On one of the enormous pillars from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (325-300 BC) was carved this figure of a large-winged, languid, naked youth. He gazes down thoughtfully, even wistfully and regretfully, at something (now lost) in his left hand. It may have been a butterfly - the original meaning of the Greek word "psyche" and a symbol of the fleeting nature of life (rather than, on modern gravestones, immortal life). He was more often shown holding a pair of scales, in which the winged souls of two young warriors were placed; and he watched as one, sinking lower, had to be the one to die. Onto the young man's naked body, beside his left hip, and sheathed inside a huge scabbard, is strapped a sword. On his damaged right side and from his damaged right arm one would normally find an upside-down, extinguished torch -- a sure-fire sign of a life snuffed out.

The eternally young and deathless youth in this Hellenistic sculpture is Thanatos, the Greek embodiment of Death. In earlier accounts he was a fierce, bearded, older man. But by Hellenistic times, with life gone soft and sybaritic, and many now dreaming of a lovely afterlife in Elysium, he is portrayed as he was at Ephesus, as a lovely young man.

It was from Zeus that he inherited the task of deciding who would live and who would die, and for this purpose he weighed every soul in his pair of scales. Yet he was not a god, and was not worshipped as a god. He was the Angel of Death.

He was welcomed by many as a healer and remover of pain. Yet he was unyielding in his purpose and unbribable. So he was also feared. Hesiod said he was hated even by the gods. Which is odd, for they could not die.

But when Thanatos comes for his human victim, no man can stand against him.

Only one, the mighty Herakles, was once able to stop him. Herakles was an honored guest in the house of King Admetos, whose time was now up. But his wife Alcestis had offered to die in his place. So when Thanatos came up from Hades to take Alcestis back with him, Herakles offered to repay Admetos' hospitality by fighting Thanatos to save her. In Euripides' "Alcestis" Thanatos rebuffs the strongman thus: "You talk too much. But talk will gain you nothing. All the same, the woman goes with me to Hades' house. I'm going to take her now, and dedicate her with my sword. For whoever's hair is cut by this blade's edge is consecrated to the gods below." But Herakles leaps on Thanatos and overpowers him, winning the right to have Alcestis revived. Thanatos flees, cheated of his prey.



On the Ephesus column drum (now in the British Museum), Alcestis stands in the center, while Thanatos, on her right, reluctantly releases her and lets Hermes, on her left, holding his wand or caduceus, guide her back to the world of the living, which he, as guide of the dead, gazes up at.

For more images and info on Thanatos on a famous Greek vase, on an Etruscan bronze vessel, on a Roman coin, and on a controversial marble throne, click
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