The ancient Romans had countless methods of committing suicide and they all had very different meanings for each. A few of the very common suicides would be death by poison like the death of Cleopatra, death by sword such as Antigone, death by hanging which was extremely dishonorable, death by setting themselves on fire, and several others. During this time period there were not as many suicides that were committed such as the ones people do in today’s time period. There are various reasons for the many suicides. The main intentions of suicide would be honor, heartbreak, depression, shame, the philosophical and religious ideologies, etc. Everyone did not accept suicide, but the Stoics did accept it. Miriam Griffin states, “It is in fact
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The modern culture views suicide in such a negative light. The only people that would commit suicide would be those who are depressed, or people that feel as if there is no reason to live, mental illness, it could be a solitary act expressive of despair and misery, with at most a brief suicide note to be token social consciousness and to serve as a memento of the victim, and various other reasons. The way the Romans viewed suicide was, it was a way to maintain and not lose honor and status, preserving individual and family honor, of representing freedom, and of repairing the stains of shame. The Romans held honor and shame at the most high place in their society. Having honor and acceptance by others in this culture was almost required in this day and age. Part of the reason why honor and acceptance is held so high is because the Romans did not have the same modern day psychology, with that being said, they look for other people so they could find out more about themselves rather than looking on the inside of who they were. However if a person were to lose their honor then, the status of that person would be tarnished as well. There was rarely a chance, if any, to regain or obtain honor. Of course there were exceptions such as, “if one had citizenship granted to them or were esteemed members of an upper class household.” Suicide was one of the only ways to …show more content…
Dido committed suicide and ended up in Hades because of it. She ended up with her first husband while she was there. When Aeneas lays his eyes upon her he begins to tear up and apologize for what he had done. These were the words of
The modern culture views suicide in such a negative light. The only people that would commit suicide would be those who are depressed, or people that feel as if there is no reason to live, mental illness, it could be a solitary act expressive of despair and misery, with at most a brief suicide note to be token social consciousness and to serve as a memento of the victim, and various other reasons. The way the Romans viewed suicide was, it was a way to maintain and not lose honor and status, preserving individual and family honor, of representing freedom, and of repairing the stains of shame. The Romans held honor and shame at the most high place in their society. Having honor and acceptance by others in this culture was almost required in this day and age. Part of the reason why honor and acceptance is held so high is because the Romans did not have the same modern day psychology, with that being said, they look for other people so they could find out more about themselves rather than looking on the inside of who they were. However if a person were to lose their honor then, the status of that person would be tarnished as well. There was rarely a chance, if any, to regain or obtain honor. Of course there were exceptions such as, “if one had citizenship granted to them or were esteemed members of an upper class household.” Suicide was one of the only ways to …show more content…
Dido committed suicide and ended up in Hades because of it. She ended up with her first husband while she was there. When Aeneas lays his eyes upon her he begins to tear up and apologize for what he had done. These were the words of