by wickedwillie on January 31st, 2005

wickedwillie

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What is the mythologic origin of the Grim Reaper?

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  • by SiN667 on February 1st, 2005

    SiN667

    Our earliest records of the Reaper date back to Greek civilization. Gaia and Uranus were Kronos' parents. Uranus, fearful of all his children including Kronos kept them constrained inside Gaia. Gaia wished to free her children and decided to give Kronos a sickle. With this sickle Kronos eventually castrated his father and bled him to death. Knowing how he had killed his father, once Kronos had children of his own, he feared his fate would be the same. As each child was born he swallowed them one by one.

    From ancient folklore and other anthropological sources it is believed that Kronos was a harvest god worshipped by a culture before the Greeks. It is understood that his sickle was used in harvesting grain. Harvest was also associated with death because it signaled the end of the growing season and the beginning of Winter. Time devouring all things was represented poetically by Kronos eating his own children. It was the Greeks very dramatic way of saying nothing lasts forever.

    The Grim Reaper wielding a sickle and, at times, an hourglass is directly derived from Kronos. One must understand how important grain was to these ancient civilizations. How horrible the thought of some mystic creature with the power to swipe away their whole harvest with a single swing of the mighty sickle. Not to mention the flock of famished crows, which would accompany such a terrible figure. It undoubtedly symbolized death in an extremely effective way. Though the Grim Reaper poses no real threat to our life, his legacy, which has been handed down from generation to generation, has instilled in us all the fear we need to ensure the desired effect. Hopefully, this answer aided you in understanding the significance of such a relevant myth.

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  • by Reaper Society on April 7th, 2008

    Reaper Society

    if you want the full answer to this question then i recomend goin to look at this blog that i posted it has every way the REAPER was created it is very helpful!!! http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&Mytoken=08383333-2F05-4D82-9FEFC26DB294DD2251529728

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  • by Anonymous on December 22nd, 2007

    Anonymous

    i heard he's a part of jewish religion

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  • by Anonymous on October 20th, 2006

    Anonymous

    The Grim Reaper is actually a derivative of Cheron the skeletal ferryman who ferried the souls of mortals and kings across the river Styx.

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  • by Lebowskification on June 14th, 2006

    Lebowskification

    Why, the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, of course! Kidding...kidding...

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  • by Andariel on June 20th, 2009

    Andariel

    The Grim Reaper is a anthropomorphic personification, in this case, of Death.

    In ancient Greece death was inevitable and so they thought of him more kindly. They called him Thanatos. He was not represented as purely evil, merely a stepping stone. He was just, and gentle. They usually sculpted him as a bearded and winged man, but he can sometimes be seen as a young boy. His job was to take the soul to Hades's underworld, leaving them with Charon, the man in the boat on the river Styx

    In Germanic folklore the Grim Reaper was a disguise used by Odin, god of wisdom, war, battle, and death. The Grim in Grim Reaper is actually short for Grimnir, another name for Odin.

    It was with the Welsh and Bretons that he started to carry his scythe. They called him Angeu and Ankou respectively. Only this time he was a man (not skeleton) who carried the scythe. It wasn't until the 1400 A.D. that the skeleton became used.

    The Lithuanians called him GiltinÄ—, from the word "gelti" which means sting. In Hindu scripture he is Yamaraj, literally "the lord of death". To the Chinese he is "Yanluo". To the Japanese, he is Enma, or shinigami. In Islam, he is Azra'il. Other names are: The Destroyer, The Destroying Angel, The Angel of Death,

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  • by grimreaper13 on February 8th, 2011

    grimreaper13

    i don't think that the grim reaper is scary and we shouldn't fear him, because without death, the world would be a very bad place, just imagine what the world would be like if Hitler didn't die.........

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  • by grimreaper13 on February 8th, 2011

    grimreaper13

    I don't think the Grim Reaper is a bad person, he is just doing his job. Without death, the world would be a very bad place, just imagine what the world would be like if Hitler was still here.......................

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on April 7th, 2008

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    These symbols are often amalgms of various strands of mythology, preserved along the history of a people. In this case, the Grim Reaper is a personification of Death itself. The idea of cutting/reaping is a natural symbol of death. You find it in the Roman Fates/Greek Moirae, the last of whom cuts the thread of life.
    But the idea of reaping= death is a natural one for agrarian peoples, who see the reaping as the end of the harvest= life.

    However, there might be specific characters who played a part in the development of the Grim Reaper.
    eg
    The origins of the Grim Reaper go back far into the past and he was known by many names. In old Celtic folklore he was known as L’Ankou, sometimes called Father Time. To the Greeks he was known as Cronus and the Romans called him Saturn.

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Grim+Reaper

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  • by xXiGoTsKiLlZXx on November 4th, 2010

    xXiGoTsKiLlZXx

    Actually the Original reaper of souls in Greek Times was Thanatos. Hes a Servant of Hades god of the Dead

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