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What are the differences in reasons why men and women in ancient mythology commit
suicide?

Word count: 1,390

IB ID # gpp402
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Introduction

Suicide is relatively common in ancient literature— there are 15 suicides in Ovid’s

Metamorphoses​ alone. Because of the dramatic circumstances that tend to arise in mythology
such as incest, rape, murder, war, and more, it is not unusual that the main characters have
such a strong emotional reaction that they resort to suicide as an exit strategy. Both men and
women commit suicide in ancient myths, most often for similar reasons, such as the loss of
family members. However, due to the different roles that men and women played in ancient
times, they faced unique problems.

Source 1 - Menippe and Metioche’s Suicide: Sacrifice

ecce facit mediis natas Orione Thebis

hac non femineum iugulo dare vulnus aperto,
illac demisso per fortia pectora telo
pro populo cecidisse suo pulchrisque per urbem
funeribus ferri celebrique in parte cremari​ 1

- Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​XIII.692-6

Menippe and Metioche, daughters of Orion, lived in Aonia at the base of Mount Helicon.
The town was overtaken by a plague, and an oracle informed the people that in order for the
plague to leave the town, two young women would have to sacrifice themselves— by their own
will. In Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses​, he describes them as dying “​pro populo​”, for their people. This
self-sacrifice shows that Menippe and Metioche care enough about their people to give their
own lives. One is also described as “​non femineum”​ , meaning more than a woman. This shows
that their dedication goes beyond the standard expectations for a feminine role. Their complete
selflessness and desire to the heal their town led to the sacrifice of their own lives.

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See here, in the midst of Thebes he portrays Orion's daughters, the one, more than a woman, slashing
her unprotected throat, the other stabbing a weapon into her valiant breast, falling on behalf of their
people, then carried in glorious funeral procession through the city, and burned among crowds of
mourners. (Kline)
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Source 2 - Pyramus’ Suicide: Loss of a lover

serius egressus vestigia vidit in alto

pulvere certa ferae totoque expalluit ore
Pyramus; ut vero vestem quoque sanguine tinctam
repperit, "una duos" inquit "nox perdet amantes,
e quibus illa fuit longa dignissima vita;
nostra nocens anima est. ego te, miseranda, peremi,
in loca plena metus qui iussi nocte venires
nec prior huc veni. nostrum divellite corpus
et scelerata fero consumite viscera morsu,
o quicumque sub hac habitatis rupe leones!
sed timidi est optare necem."2
- Ovid, ​Metamorphoses
IV.105-115

Thisbe and Pyramus were forbidden lovers— their parents were rivals, so they forbade
Thisbe and Pyramus from having a relationship. They spent most of their time talking to each
other through a crack between the walls that separated their houses. One fateful day, they
planned to disobey their parents and meet outside under a mulberry tree. When Thisbe arrived
to the meeting spot, she caught sight of a lion, dropped her veil, and fled. When Pyramus
arrived and saw that Thisbe’s veil was torn and bloodied by the lion, he was overtaken with grief
and cried, "​una duos [...] nox perdet amantes​”, two lovers will be lost in one night, meaning that
he believed that Thisbe had been killed and he planned to share her fate. He then exclaimed,
“​ego te, miseranda, peremi, in loca plena metus qui iussi nocte venires nec prior huc veni​”.
Pyramus rationalized his guilt of Thisbe’s death by saying that he was the one who invited her to
the meeting place. In this instance, Pyramus’ suicide is caused by his guilt for the death of a
lover.

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Leaving the city a little later, Pyramus sees the creature’s tracks in the thick dust, and his face is drained
of colour. When he also discovers the veil stained with blood, he cries, “Two lovers will be lost in one
night. She was the more deserving of a long life. I am the guilty spirit. I have killed you, poor girl, who told
you to come by night to this place filled with danger, and did not reach it first. O, all you lions, that live
amongst these rocks, tear my body to pieces, and devour my sinful flesh in your fierce jaws! Though it is
cowardly to ask for death”. (Kline)
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Source 3 - Thisbe’s Suicide: Loss of a Lover

dum dubitat, tremebunda videt pulsare cruentum

membra solum, retroque pedem tulit, oraque buxo
pallidiora gerens exhorruit aequoris instar,
quod tremit, exigua cum summum stringitur aura.
sed postquam remorata suos cognovit amores,
percutit indignos claro plangore lacertos
et laniata comas amplexaque corpus amatum
vulnera supplevit lacrimis fletumque cruori
miscuit et gelidis in vultibus oscula figens
"Pyrame," clamavit, "quis te mihi casus ademit?
Pyrame, responde! tua te carissima Thisbe
nominat; exaudi vultusque attolle iacentes!" 3
- Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​4.133-34

