Thanatos
Related: death - macabre - instinct
Tropes: death and the maiden
Contrast: Eros
Definition
In Greek mythology, Thanatos ("death") was the personification of death (Roman equivalent: Mors). He was a creature of bone-chilling darkness. He was a son of Nyx and twin of Hypnos. He plays little role in the myths. In early accounts he was seen as a very powerful figure armed with a sword, with a shaggy beard and a fierce face. His coming was marked with pain and grief. In later eras, as the transition from life to death in Elysium became a more attractive option, Thanatos was seen as a beautiful young man. Many Roman sarcophagi show him as a winged boy, much like Cupid. Because of his ghastly task, he was very unpopular with both man and gods. He became rather overshadowed by Hades the lord of the dead. Night, the destructive, brought forth a horde of villainous immortals. Thanatos was one of that wretched lot. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatos [Feb 2006]
As a psychoanalytic term
- Thanatos = The drive to die.
- Eros = The drive to live.
Death instinct
The death instinct (Thanatos, or Death Drive) was defined by Sigmund Freud, in Jenseits des Lustprinzips (Beyond the Pleasure Principle) (1920; English translation 1922).
It speculated on the existence of a fundamental death wish or death instinct, referring to an individual's own need to die.
In psychoanalytical theory, Thanatos is the death instinct, which opposes Eros. The "death instinct" signals a desire to give up the struggle of life and return to quiescence and the grave. This should not be confused with a similar urge/force destrudo. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_instinct [Feb 2006]