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
Modern understanding of Greek mythology mythology to the still poorly understood pre-Hellenic societies of Greece, such as the Minoans and so-called Pelasgians. This is especially true in the case of chthonic deities and mother goddesses. Historians of religion were fascinated by a number of apparently ancient configurations of myth connencted with Crete: the god as bull — Zeus and Europa; Pasiphaë who yields to the bull and gives birth to the Minotaur; agrarian mysteries with a sacred marriage (Demeter's union with Iasion) etc. Crete, Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes and Orchomenus figure so large in later Greek mythology. For some, the three main generations of gods in