When the term of life allotted to a person by the moiraes ended, Thanatos appeared to the person. This meant imminent death. True, there are exceptions to each rule, but more on them later. According to legend, the god of death cut off a strand of hair from the dying with his sword to dedicate it to Hades, and then carried away the souls to the kingdom of the dead.
How Hercules defeated Death
The ancient Greeks believed that the death of a person depends only on Thanatos, that only he is free to decide whether to 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 Alcesta (Alkestida) were the happiest, loving and richest people in Thessaly. But then Admet sharply and very seriously falls ill, can not move either his arms or legs, falls into unconsciousness. Alkeste can only pray to 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, someone else must go to the kingdom of the dead. And neither parents nor friends dared to accept death for the beautiful Admet. Alkeste had to take the blow, and she died.
Admet recovered, but he could not find a place for himself, he was always sad and grieved for his wife. At this time, Hercules comes to visit him. At first, Admet pretends that nothing happened, and then runs out of the hall in tears. Then Hercules learns the sad story of the king from his old servant and decides to save Alcesta, challenging Thanatos to a duel. He defeated him without ever touching the body of the god of death, because it was believed that one touch of Thanatos takes life. And then he demanded the return of Alkestida. The God of death had no choice but to agree, otherwise Hercules would have pierced his neck with his sword. Alcestis returned to her husband from the realm of the dead. Hercules defeated Death.
Below is a picture of Frederick Leighton on the theme of this myth, but in it Hercules still touches Thanatos.
How Sisyphus cheated Death
Sisyphus is a Corinthian king who cheated death twice. Once Zeus sent Thanatos to Sisyphus, who, as befits the god of death, was supposed to take the life and soul of Sisyphus. But the cunning ruler of Corinth was not taken aback and tricked the god of death himself with chains - he only asked to explain how to use them.
And the angry Thanatos remained in captivity with Sisyphus for several years. This contributed to the fact that God could not fulfill his functions, and people simply became immortal. Even if a person was beheaded, he remained alive. The mortally wounded could not die. I wonder how in a couple of years the gods of Olympus could not have noticed this? Hades was the first to rage when he finally realized that souls did not enter his kingdom. And then the gods sent Ares to free poor Thanatos.
For such an act, Sisyphus was immediately taken to the kingdom of the dead, but even then he was able to show off his cunning. Before his death, the king asked his wife not to perform funeral rites and not to offer sacrifices. Sisyphus asked the god of death for a three-day delay in order to punish his wife for such an offense, but, as you guessed, he did not return, and Hermes had to catch him.
And Sisyphus was severely punished by Hades for his actions. It is about him the phraseological unit. His task is to roll a huge boulder to the top of the mountain, but every time, almost at the very top, a stone breaks off, and Sisyphus needs to start all over again. Death is not worth joking, is it?
Thanatos in psychology
Many philosophers at different times puzzled over what drives human life. The famous psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud also thought about this issue and decided to study it in more detail.
Freud began to consider the primary drives driving life, such concepts as "life instinct" and "death instinct" - Eros and Thanatos. Freud writes that on the basis of these two instincts, all human activity is built.
They constantly interact with each other. Thanks to Eros, culture develops, because the instinct of life and love helps people to interact with each other and unite in a family, people, state. The misfortunes, devastation and horror that the First World War brought testify to a person's tendencies for cruelty, aggression and self-destruction, this prompted Freud to think about the "death instinct".
"The goal of all life is death" - said Freud, Eros and Thanatos are constantly fighting 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; some lessons are hidden among beautiful fairy tales (remember the story of Sisyphus, who played with death?). Myths are easy to remember, because they have a huge variety 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, watch and think.
Thanatos (Thanat, Fan), Greek, lat. Morta or Morse- the god of death and death itself, the son of the goddess of the night Nikta and the god of eternal darkness Tartarus.
Thanatos had a heart of iron, black icy wings and a merciless grip: whoever fell into his hands could not even dream of mercy or respite. Thanatos inspired fear not only for people, but also for the immortal gods. Meanwhile, Thanatos had only executive power, and the day of death was determined by fate (see "Moira", "Parks"). In a strictly appointed time (registration of the planned deaths with Thanatos was always at its best), the god of death plucked the soul from a person, took it to the afterlife and handed it over to the gloomy Hades.
