Word of the Day: Thanatopsis

A thanatopsis is, simply put, an essay on Death. It's odd that this should be a literary term rather than a philosophical or religious term, although it can conceivably be either of those. The Greek thanatopsis literally means 'a look at death', from thanatos = 'death' and -opsis = 'eyeing'.

But each of these two components has its own rich back-story.

In Greek mythology, Thanatos (Gk. θάνατος) is Death, son of Night and Darkness. Hypnos (Sleep) is his brother; Morpheus ('He Who Shapes') or Oneiros ('Dream') is his nephew. The word thanatos itself seems to come from the same ancient root as the Anglo-Saxon 'dwindle' – "to decline into nothing, to waste away". Of course, the most common usage of the word in modern times is in euthanasia, 'a good death'.

The Greek ops means 'eye', and from this root we obtain 'cyclops' = 'round eye', 'optics' = 'having to do with the action of the eye', 'ophthalmology' = 'the study of the chamber of the eye', 'autopsy' = '(to see with) one's own sight', 'biopsy' = 'a sight of living material', 'synopsis' = 'to see (all) together'. The eye is the most expressive and perceptive part of the facial anatomy; in classical Greek, ops can mean 'face' as well as 'eye'.

Thanatopsis, then, is not just writing about Death; rather, it is the perception, apprehension, attempted understanding, and acceptance of the idea of Death. It is, in many senses of the phrase, a demonstration that one possesses a 'dark-adapted eye'.

Autofocus

Yes, here I sit, idly messing around in a sea of old paper. And look what I've found! Shudder.

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Look out on the empty land
Think of what should be
Pluck it out into your hand
And you'll see you see

For one eye is all you need
Just one eye alone
Let the empty socket bleed
Like a cave of bone

Trade the orb in for a crown
Of the scepter'd isle
Never let them pull you down
On the martyr's mile

For one eye is all you need
Just one eye alone
Let the empty socket bleed
Like a cave of bone

You can see behind the mask
Of each shining face
Ready for the cleansing task
In the hero's place

For one eye is all you need
Just one eye alone
Let the empty socket bleed
Like a cave of bone

Pay the price for vision true
One eye is the key
You can see as well if you
Let one eye go free

For one heart is all you need
Just one heart alone
Leave it all alone to bleed
In its cave of bone

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1984. I guess we were all emo in some way once upon a time. Her name was Patricia. It's funny how these things return to haunt you. Heh.