Olethros

In Ancient Greek mythology, Olethros was the personification of Havoc and probably one of the Makhai.

Olethros translates roughly in ancient Greek to "destruction", but often with a positive connotation, as in the destruction required for and preceding renewal.

Biblical Use of Olethros

The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the King James Bible defines the word as meaning ruin, i.e., death, punishment, or destruction. The Greek word olethros is found in the Holy Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; and 1 Timothy 6:9 and is translated "destruction" in most Bibles. Some believe a more accurate translation of this word in these verses would be "punishment"; the kind of punishment that relieves one of guilt for a debt paid in full enabling one to go on to share in God's everlasting grace continually receiving discipline as one of His beloved sons.

In popular culture

The name "Olethros" is used to refer to Destruction in The Sandman series written by Neil Gaiman.