View source for Geras

{{short description|Ancient Greek deity}}
{{other uses|Geras (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Geras
| alt = 
| god_of = Personification of Old age
| consort = 
| parents = [[Nyx]] alone ''or''<br> [[Erebus]] and Nyx
| mount = 
| children = 
| abode = [[Erebus]]
| image = Pelike Geras Louvre G234.jpg
| caption = Geras, detail of an Attic red-figure pelike, c. 480–470 BC, Louvre
}}
{{Greek myth (personified)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Geras''' ({{langx|grc|Γῆρας|Gêras|old age}}) is the god of [[ageing|old age]]. He was typically depicted as a tiny, shriveled old man. Gēras's opposite was [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]], the goddess of youth. In Latin, he is referred to as Senectus.<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', s.v. Geras.</ref> He is known primarily from vase depictions that show him with the hero [[Heracles]]; the mythic story that inspired these depictions has been lost. Otherwise, Geras has a very limited role in both religion and mythology.

== Etymology ==
The Greek word γῆρας (''gĕras'') means "[[old age]]" or in some other literature "[[dead skin]]" or "[[Snakeskin#Shed skin|slough of a snake]]"; this word is the root of English words such as "[[Geriatrics|geriatric]]" and "[[progeria]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geriatric|title=Definition of GERIATRIC|website=Merriam-webster.com|access-date=16 December 2021}}</ref>

== Mythology ==
According to [[Hesiod]], Geras is one of the many sons and daughters that the night goddess [[Nyx]] produced on her own parthenogenetically.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 225</ref> However, later authors [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] and [[Cicero]] both add [[Erebus]], Nyx's consort, as the father.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' Preface</ref><ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' 3.17</ref>

In the myth of [[Tithonus]], the mortal prince received immortality, but not agelessness, from the gods so when old age came to him he kept aging and shrinking but never dying. In the end his divine lover [[Eos]] turned Tithonus into a cicada.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] to Aphrodite'' 218 ff; [[Scholia]] on the ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg5026/tlg007/First1K-grc1/1.5.1-1.6.1 5.1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103132927/https://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg5026/tlg007/First1K-grc1/1.5.1-1.6.1 |date=2023-01-03 }}</ref> In several ancient Greek vases Geras is depicted fighting [[Heracles]], although no relevant written myth survives. Geras is presented as an old, wrinkled bald man begging for mercy.<ref>{{cite book | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=48s3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 137] | title = The Art and Science of Aging Well: A Physician's Guide to a Healthy Body | first = Mark E., M.D | last = Williams | publisher = [[University of North Carolina Press]] | date = June 22, 2016 | isbn = 9781469627403 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=48s3CwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

[[Philostratus]] claimed that the people of [[Gadeira]] set up altars to Geras and [[Thanatos]].<ref>[[Philostratus]], ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]'' 5.4</ref>

== Function ==
Geras as embodied in humans represented a virtue: the more ''gēras'' a man acquired, the more ''[[kleos]]'' (fame) and ''[[arete]]'' (excellence and courage) he was considered to have. In [[ancient Greek literature]], the related word ''géras'' (γέρας) can also carry the meaning of influence, authority or power; especially that derived from fame, good looks and strength claimed through success in battle or contest. Such uses of this meaning can be found in [[Odyssey|Homer's ''Odyssey'']], throughout which there is an evident concern from the various kings about the ''géras'' they will pass to their sons through their names.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html|title=The Internet Classics Archive {{!}} The Odyssey by Homer|website=classics.mit.edu|access-date=2019-07-04}}</ref> The concern is significant because kings at this time (such as Odysseus) are believed to have ruled by common assent in recognition of their powerful influence, rather than [[Hereditary monarchy|hereditarily]].<ref>For an example of this, see Homer, The Odyssey, 24.33-34</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=C. G.|date=1966|title=The Roots of Homeric Kingship|journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte|volume=15|issue=4|pages=387–407|issn=0018-2311|jstor=4434948}}</ref>

Geras could refer to the treasure that was awarded during battles in Ancient Greece. After a battle, the victorious power would collect the captured gold, treasure, and other valuable artefacts. It would then be divided between the victors according to their timê or honour; the greater the honour, the greater the level of Geras that would be gained.

In Homer's Iliad, Agamemnon and Achilles fall out over a dispute of the return Chryses' daughter and taking Briseis in exchange (Book 1); Achilles sees Agamemnon taking his Gera as an affront to his pride and honour. Similarly, in many Hellenic cultures, it is customary to take the armour of a defeated enemy, a form of Gera, such as in Book 16 with Hector and Patroclus fighting over the body of Cebriones, son of Priam - King of Troy.

== See also ==
{{portal|mythology|ancient Greece}}

* [[Cumaean Sibyl]]
* [[List of Mortal Kombat characters#Introduced in Mortal Kombat 11|Geras]], [[Mortal Kombat]] character
* [[Elli]], Norse personification of old age
* [[Gerascophobia]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* ''[[Brill’s New Pauly]]: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 5'', Equ-Has, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 2004. {{ISBN|978-90-04-12268-0}}. [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/brill-s-new-pauly Online version at Brill].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]], ''Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero'' translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), Bohn edition of 1878. [https://topostext.org/work/137 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''De Natura Deorum.'' O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0037 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

== Further reading ==
* Preisshofen, Felix, ''Untersuchungen zur Darstellung des Greisenalters in der frühgriechischen Dichtung'', Franz Steiner, 1977. {{ISBN|9783515020022}}.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Geras}}

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Time and fate gods]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Children of Nyx]]
[[Category:Old age]]
[[Category:Mythology of Heracles]]