Information on Thanatos, the personicication of Death and his depiction in cameos and other art throughout history. In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person. His name is transliterated in Latin as Thanatus, but his equivalent in Roman mythology is Mors or Letum.
Thanatos is often portrayed as a slumbering infant in the arms of his mother Nyx, or as a youth carrying a butterfly (the ancient Greek word “ψυχή” can mean soul or butterfly, or life, amongst other things) or a wreath of poppies (poppies were associated with Hypnos and Thanatos because of their hypnogogic traits and the eventual death engendered by overexposure to them).
He is often shown carrying an inverted torch (holding it upside down in his hands), representing a life extinguished. He is usually described as winged and with a sword sheathed at his belt. In Euripides’ Alcestis (438 BCE), he is depicted dressed in black and carrying a sword. Thanatos was rarely portrayed in art without his twin brother Hypnos.
Thanatos is also famously shown on the Euphronios Krator where he and his brother Hypnos are shown carrying the body of Sarpedon to his home for burial. Reference: Wikipedia
A Victorian oval shell cameo brooch The cameo carved to depict Nyx, the Greek Goddess of the Night, carrying her sleeping children Hypnos and Thánatos, and with her emblem the owl, in decorative gold mount, brooch length 5.4cm.
Sold for £ 812 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2012
Pottery: White-ground lekythos. Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep) (?) bringing dead warrior to tomb. The tomb is in the form of a plain stele on a double plinth, decorated with numerous taeniae, and surmounted by a double projecting moulding. About one quarter of the way down from the top is a band of egg pattern, above which is painted a helmet with long hanging crest to right, the eye-holes filled in with red. The body of the warrior is about to be laid, with feet to left, on the upper plinth it has a cuirass, and a mantle is rolled up over the arms; the head, which is beardless, is held by a youthful winged figure (Hypnos), who places his hand under the warrior’s arms, resting the head against his breast. A bearded winged figure (Thanatos) bends forward, supporting with his left the thighs, with his right the lower part of the legs; the beard of this figure is shaggy and the hair straight; on his body are markings in red, as if of plumage. Drawing of good period. Brown outline throughout, except wings, which are in black outline; hair in black or brown strokes on brown wash; body of Hypnos, thinned red wash; taeniae and mantle of warrior red with black folds. Eye in profile. Usual patterns.
Attributed to: The Thanatos Painter
Reference: © The Trustees of the British Museum
Upright oval intaglio. Red jasper. Depicting the winged youth Thanatos (Death). He leans on an upturned, smoking torch, his right leg crossed over his left, and his chin on his hand. In a gold ring.
The art of engraving gemstones can be traced back to ancient Greece in the 8th century BC and earlier. Techniques passed down to the Egyptians and then to the Romans. There were major revivals of interest in engraved gems in Europe during the Byantine era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. At each stage cameos and intaglios, these skillful carvings on a minute scale, were much prized and collected, sometimes as symbols of power mounted in jewelled settings, sometimes as small objects for private devotion or enjoyment. This intaglio must be connected with mourning. In Greek mythology the winged youths Thanatos (Death) and his brother Hypnos (Sleep) were the children of Nyx (Night). Both had attributes – objects traditionally associated with them in images. Hypnos is often shown with an owl and a poppy, denoting night time and the drowsiness induced by the narcotic plant, or with wings attached to his head. Thanatos has an upturned, guttering torch, denoting the extinction of life.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
