Myth Monday* - Thanatos

Thanatos, the dark-robed lord of the dead (Alcestis 843), was the Greek personification of death, the twin brother of Hypnos (sleep) and a son of Nyx (night). As lord of death, you'd expect him to be pretty powerful, but there are two instances that suggest otherwise.

One is the episode where Hercules brings Alcestis back to life by wrestling with Thanatos. This is familiar from the tragedy by Euripides named for Alcestis. The other comes from the stories about the crafty Sisyphus, king of Corinth. You may know that Sisyphus was condemned to eternal punishment in the Underworld. There Sisyphus must forever roll a boulder up a hill.

Do you know what he did that was so bad? One major mistake was blabbing about one of Zeus' indiscretions. For doing so, Zeus sent the death god, Thanatos, after Sisyphus. Sisyphus tricked Thanatos and bound him. The result was that no one could die. [Visualize science fiction B-movies.] Thanatos was rescued by Ares, but not before Sisyphus had figured out another method of cheating the Underworld, this time, not the lord of death, per se, but Hades. Once Hades recovered Sisyphus, he gave him the rock.

* There is already much material on this site on the topic of mythology (especially, Gods and Goddesses and The Stories of the Ancient Greeks). In Myth Mondays I attempt to bring up an element of mythology that is either timely or less well known.