Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim’s death by coming to collect that person’s soul. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures Death is perceived as female (for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology, or Santa Muerte in Mexico). In Hebrew scriptures, Death is sometimes personified as a devil or angel of death. In both the Book of Hosea and the Book of Jeremiah, Maweth/Mot is mentioned as a deity to whom Yahweh can turn over Judah as punishment for worshiping other gods. Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse portrayed in the Book of Revelation, in Revelation 6:7–8. In Islam, Archangel Azrael is the Malak al-Maut (angel of death). He and his many subordinates pull the souls out of the bodies, and guide them through the journey of the afterlife. Their appearance depends on the person’s deed and actions, with those that did good seeing a beautiful being, and those that did wrong seeing a horrific monster.
Alias Grim Reaper, Death, Marzanna, Santa Muerte, Mictecacihuatl, King Yan, Izanami, King Yama, Thanatos, Hel, Śmierć, Mot, Azrael,
First Appearance Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) tradition (14th–15th centuries)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Literature: Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), Quran, The King James Version of the Bible, Paradise Lost, “The Old Man and Death” in Aesop’s Fables, The Smith and the Devil, The Nightingale, The Masque of the Red Death (1842), The Story of a Mother (1849), Ivan Turbincă (1880), et. al. Comics: D-Day #6, Spirit (1941-11-30), Eerie Adventures #1, Men Against Crime #6, Weird Terror #1, The Clutching Hand #1, The Thing #11, The Beyond #14. Film: Destiny (1921), Death Takes a Holiday (1934), Fährmann Maria (1936), On Borrowed Time (1939), The Seventh Seal (1957), Jedermann (1961), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965).
Sample Read Astonishing Legends: Episode 120 The Grim Reaper [YT]
Description Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim’s death by coming to collect that person’s soul. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures Death is perceived as female (for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology, or Santa Muerte in Mexico). In Hebrew scriptures, Death is sometimes personified as a devil or angel of death. In both the Book of Hosea and the Book of Jeremiah, Maweth/Mot is mentioned as a deity to whom Yahweh can turn over Judah as punishment for worshiping other gods. Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse portrayed in the Book of Revelation, in Revelation 6:7–8. In Islam, Archangel Azrael is the Malak al-Maut (angel of death). He and his many subordinates pull the souls out of the bodies, and guide them through the journey of the afterlife. Their appearance depends on the person’s deed and actions, with those that did good seeing a beautiful being, and those that did wrong seeing a horrific monster.