Thisbe soon returned to the meeting spot, unknowing of Pyramus’ suicide. Upon her
arrival, she sees ​“tremebunda [...] membra​” and after hesitating, Ovid says “​suos cognovit
amores​”— she recognized her lover. This caused her much pain— she cries aloud and begins
“​percutit indignos claro plangore lacertos​”. A key word that Ovid uses here when describing
Thisbe’s arms is “​indignos​”. This indicates that she is undeserved of witnessing this tragedy. Her
grief ultimately caused her to plunge Pyramus’ sword into her own chest, still wet with his blood.
Both Pyramus and Thisbe felt both immeasurable grief and responsibility for the deaths of their
lovers, leading to their suicide.

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Hesitating, she sees quivering limbs writhing on the bloodstained earth, and starts back, terrified, like the
sea, that trembles when the slightest breeze touches its surface, her face showing whiter than boxwood.
But when, staying a moment longer, she recognises her lover, she cries out loud with grief, striking at her
innocent arms, and tearing at her hair. Cradling the beloved body, she bathes his wounds with tears,
mingling their drops with blood. Planting kisses on his cold face, she cries out ‘Pyramus, what misfortune
has robbed me of you? Pyramus, answer me! Your dearest Thisbe calls to you: obey me, lift your fallen
head!’ (Kline)
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Source 4 - Dido’s Suicide: Loss of a Lover

paulum lacrimis et mente morata

incubuitque toro dixitque novissima verba:
'dulces exuviae, dum fata deusque sinebat,
accipite hanc animam meque his exsolvite curis.
vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi,
et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.
urbem praeclaram statui, mea moenia vidi,
ulta virum poenas inimico a fratre recepi,
felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae.' 4
- Virgil, ​Aeneid ​IV.649-58

Dido, Queen of Carthage, fell in love with Aeneas when he arrived on the Carthaginian
shores to take refuge from his destroyed home of Troy. When Jupiter found out about their
affair, he sent Mercury to tell Aeneas that he must go to Italy. Aeneas obeys, leaving Dido
behind without even a farewell. Upon learning about his departure, Dido was distraught. She
built a funeral pyre and expressed her sorrow. She said “​felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae”​ , showing that had Aeneas never come to
Carthage, she would be happy. Aeneas’ abrupt departure, which could be equated with the loss
of a lover, is the reason for Dido’s death.

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she lingered a while, in tears and thought, then cast herself on the bed, and spoke her last words:
“Reminders, sweet while fate and the god allowed it, accept this soul, and loose me from my sorrows. I
have lived, and I have completed the course that Fortune granted, and now my noble spirit will pass
beneath the earth. I have built a bright city: I have seen its battlements, avenging a husband I have
exacted punishment on a hostile brother, happy, ah, happy indeed if Trojan keels had never touched my
shores!” She spoke, and buried her face in the couch. (Kline)
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Source 5 - Lucretia’s Suicide: Loss of Chastity

"Vos" inquit "uideritis quid illi debeatur: ego me etsi peccato absolvo, supplicio non libero; nec
ulla deinde impudica Lucretiae exemplo vivet." Cultrum, quem sub veste abditum habebat,
eum in corde defigit, prolapsaque in volnus moribunda cecidit. Conclamat vir paterque. 5

- Livy, ​Ab Urbe Condita I​ .58

When Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the Etruscan king, raped Lucretia, she was
distraught. She recognized that the rape was not her fault, but she continued to express that
“​supplicio non libero​”, that she won’t free herself from the penalty of lost chastity. She continues
to say that no chaste woman should look to Lucretia as an example, meaning that she believes
that women who lose their chastity by rape deserve the same fate as her. Lucretia did not
believe that she should continue life knowing that her modesty had been compromised. She
“​eum in corde defigit, prolapsaque in volnus moribunda cecidit​”, plunges a hidden knife into her
heart with her father and her husband as witnesses. This shows her need to prove that her
chastity was not lost by her own fault. Lucretia’s suicide was the direct result of the loss of her
chastity.

