text: does anybody have any info on the grim reaper? im doing it for an english project and need a lot of info?   http://www.yamoslair.com/reaper.html http://www.ghostnet7.org/grimreaper.html death to many is something to fear because its the great unknown, it comes with a sinister stigma or image, many cultures and religions all over the world have ways of coping with the one thing all men and women will one day have to stand face to face with, the greatest of unknowns "death".   the fact is that we are all going to have to take the plunge of death. through out time human kind has delved into the deepest and darkest places in there minds and imaginations to try and find an answer to death, or to give it a face and to better understand that dark and frightening thing that we all put to the back of our minds, but know that one day we will all have to take the plunge into that dark unknown.   to many death is a dark and sinister and unforgiving and unrelenting shadow, so you can probably see how the modern idea and image of what the grim reaper or death looks like comes from, its a dark figure holding a scythe, dressed in a black hooded robe, with a skull for a head. how did this image come about, and is there really a ghostly figure called death ready to introduce him self to us when our flame has eventually been extinguished ?   the image of death or of the grim reaper probably comes from human kinds fear of dyeing, many people want to live forever and the fact that they know they cant live forever has caused them to give a face to that nasty obstacle that stops them from being able to stay alive for good, so of course the picture that is going to be painted by a death fearing society is going to be that of a scary and mysterious one.   the reaper is seen to be carrying a scythe, the idea of this comes from the idea that when death comes to us he’s coming to chop down the living and to sever the soul from the body. the scythe is used for chopping down crops so the image of the grim reaper and his scythe would indicate that its seen as death coming and "reaping his harvest" his crops being the souls of the just departed.   the reaper is not just seen as a figure to meet at ones own death, but its also seen as a warning to the living, that if they dont change there ways then "death" is just around the corner, so he can be seen in a positive light too.   many people who claimed to have been visited by the reaper say that he was totally silent and did nothing except pull out an old watch on a chain or an hour glass and is said to gently tap on it like the seconds ticking away all the while not saying a word, but even though he says nothing the message is clear to the person seeing it. his skull like face probably comes from the skull symbolising death myth, so it would make sense that people would see the reapers face as a skull.   many people might see the reaper as the sinister man in a black robe because that is how they view death, so the reaper will probably show him self to each person how that person views death personally, if someone longed for death or did not look at death as something to fear i can imagine then death would probably show them selves to them people as something more pleasant looking. death is what we want him (or it) to be.   the image of the grim reaper in a long robe comes from the garb of death or the black mourning robe first seen in the 1500s, in them times a monk would stand over the dyeing persons bed, so again the images of things people have seen surrounding death have been associated with how people view the grim reaper, which is why he looks a little like a monk dressed in a abbot.   the belief in the grim reaper probably goes back to ancient times. in greek mythology you have the god chronos or cronus also know as "father time" who could also be seen carrying a scythe and his saying was "nothing lasts forever - except time(death)". the word ‘corone’ to the greeks (translated to english) means crow, so its no wonder that the crow i