TERATOLOGY

Thanatos Teratothanasia Teratogen

and

Disease Death Die Dye

Respire Expire Exhale Livid Oblivion

Mara Mar Morose Mors Mortal

Hypnos and Thanatos are identical twins.

This overview is concerned with ideas about DEATH. In a manner of speaking, death is like permanent SLEEP and may be induced by DISEASE. The antithesis of death is life as found in ideas concerning MOTHER and therefore MATERIAL, MATER, MATRIX and MATRIARCH as well as PREGNANCY, GESTATION, ABORTION, TERATOGEN, LABOR, LITTER, LOCHIA, DELIVERY, BIRTH, BIRTH DEFECT, NATALITY, NATIVE, NEWBORN, and NEONATE.

Phlebotomy is one way to commit Suicide.
Voluntary death is Suicide even if called Euthanasia.

Roman MORtals referred to death as MORS and in their mythology, MORS had no mother nor father. Romans did not build temples to MORS nor offered "her" sacrifices. The "he" equivalent of Mors is THANATOS, whose identical twin was HYPNOS. The ideas linking these three personifications may outline the hope of most MORtals, that when MORS or THANATOS will eventually come to visit them, they will be OBLIVious rather than LIVid and be asleep in the arms of HYPNOS as they SLIP into the OBLivion of permanent SLEEP.

Military Corps relate to Corpses.

Most scientists consider Dr. Josef Warkany to be the founder of scientific TERATOLOGY, a discipline dedicated to disCOVER the causes of disORDERs and disEASEes causing malformations, popularly known as "birth defects". By linking  TERATOS, Greek for portent, with THANATOS, Greek for death, Dr. Warkany created TERATOTHANASIA to convey the fact that the leading cause of infant mortality in modern societies are "birth defects" as well as to point out that a large proportion of embryos are malformed and perish during gestation. The fact that many TERATOGENS or malformation agents are lethal before birth is not fully appreciated. Nearly 20% of women experience an abortion and notably, nearly 50% of such losses are due to lethal chromosomal defects of the embryo.

THANATOS also points to EUTHANASIA, a rather defective idea suggesting that death can be "good". A better point may be that the agony of death can be ameliorated or diminished.

Animal deaths are viewed by some as rather trivial.
Some humans have Bull or Tauro "Mania".

DEATH is connected with DIS and DISEASE. DIS is the ancient personification of a complex underworld which the Christians reduced in scope to mean HELL. In addition, EVIL and ILL also became closely linked concepts.

Death discolors (dying, dyeing).

When the body dies, that is when the LIVER is no longer LIVE, the organism becomes DEFUNCT after it has EXPIRED the last breath. Soon after, body tissues begin to emit a FETid FETor. It is not nice but nonetheless worth mentioning, that sMERDit, MERD, FETor point to FECal.

Dead patriots.

To close, living mortals INSPIRE and EXPIRE and when they EXPIRE for the last time, some believe that it is at that moment that the soul leaves the body. Bodies lacking a soul are referred to as cadaver, carcass or CORPSe. CORPorations, on the other hand, have no souls and are kept alive by money.

Corp, Corpse and Corporation incorporate related ideas.

Rich or poor, mighty or powerless, all mortals care for the destiny of their soul. So did Emperor Hadrian who left us an immortal poem:

"ANIMULA VAGULA BLANDULA
HOSPES COMESQUE CORPORIS
QUAE NUNC ABIBIS IN LOCA
PALLIDULA RIGIDA NUDULA
NEC UT SOLES DABIS IOCOS?" 

In English...
"MY SOUL FLEETING AND GENTLE
 GUEST OF THIS BODY OF MINE
  IN WHAT PLACE ARE YOU TO BE?
A PALLID COLD NAKED ABODE
AND NEVER AGAIN OF JOY?"
-(translation by W. Wertelecki)

Emperor Hadrian also left us the Pantheon, to underscore the religious tolerance and freedom sustained by Roman law. Hadrian also built a magnificent mausoleum which was plundered by the Popes of Rome. The mausoleum is now the St. Angelo's Castle to commemorate one of the many visions reported by fervent believers. Soon after, the site became a prison with a history of violence which inspired Giacono Puccini to write the opera Tosca - a drama that underscores that when religion is mixed with secular power it provides a scenario for tragedy.

The tired of living are often Suicidal.