By_region Death_(personification)

1 region

1.1 middle eastern
1.2 hellenic
1.3 celtic
1.4 slavic
1.5 low countries
1.6 scandinavia
1.7 baltic
1.8 india
1.9 east asia
1.10 latin america

by region

a western depiction of death skeleton wielding scythe


middle eastern

mot (lit.  death ) personified canaanites god of death. considered son of king of gods, el. contest storm god baʿal forms part of myth cycle discovered in 1920s in ruins of ugarit. lacunae obscure of details, mot apparently consumes baʿal before being split open , mutilated god s sister, warrior anat. after time, both gods restored , resume battle before sun goddess shapash prompts truce warning mot that, if forced to, el intervene on baʿal s behalf. phoenicians worshipped death under name mot , version of mot later became maweth, devil or angel of death in judaism.

hellenic

thanatos winged youth, c. 325–300 bc, @ temple of artemis, ephesos

ancient greece found death inevitable, , therefore, not represented purely evil. portrayed bearded , winged man, has been portrayed young boy. death, or thanatos, counterpart of life, death being represented male, , life female. twin brother of hypnos, god of sleep. typically shown brother , represented being , gentle. job escort dead underworld, hades. hands dead on charon, mans boat carries them on river styx, separates land of living land of dead. believed if ferryman did not receive sort of payment, soul not delivered underworld , left riverside hundred years. thanatos sisters, keres, spirits of violent death. associated deaths battle, disease, accident, , murder. sisters portrayed evil, feeding on blood of body after soul had been escorted hades. had fangs , talons, , dressed in bloody garments.

celtic

breton folklore shows spectral figure portending death, ankou (yr angau in welsh). usually, ankou spirit of last person died within community , appears tall, haggard figure wide hat , long white hair or skeleton revolving head sees everyone, everywhere. ankou drives deathly wagon or cart creaking axle. cart or wagon piled high corpses , stop @ cabin means instant death inside.

in ireland there creature known dullahan, head tucked under or arm (dullahans not one, entire species), , head said have large eyes , smile reach head s ears. dullahan ride black horse or carriage pulled black horses, , stop @ house of die, , call name, , person die. dullahan did not being watched, , believed if dullahan knew watching them, lash person s eyes whip, made spine; or toss basin of blood on person, sign person next die.

also in ireland there female spirit known banshee, heralds death of person, shrieking or keening. banshee described in gaelic lore wearing red or green, long, disheveled hair. can appear in variety of forms. perhaps seen ugly, frightful hag, can appear young , beautiful if chooses. in ireland , parts of scotland, traditional part of mourning keening woman (bean chaointe), wails lament – in irish: caoineadh, caoin meaning weep, wail . when several banshees appear @ once, indicates death of great or holy. tales recounted woman, though called fairy, ghost, of specific murdered woman, or mother died in childbirth.

in scottish folklore there belief black, dark green or white dog known cù sìth took dying souls afterlife.

slavic

in poland, death, or Śmierć, has appearance similar traditional grim reaper, instead of black robe, death has white robe. also, due grammar, death female (the word śmierć of feminine gender), seen old skeletal woman, depicted in 16th century dialogue rozmowa mistrza polikarpa ze Śmiercią (latin: dialogus inter mortem et magistrum polikarpum ).

in serbia , other smaller balkan countries, grim reaper knows smrt ( death ) or kosač ( billhook ), balkan people found similar devil , other dark powers. 1 popular saying grim reaper is: smrt ne bira ni vreme, mesto ni godine ( death not choosing time, place or years - means destiny.)

the low countries

in netherlands, lesser extent in belgium, personification of death known magere hein ( meager hein ). historically, referred hein or variations thereof such heintje, heintjeman , oom hendrik ( uncle hendrik ). related archaic terms beenderman ( bone-man ), scherminkel (very meager person, skeleton ) , maaijeman ( mow-man , reference scythe).

the concept of magere hein pre-christian , tied pagan beliefs, christianized , gained modern name , features (scythe, skeleton, black robe etc.) during middle ages. designation meager comes portrayal skeleton, largely influenced christian dance of death (dutch: dodendans) theme prominent in europe during late middle ages. hein middle dutch name originating short form of heinric (see henry (given name)). use possibly related comparable german concept of freund hein . notable many of names given death can refer devil, showing how status feared , evil being led him being merged concept of satan.

in belgium, personification of death commonly called pietje de dood little pete, death . of dutch names, can refer devil.

