I. Name
Thanatos is the Greek mythological personification of the power of death as a god or a demon. It occurs as the name of a demonic power in the NT (for OT see Mot) in 9 passages (out of a total of 120 occurrences of the word thanatos) in Paul (e.g. 1 Cor. 15.26, 1 Cor. 54–56) and in Rev (e.g. 1 Cor. 20.13–14).
II. Identity
Thanatos as a personification is not frequently found in Greek literature; and when it occurs, it is often doubtful whether the personified Thanatos is merely a poet…