Only twice did Thanatos blunder when dealing with mortals (see articles "Admet" and "Sisif").
Picture: Frederic Leighton "Hypnos and Thanatos" (Hercules fights Death to save Alkestida).
Ancient artists portrayed Thanatos as a young man with black wings and an extinct or dying torch; most often we see him in the company of his brother, the god of sleep, Hypnos, for example, in the widespread plot of vase painting: "Thanatos and Hypnos carry the body of Sarpedon to Lycia."
Thanatos, Fanat (Q a n a t o z) - the god-personification of death, the son of the goddess Nikta (Night), the brother of Hypnos (Sleep), the goddesses of fate moir, Nemesis.
Thanatos has a dwelling in tartarus (at the end of the world), but usually he is at the throne of Hades, there is also a version according to which he constantly flies from one bed of a dying person to another, while cutting off a lock of hair from the head of the dying person with a sword and taking his soul.
The god of sleep Hypnos always accompanies Thanatos: very often you can see their images on antique vases, in sculptures and in paintings.
Thanatos was most often depicted as a winged youth with an extinguished torch in his hand (the torch is often turned upside down, which also indicates the absence of fire, a spark of life. For example, on some provincial coins of Rome minted in Greek cities, it is placed in just such a composition).
Often depicted as a black or darker boy, the youth next to the white boy Hypnos.
Thanatos has an iron heart and is hated by many gods. He is the only god who does not love gifts. The cult of Thanatos was significantly represented in Sparta.
Interesting stories indicate the struggle of people and supermen with this embodiment of death and who won or deceived him.
One of these stories is described by Euripides in the tragedy "Alkestida", which tells how Hercules recaptured Alkestida from Thanatos.
"Hercules Fights Death to Save Alkestida" Frederic Leighton
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Another story is related to the Corinthian king Sisyphus. Once he dared to deceive Zeus himself. The enraged ruler of Olympus sent Thanatos to Sisyphus, so that he would immediately send the blasphemer to the kingdom of Hades. But the cunning Sisyphus managed to deceive even death. He gave Thanatos an honorable meeting. He invited him to a luxurious table, and when the demon of death got pretty drunk, Sisyphus tied him tightly and locked him in the banquet hall. After that, people on earth ceased to die, the sick and mortally wounded suffered in vain. They asked Thanatos to end their suffering. But death did not come to them. (here are the first echoes of the problem of euthanasia) Hades himself wondered why new shadows of the dead did not appear in his kingdom for so long. He sent to find out where Thanatos had gone. He found the death demon Ares, set him free and immediately gave him Sisyphus.
But this time, the cunning and resourcefulness of Sisyphus prevailed. He ordered his wife, the Pleiad Merope, not to betray his body either to the ground, or to the fire of a funeral pyre, and not to perform any funeral rites. As soon as Sisyphus found himself in the kingdom of Hades, he immediately began to complain about Merope and ask permission to return to earth in order to punish his wife for negligence. Flattery finally persuaded Sisyphus Hades to let him return home for three days. But the cunning Corinthian king much more liked to live under the blue sky, under the warm rays of the sun, than to stay in the domain of Hades as a shadow. Hermes had to appear for Sisyphus himself and forcibly deliver him to the underworld. Sisyphean labor - the punishment for disobedience to death continues to this day, he drags his ever-rolling stone to an immensely high mountain.
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But the greatest pain that was caused by Thanatos was experienced by Apollo, having lost his own son. His name was Asclepius. When he was born, Apollo transferred him to the mountainous Thessaly and gave him to the wise centaur Chiron to be raised. Chiron knew a lot. He knew both the secrets of the movement of the stars, and the hidden powers of medicinal herbs, he knew everything about the events of bygone times, and what is hidden behind the veil of the future.
When the time came to choose the subject of study, Asclepius gave preference to the art of healing. Very soon the student surpassed his teacher. There was no disease that Asclepius could not heal. The divine healer did not refuse to help anyone, neither the poor nor the rich, nor the old, nor the young.
The art of Asclepius was so great that people on earth stopped dying. Then the death demon Thanatos complained to Zeus that Asclepius was violating world order. "If people become immortal," Zeus thought, "then who will distinguish people from the gods?" A bright flash flashed the lightning of the great king of Olympus, and struck Asclepius.