scandinavia

in scandinavia, in norse mythology death personified in shape of hel, goddess of death , ruler on realm of same name, received portion of dead. in times of black plague, death depicted old woman known name of pesta, meaning plague hag . wore black hood. go town carrying either rake or broom. if brought rake, people survive plague; if brought broom, however, die.

later, scandinavians adopted classic grim reaper scythe , black robe.

baltic

lithuanians named death giltinė, deriving word gelti ( sting ). giltinė viewed old, ugly woman long blue nose , deadly poisonous tongue. legend tells giltinė young, pretty , communicative until trapped in coffin 7 years. goddess of death sister of goddess of life , destiny, laima, symbolizing relationship between beginning , end.

lithuanians later adopted classic grim reaper scythe , black robe.

india

yama, hindu lord of death, presiding on court in hell

the sanskrit word death mrityu (cognate latin mors , polish śmierć), personified in dharmic religions.

in hindu scriptures, lord of death called king yama (यम राज, yama rājā). known king of karmic justice (dharmaraja) 1 s karma @ death considered lead rebirth. (yudhishthira, eldest of pandavas , personification of justice, born through kunti s prayers yama.) yama rides black buffalo , carries rope lasso carry soul home, called naraka, pathalloka, or yamaloka. there many forms of reapers, although there 1 disguises himself small child. agents, yamadutas, carry souls yamalok. there, accounts of person s , bad deeds stored , maintained chitragupta. balance of these deeds allows yama decide soul has reside in next life, following theory of reincarnation. yama mentioned in mahabharata great philosopher , devotee of supreme brahman.

buddhist scriptures mention mara, in similar way.

east asia

yama introduced chinese mythology through buddhism. in chinese, known king yan (t 閻王, s 阎王, p yánwáng) or yanluo (t 閻羅王, s 阎罗王, p yánluówáng), ruling ten gods of underworld diyu. depicted wearing chinese judge s cap , traditional chinese robes , appears on forms of hell money offered in ancestor worship. china, yama spread japan great king enma (閻魔大王, enma-dai-Ō), ruler of jigoku (error: {{lang}}: unrecognized language code: jp (help)); korea great king yŏmna (염라대왕), ruler of jiok (지옥); , vietnam diêm la vương, ruler of Địa ngục or Âm phủ

separately, kojiki relates japanese goddess izanami burnt death giving birth fire god hinokagutsuchi. entered realm of perpetual night called yomi-no-kuni. husband izanagi pursued there discovered wife no longer beautiful before. after argument, promises take thousand lives every day, becoming goddess of death. there death gods called shinigami (死神), closer western tradition of grim reaper; while common in modern japanese arts , fiction, absent in traditional mythology.

in korean mythology, equivalent of grim reaper netherworld emissary jeoseung-saja (저승사자). depicted stern , ruthless bureaucrat in yŏmna s service. psychopomp, escorts all—good or evil—from land of living netherworld when time comes.

latin america

santa muerte

our lady of holy death (santa muerte) female deity of mexican folk religion, faith has been spreading in mexico , united states. since pre-columbian era mexican culture has maintained reverence towards death, can seen in widespread commemoration of day of dead. elements of celebration include use of skeletons remind people of mortality. cult of santa muerte indeed continuation of aztec cult of goddess of death mictecacihuatl (nahuatl lady of dead ) clad in spanish iconography.

in aztec mythology, mictecacihuatl queen of mictlan (mictlancihuatl), underworld, ruling on afterlife mictlantecuhtli, deity designated husband. role keep watch on bones of dead. presided on ancient festivals of dead, evolved aztec traditions modern day of dead after synthesis spanish cultural traditions. said preside on contemporary festival well. known lady of dead since believed born, sacrificed infant. mictecacihuatl represented defleshed body , jaw agape swallow stars during day.

san la muerte (saint death) skeletal folk saint venerated in paraguay, northeast of argentina , southern brazil. result of internal migration in argentina since 1960s veneration of san la muerte has been extended greater buenos aires , national prison system well. saint death depicted male skeleton figure holding scythe. although catholic church in mexico has attacked devotion of saint death tradition mixes paganism christianity , contrary christian belief of christ defeating death, many devotees consider veneration of san la muerte being part of catholic faith. rituals connected , powers ascribed san la muerte similar of santa muerte.

in brazilian religion umbanda, orixá omolu personifies sickness , death, , cure. image of death associated exu, lord of crossroads, rules midnight , cemeteries.