Ancient Greece found death to be inevitable, and therefore he is not represented as purely evil.
He is often portrayed as a bearded and winged man, but has also been portrayed as a young boy. Death, is the counterpart of life; death being represented as male, and life as female.
He is the twin brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep. He is typically shown with his brother, and is represented as being just and gentle. His job is to escort the deceased to the underworld Hades. He then hands the dead over to Charon (who by some accounts looks like the modern western interpretation of the Grim Reaper, having a skeletal body and black cloak), who mans the boat which carries them over the river Styx, which separates the land of the living from the land of the dead.
It was believed that if the ferryman did not receive some sort of payment, the soul would not be delivered to the underworld, and left by the riverside for eternity.
Lithuanians named Death Giltinė, deriving from word "gelti" (to sting). Giltinė was viewed as an old ugly woman with long blue nose and deadly poisonous tongue. The legend tells that Giltinė was young, pretty and communicative until she was trapped in a coffin for seven years. The goddess of Death was a sister of the goddess of Life and Destiny, Laima, symbolising the relationship between beginning and end. Later they adopted the classic Grim Reaper with a scythe and black robe.
Now halloween is the classic time of the year to see the grim reaper and we have celebrated this fact at Justbyjulie by creating some halloween products for you to enjoy.
Listed below is one example of our products. To see the full range please visit our online store at Justbyjulie.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment