In ancient Roman myth and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, Mors is the

personification of death 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 b ...

equivalent to the Greek Thánatos. The

Latin noun Latin declension is the set of patterns according to which Latin words are declined—that is, have their endings altered to show grammatical case, number and gender. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are declined (verbs are conjugated), and a gi ...

for "death", ''mors'',

genitive In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

''mortis'', is of

feminine gender In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...

, but surviving ancient Roman art is not known to depict Death as a woman. Latin poets, however, are bound by the grammatical gender of the word.

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

writes of ''pallida Mors'', "pale Death," who kicks her way into the hovels of the poor and the towers of kings equally.

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

, for whom Mors is also pale, describes her "eager teeth."

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a fe ...

pictures Mors as black or dark. Mors is often represented allegorically in later Western literature and art, particularly during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Depictions of the

Crucifixion of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

sometimes show Mors standing at the foot of the cross. Mors' antithesis is personified as Vita, "Life."

Roman mythology

In Latin literature, Mors is sometimes identified with the Roman gods

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

Remigius of Auxerre Remigius (Remi) of Auxerre ( la, Remigius Autissiodorensis; c. 841 – 908) was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period, a teacher of Latin grammar, and a prolific author of commentaries on classical Greek and Latin texts. He is also accr ...

, ''In Martianum'' 36.7: "Mars is called so as if ''mors'' (death)," as cited by Jane Chance, ''Medieval Mythography: From Roman North Africa to the School of Chartres, A.D. 433–1177'' (University Press of Florida, 1994), p. 578, note 70. The etymology-by-association of Remigius should be distinguished from scientific linguistics. god of war;

Dīs Pater Dīs Pater (; ; genitive ''Dītis Patris''), otherwise known as Rex Infernus or Pluto (mythology), Pluto, is a Roman mythology, Roman god of the underworld. Dis was originally associated with fertility (soil), fertile agricultural land and miner ...

, god of the Roman underworld (later, also known as

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

) and

Orcus Orcus ( la, Orcus) was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. In the later tradition, he was conflated with Dis Pater. A ...

, god of death and punisher of perjurers. Mors is not immune to persuasion, resistance or trickery. In one story,

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

fought Mors in order to save his friend's wife. In other stories, Mors serves Dis by ending the life of a person after the thread of his or her life has been cut by the

Parcae In ancient Roman religion and myth, the Parcae (singular, Parca) were the female personifications of destiny who directed the lives (and deaths) of humans and gods. They are often called the Fates in English, and their Greek equivalent were the ...

, and of

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, messenger to the gods, escorting the dead person`s soul, or shade, down to the underworld's gate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mors (Mythology) Death gods Roman gods Thanatos

Roman mythology

See also

References