Introduction
The concept of a good death changes over time, and what was considered a good and glorifying death in ancient times may be terrifying today. In Sophocles’ Women of Trachis, Heracles, a famous Greek hero, risks the infamous and painful death as a result of the unwilling actions of his own wife. To die famously, he undergoes an even more painful death: being burned on a pyre, which enables him to reach gods after death. The modern concept of a good death is drastically different from those in Ancient Greece: an example is a peaceful, painless death with all personal beliefs fulfilled. To explore the modern concept of good death, one needs to explore the answers of those people who are preparing to die and scientific knowledge about this theme. Then, it can be compared to the ancient ideal of a good death portrayed in Women of Trachis.
The Death of Heracles in Women of Trachis
In Sophocles’ tragedy, Heracles dies from the poisoned clothes, and this death, from the modern perspective, can barely be called happy and good. He was killed by his own wife, Deianira, without honor, and she was unknown about her action, as she thought that she simply bewitched him (Sophocles 2013). The situation started when Deianira revealed that Heracles was in love with another woman, Iola, and wanted her to be his concubine, waiting that his wife will consent. Long before that, she was almost captured by the centaur Nessus, being rescued by Heracles, who killed him with the poisoned arrow.
Dying, Nessus fooled Deianira, proposing his blood to her, saying that she can use it if Heracles cheats. Obviously, his blood was poisoned, but she knew nothing about it. After Heracles returned, she smeared his lion skin, which he used as armor, with the blood. After he put it on again, the poison got on his skin and started killing him slowly; Deianira, realizing what she had done, killed herself.
Therefore, Heracles dies in pain, for a long time, being dissatisfied and under extreme grief. Eventually, when he could barely move, he asked his son Hyllus to accompany him to a funeral pyre, where he was burned alive. As the tragedy ends, Heracles is describing raising above, to the place where the gods live. All his ordeals eventually lead to him being taken to Olympus, a divine citadel of Zeus and other gods. From an Ancient Greece perspective, this death may be considered a glorious and good one.
The Good Death from Religious Perspective: Fulfilling One’s Beliefs
In ancient times, one’s beliefs and religion usually defined how one must die in order to be glorified or, at least, save one’s soul. In Ancient Greece, for example, an honorable death for a man was dying in battle or for the glory of gods. This is why Heracles was extremely dissatisfied by his death, saying he died like a woman: not because it was painful, but dishonorable (Sophocles 2013). His death was from poison, treacherous, and the murderer was his wife who did not want to do it. As mentioned, eventually, he died a good death from the ancient perspective, being taken on Olympus, but the painful death on the pyre will be barely considered good today.
In modern times, thus, the situation is different: death is considered not from a single perspective. While in ancient times, death was a specific event that ended one’s life, nowadays, it is perceived as a process of dying, which may be slow in some cases (Smith and Periyakoil 2018). Still, in different parts of the world, there are different relations with death. In Mexico, for example, death is considered a carnival, which may be strange and inappropriate for other cultures (Doughty and Blair 2019).
A large portion of dying people ends their lives in hospitals, under medical or palliative care. From their perspective, while the religious component is important for some of them, they want mostly painless and peaceful death (Kastbom, Milberg, and Karlsson 2016; Krikorian, Maldonado, and Pastrana 2019). In that way, people with different personal and cultural backgrounds seek various approaches to death, and all of them should be considered to elucidate a modern concept of a good death.
The Good Death as Painless Death
From a modern perspective, painless death is certainly a good one. This is confirmed by palliative care patients, who reported that they would like to die quickly and without sufferings (Kastbom, Milberg, and Karlsson 2016). While in ancient times, suffering was considered an inevitable part of life, today, people can avoid it and try to do this when possible. People consider the ability to choose the moment of death as a criterion of a good death, which poses the question of euthanasia’s legality sharply (Cottrell and Duggleby 2016). Control over pain is a good death attribute, too, as it shows the dying one that they can choose how they will die (Krikorian, Maldonado, and Pastrana 2019). Therefore, modern people see death as good if it is controllable and painless.
The Good Death as Peaceful Death
Death creates many feelings, and if one cannot cope with them, death will become much more painful, even if there is no physical pain. Grief is the primary feeling, almost inevitable for those who are dying, and normal and abnormal grief may be specified (Neuberger 2018). When one rejects the inevitable death, their grief becomes abnormal, and it may lead to inappropriate and even violent behavior, as the patient tries to express negative feelings toward people around (Cottrell and Duggleby 2016). A peaceful death means the ability to cope with abnormal grief, alone or with a helper, accepting the death and fulfilling personal beliefs about it.
Independence and Social Relations
The question of independence is more debatable, as there are different attitudes toward it. While most dying people agree that they would like to die quickly and without suffering, some want to be alone while dying, and others require close people with them. It depends on the cultural and personal background: primarily, Western people are individualistic and prefer to die alone more often than Japanese or Chinese, who feel a strong connection with their families (Krikorian, Maldonado, and Pastrana 2019). It is a very delicate question: people who are full of negative emotions may require to leave them alone, while in reality wanting to be needed and not abandoned (Neuberger 2018). To understand what a person means by saying that, their feelings should be taken into account.
When one dies, one tends to show a great need for loved ones to be together with them, such as relatives and close friends. One of the reasons why death is so terrifying is that it breaks all social relations, which is extremely important for most people, especially for those who have strong intimate connections (Cottrell and Duggleby 2016; Neuberger 2018). Even in the case of individualistic cultures, such as the Western, people usually do not want to die unnoticed and abandoned (Krikorian, Maldonado, and Pastrana 2019). In that way, while some people prefer to die alone with themselves, not all of them can express this desire directly.
Discussion: Can Death Be Happy or Not
Both ancient and modern thinkers agree that one learns how to live after learning how to die: however, their concepts of a good death are drastically different. In previous times, death was a single event, and one’s responsibility was to die with honor and glory. For example, Heracles was ready to burn to fulfill his beliefs about reunition with the gods (Sophocles 2013). Today, religious views are still important for people, but personal beliefs and the desire for comfort are much stronger criteria for a good death (Krikorian, Maldonado, and Pastrana 2019; Smith and Periyakoil 2018). While personal and cultural backgrounds are different for all people and should be considered individually, the desire to die peacefully and painlessly is common.
Therefore, death can be good in case all three criteria are followed: all religious beliefs are fulfilled, and it is painless and peaceful according to the dying person’s views. In this case, they will feel that their life and ideas will not end with death but continue in another form, despite people of various confessions or atheists will see it very differently (Smith and Periyakoil 2018). For some people, peaceful death is when loved ones are present and are in contact with the dying one, while others prefer to leave the world alone. When one is able to control the process of dying and feel comfortable physically, psychically, and spiritually, their death may be considered happy.
Conclusion
The concept of a good death is different for everyone; however, there are similar concepts for everyone. Most people want to die painlessly, peacefully, and with the fulfillment of their religious and personal beliefs. In past times, such as in Ancient Greece, criteria differed from modern ones, and the religious component was the strongest. One wanted to die gloriously, ensuring their journey would continue after the mortal life. This is why Heracles was dissatisfied with his being poisoned and, eventually, asked his son to burn him on the funeral pyre. While it was a painful death, it gave him a chance to reach Olympus and the gods. Unlike it today, death is considered good if it is painless, quick, controllable, and fulfills all personal desires of a dying one, depending on their beliefs, religious, and cultural background.
Bibliography
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