Thanatos (death) is sometimes identified as Eros (Cupid) or a generic winged Genius, but he holds an inverted torch representing a life extinguished. By the Severan Era, there was increased hope for an afterlife in pleasant Elysium than in dismal Hades. Thanatos was associated more with a gentle passing than a woeful demise. Thanatos as a winged boy, very much akin to Cupid, with crossed legs and an inverted torch, became the most common symbol for death, depicted on many Roman sarcophagi.