athanatos

Athanatos is an adjective of Greek origin meaning immortal or deathless. It is formed from the prefix a- meaning “not” and thánatos meaning “death.” In classical Greek, ἀθάνατος described beings or conditions not subject to death, most commonly the Olympian gods, but also used in broader contexts to emphasize enduring or incorruptible nature.

In philosophical and theological discourse, athanatos is employed to discuss immortality, the nature of the soul, and the possibility of a state beyond physical death. The term has appeared in Hellenistic and later writings as scholars contrasted mortality with immortality, sometimes examining whether humans can attain athanasia—deathlessness—or whether immortality is an attribute reserved for deities.

In modern usage, athanatos appears in literary, religious, and cultural contexts as a loanword or as a name for fictional characters or places. The noun form athanasia is used to denote the state or condition of being deathless, though English usage often substitutes immortality or deathlessness. The term is typically translated as "immortal" or "undying."

Related terms include Thanatos, the personification of death in Greek mythology, from which athanatos stands in semantic opposition. The pair appears in various literary and philosophical texts to articulate a distinction between mortal existence and eternal life.

Overall, athanatos serves as a classical term that informs discussions of immortality in ancient language and later interpretive traditions, while also appearing in contemporary contexts as a stylistic or symbolic reference to deathless or everlasting states.