When it does, he collects the soul with a well-practiced cut of his razor-sharp blade. What is death's real name? Why does the Grim Reaper wear a cloak? In modern-day European-based folklore, Death is known as the Grim Reaper, depicted as wearing a dark hooded cloak and wielding a scythe.
The scythe is an image that reminds us that Death reaps the souls of sinners like the peasant who harvests corn in his field. How does the Grim Reaper kill? Death is a fundamental part of life and it is the Grim Reaper's duty to claim the souls of the deceased so as to maintain the balance of nature. The Reaper does not "kill" mortals, but merely guides their spirits to the next realm and it is not their place to judge souls or determine what will become of them. What's the difference between death and the grim reaper?
As nouns the difference between death and reaper is that death is the cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an inert, nonliving state while reaper is one who reaps. Is a scythe an AXE? As nouns the difference between scythe and ax is that scythe is an instrument for mowing grass, grain, or the like, by hand, composed of a long, curving blade, with the concave edge sharped, made fast to a long handle, called a snath, which is bent into a form convenient for use while ax is label.
Why do Grim Reapers wear glasses? Grim Reapers typically intend to eliminate anything that gets in their way. All Grim Reapers have chartreuse phosphorescent eyes, and wear glasses because they are extremely nearsighted. What is a certified orthopedic technologist? What were the objectives of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony? Do euglena have cilia or flagella? Co-authors By: William Harris Updated: Apr 27, We know taxes well.
There are forms, rates and codes. We circle April 15 on our calendars in bold, red strokes, making the day stand out like a swollen thumb. But what about death? For most of us, the other certainty of being human is not nearly so concrete.
According to biologists, death is the total cessation of life processes that eventually occurs in all living things. Unfortunately, that definition doesn't paint a vivid picture. It doesn't tell us what it's like to die. What will it feel like? What will we see? What will we do? Where will we go? He comes for every person, hourglass in hand, waiting for the last grain of sand to fall.
When it does, he collects the soul with a well-practiced cut of his razor-sharp blade. It may not be a pleasant image, but it is clear and unmistakable.
Ultimately, this is the "job" of the Grim Reaper -- to put a human face on the concept of death. But why did humans feel compelled to make the Grim Reaper, well, so grim? Why not make him a friendly and helpful guide to the underworld? And why, for that matter, does he have to be a guy? We'll address all of these questions on the next few pages. We'll also examine how painters, writers and filmmakers have portrayed the Reaper in their works.
When we're done, you'll know who the Grim Reaper is should you spy him lurking by your deathbed , how he works and, most important, why he exists at all. And for the Grim Reaper, the beginning can be found in the creation myths present in all cultures.
In almost all cultures and religions, humans were first created as immortal beings who fell from their state of perfection. The fall of Adam and Eve is the classic example, chronicled in the Bible. The first man and woman lived in the Garden of Eden, a perfect place.
God told Adam to take care of the garden and harvest fruit from any tree -- except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Unfortunately, Satan, speaking through a serpent , tricked Eve into eating the fruit.
She then took the fruit to Adam, who also ate it even though he knew it was wrong. As their punishment for disobeying God, Adam and Eve experienced both spiritual and physical death. In other religions, humans were created as mortals who tried, but failed, to achieve immortality.
The Epic of Gilgamesh tells this story. A product of Mesopotamian literature, Gilgamesh was the son of a goddess and a human king. Gilgamesh, however, remained just as mortal as any other man, including his best friend Enkidu. When Enkidu dies, the great hero becomes haunted by the prospect of death and sets out on a quest for immortality. His travels bring him to Utnapishtim, a human who has been allowed by the gods to live forever.
Utnapishtim promises to grant Gilgamesh immortality if the hero can stay awake for a week. Gilgamesh eventually falls asleep, but Utnapishtim still rewards him with a plant that has the power to rejuvenate its owner. On the journey home, a hungry snake devours the plant, ending any hope Gilgamesh has of becoming immortal.
In Mesopotamian legend, Gilgamesh returns home and happily accepts his life as a mortal man. Most humans, however, aren't so easygoing. We're troubled by the idea of our own mortality.
Death is a constant shadow hanging over everything we do. Research bears this out. A survey found that 20 percent of Americans aged 50 and older become frightened when they think about what happens to them when they die.
Fifty-three percent believe in the existence of spirits or ghosts; 73 percent in life after death [source: AARP ]. Clearly, what happens as we die, as well as what happens after we die, is a major concern, as it has been for thousands of years. To make sense of dying and mortality, humans rely on a tried-and-true method: They give death a form they recognize.
This turns an abstract, invisible phenomenon into something real and tangible. If you look at death and see a familiar face, you can understand it. If you look at death and see a kind, gentle face, even better -- you can put aside your fears. Of course, it can work the other way. You can find a terrifying countenance when you look upon death. As we'll see in the next section, the frightening face of the Grim Reaper evolved after a particularly difficult time in human history.
Thanatos was the twin brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep, and both were portrayed as young, pleasant men. In some illustrations, Thanatos appears with wings and an extinguished flame.
His job was to accompany the departed to Hades , the Greek underworld. He became the patron of a religious movement based on sacred writings said to be his own.
Traditionally, Orpheus was the son of a Muse probably Calliope, the patron of epic poetry and Oeagrus, a king of Thrace other versions give Apollo. Geographically, the Underworld was considered to have been surrounded by five rivers: the Acheron river of woe , the Cocytus river of lamentation , the Phlegethon river of fire , the Styx river of unbreakable oath by which the gods took vows , and the Lethe river of forgetfulness.
Hades, according to various Christian denominations, is "the place or state of departed spirits", also known as Hell, borrowing the name of the Greek god of the dead. In mythology According to Hesiod, when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus, the king of the gods, took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Prometheus' brother Epimetheus. Pandora opened a jar left in her care containing sickness, death and many other unspecified evils which were then released into the world.
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