Death Thanat (Thanatos), son of the goddess of the night Nyukty, dwells next to his brother - the god of sleep Hypnos... But the Dream is a friend of mortals, he peacefully walks among them on earth - and the God of Death knows no mercy, he has a cruel, icy heart. He never lets out the unfortunate one, once captured by him, he is hated even by the immortal gods (Hesiod).
Covered in black clothes, he moves among people, cutting off a lock of hair from the dying and sacrificing it to the god of the kingdom of the dead, Hades; he drinks the blood of sacrifices offered in memory of the dead (Euripides). However, despite the terrible descriptions of the poets, Tanat appears in ancient art not in such a terrible form as it was given later, in the Middle Ages. He is mostly depicted in the form of a sleeping youth with an overturned torch - this is how he is represented on many sarcophagi. It is often very difficult to distinguish Thanat from Hypnos on Greek works of art, and they are often depicted together. The beautiful statue in the Louvre, known as the "Genius of Eternal Rest," can represent one or the other of the brothers.
Sleep and its brother - Death. Depiction of the gods Hypnos and Thanat in a painting by J.W. Waterhouse, 1874
Despite his power, Thanat was defeated, for example, by the robber Sisyphus. Zeus, wanting to punish this wicked man for all his evil deeds, sent the god of death to him, but Sisis managed to put Thanat in chains, so that they stopped dying on earth. The gods could not endure such a violation of the once established order for a long time and sent Ares to the land, who defeated Sisyphus and plunged him into hell.
The myth of Admet and Alkestides indicates that the Greeks believed in the possibility of giving their life to the god of death in exchange for the life of a loved one.
As soon as someone died in an ancient Greek house, there were immediately shouts and sobs, and everyone present, raising their hands up, hit one another. In the tragedy of Euripides "Alcestis", the choir sings: “Does anyone there, inside, hear groans and sobs? Are there any thumps of hands that should mean it's over? " And then the chorus adds: “I do not see a vessel with cleansing water, which should, according to custom, stand at the door where death reigns; cut off hair is not visible as a sign of mourning and no noise from the blows of hands is heard. " The vessel in question here, usually made of clay, painted, had to be filled with water, certainly taken from another house: it served to wash the hands of visitors, and this, as it were, cleansed everyone who touched the corpse.
Frescoes found in tombs and tombs depict funeral processions and ceremonies, in which hired mourners or flutists must participate. The same frescoes depict various vessels and household utensils that friends donate to the deceased; feasts in honor of the dead are also reproduced. Often even social games were instituted in memory of the deceased - for example, Nemean Games in honor of Archemor. A vase has survived, which depicts these games and the deceased Archemor.
The ancient peoples did not consider the appearance of tombs and tombstones repulsive - on the contrary, they were placed in prominent places, and they served as decoration of cities. In Greece and Italy, the ruins of these tombs and monuments are found on the most difficult roads. The sculptural works or paintings that adorned these monuments, for the most part, depicted those ideas that the people had about another life; Bacchic masks often found on them were supposed to remind that all human life is a role that everyone should play during their earthly existence. The tragic mask, placed next to the comic, indicated that a person's whole life is a mixture of grief and joy. The image of the battles spoke of the struggle that the deceased had to endure, fighting against good and evil, and good and evil spirits took part in it.
Sometimes the cause of death was depicted in hints - for example, Apollo and Artemis, striking children with arrows. Niobe were supposed to represent sudden death; the abduction of Persephone meant that the young girl became a victim of death too early, and the abduction Ganymede explained the early death of the young man.
Many inscriptions on the tombs have survived; one of them reads as follows: “The ashes of the lovely Tinos rests in this grave. Cruel parks cut the threads of her life before god Hymen lit his torch for her. All her friends courageously cut off their beautiful hair as a sign of sadness. Sometimes the gravestone is like advice for the living: “Stranger, Syracusean Orton advises you not to let the winter night take you drunk on the road: this was the cause of my death, and that's why, instead of resting in my native land, I was buried here in a foreign country ”.
The humorous inscription sometimes contains regret that the deceased lived at all: “My name is Dionysius of Tarsus, and I am resting here, having lived sixty years. I have never been married and would be grateful to the gods if my father did the same. "
