He first appeared in Western art and folklore with the outbreak of the mid-14th century epidemic called 'The Black Death,' also known as 'the Plague'.Īs with most folklore-ish characters, he has many and diverse characterizations. The Grim Reaper, in his days as a frequent figure of folk tales, was originally used as a menacing, somber symbol of the inevitability of death. Often he picks up the characteristics of Charon, the boatman of the river Styx in Greek mythology, but even these characteristics are filtered through a Christian veil, i.e. He is sometimes described as mute, and in some accounts you can challenge him to a game of chess for the right to stay alive. This god, in turn, was drawn from the Ur-Example of the Sassanid sect's Zoroastrian god Zurvan Akarana. These dual accouterments are Older Than Steam, but both were drawn from the ancient Greco-Roman god Χρόνος (Chronos). He is also often shown with an hourglass as a symbol of elapsing life. The nature and purpose of the Grim Reaper (also simply known as 'Death') varies between two different versions: one version describes him as a simple guide - the supernatural being who takes people to the afterlife when they die (the fancy word for this is ' Psychopomp') another version sees him as the entity of death - he makes people die by touching them or by means of supernatural powers.Įither way, he is generally seen as a tall, often skeletal, specter in a black hooded robe wielding a Sinister Scythe when he visits commoners and a sword when he visits royalty, although the scythe is the most popular of his symbols.

Death reaper