Skip to main content

What is the origin of the concept of "reaping" souls?


A concept related to death is the idea that souls are "reaped" using a scythe by an entity like the Grim Reaper as though they were farm crops. Where did this concept come from, and what is the underlying basis of this concept?



Answer



One of the earliest incarnations for death was Thanatos from Greek mythology (Brother to Hypnos), and during that time they were portrayed as young men, and death was not the "frightening" imagery that is seen today.



If you look at the art of the era, the Black Plague (1340ish to 1350) changed the depictions. Death was no longer something that happened, but because of the depredation and the impact, death and disease were now something to be feared. As the plague progressed, the art changed to reflect the public perception.


Death was shown with a few different types of weapons during this time, eventually settling on the scythe, and there are some paintings that depict death literally "mowing" down people with the scythe. In the book of Revelations in the Bible, death is the only one really described, and the only one pictured with a weapon.


Note: This is almost purely from the Christian/Catholic perspective. There are many other interpretations. For example, in Irish Celtic mythology, death was known as the dullahan, which was a race of creatures that carried their head under their arm and drove carts around collecting people. Almost every religion has their own interpretation, but because of the invasive nature of Catholicism (especially during the Crusades), it is one of the more prevailing images.


As requested:


Thanatos in marble - As you can see, very human in appearance, with wings and a sword. Typifies the view that death was a natural progression and nothing to be feared. The second image is that of Thanatos as a friend leading the deceased away


Image of Thanatos done in marble Thanatos leading people away


After the plague erupted, you can see the image changes - The first is still pretty humanoid, but already distorted and the scythe has appeared. You can see the more definitive death one in the other post (I did not relink it), and then you can see it has been pretty well entrenched if you look at art such as totentanz and granger in the 1850s.


Grim reaper Death party Totentanz Granger 1851 - Death playing instrument of bones


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more