Thanatos Thanatos In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; , pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω "thnēskō" "to die, be dying") 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. Mors is sometimes erroneously identified with Orcus, whose Greek equivalent was Horkos, God of the Oath. The Greek poet Hesiod established in his "Theogony" that Thánatos is a son of Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) and twin of Hypnos (Sleep). Homer also confirmed Hypnos
Greek mythology and the Near East. Adonis seems to be the Greek counterpart—more clearly in cult than in myth—of a Near Eastern "dying god". Cybele is rooted in Anatolian culture while much of Aphrodite's iconography may spring from Semitic goddesses. There are also possible parallels between the earliest divine generations (Chaos and its children) and Tiamat in the "Enuma Elish". According to Meyer Reinhold, "near Eastern theogonic concepts, involving divine succession through violence and generational conflicts for power, found their way ... into Greek mythology". In addition to Indo-European and Near Eastern origins, some scholars have speculated on the debts of Greek