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"It is for you," she said, "to see that he gets what he deserves; although I acquit myself of the sin, I do
not free myself from the penalty; no unchaste woman shall henceforth live and plead Lucretia's example."
She had a knife concealed in her dress which she plunged into her heart, and fell dying on the floor. Her
father and husband raised the death-cry. (The Latin Library)
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Source 6 - Phyllis’ Suicide: Loss of a Lover

saepe venenorum sitis est mihi; saepe cruenta

traiectam gladio morte perire iuvat.
colla quoque, infidis quia se nectenda lacertis
praebuerunt, laqueis inplicuisse iuvat.
stat nece matura tenerum pensare pudorem.
in necis electu parva futura mora est.
Inscribere meo causa invidiosa sepulcro.
aut hoc aut simili carmine notus eris:
phyllida demophoon leto dedit hospes amantem;
ille necis causam praebuit, ipsa manum. 6
- Ovid, ​Heroides ​II.139-48

Phyllis, daughter of a Thracian king, and Demophon, son of Theseus, got married when
he was passing through Thrace on the return from the Trojan War. Soon after the wedding, he
claimed that he had to go back to Athens temporarily, and that he would soon return. However,
he instead went to Cyprus and forgot about Phyllis. She waited for him by the sea daily, and
when he did not return, felt such anger and sadness that she vowed to kill herself. With anger,
she described the graphic ways in which she would like to commit suicide— “​saepe venenorum
sitis est mihi; saepe cruenta traiectam gladio morte perire iuvat​”. This shows that Phyllis’ grief
and eventual suicide were caused by the departure of her husband.

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​Often I thirst for poison, often I’d like to die a bloody death, pierced by a sword. My neck too, since
faithless arms offered to encircle it, I’d like to entangle in a noose. Mature thought upholds tender honour
by dying: there is little point in delaying the choice of death. Inscribe the hateful reason on my tomb, you’ll
be known by these or similar lines: ‘Demophoon, the guest, gave loving Phyllis to death: he offered her
reason to die, by her own hand’. (Kline)
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Source 7 - Ajax’s Suicide: Lapse of Heroism

- Exekias, Athens 530 BCE

Ajax was a Greek hero of the Trojan war who prided himself in his heroic code. When he
retrieved the body of his deceased cousin, Achilles, he believed that he should be rewarded
with his armor. Instead, Orpheus was given Achilles’ armor as a reward. Ajax was so angry that
he went into a state of frenzy and killed a whole flock of sheep, believing that they were
Orpheus and other Greek men. After he came to, he realized his mistake and felt so disgraced
that he killed himself. Ajax is shown on the vase above preparing to fall onto his sword in an act
of suicide. Because of his perceived lapse of heroism, Ajax felt so ashamed that he killed
himself.
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Source 8 - Aegeus’ Suicide: Loss of a Son

It is said, moreover, that as they drew nigh the coast of Attica, Theseus himself forgot, and his
pilot forgot, such was their joy and exultation, to hoist the sail which was to have been the
token of their safety to Aegeus, who therefore, in despair, threw himself down from the rock
and was dashed in pieces.7
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- Plutarch, ​Life of Theseus 2

While Aegeus’ beloved son Theseus was on a journey home from Crete, he promised to
raise a white sail upon his arrival in order to indicate his safety to Aegeus and the other people
in the city. When Theseus and the ship’s crew forgot to raise the sail, Aegeus fell into despair
and threw himself off of the rock he was standing on. This act of suicide shows Aegeus’ love for
his son. Aegeus killed himself out of crippling grief for what he assumed was his son’s death
and potentially to compensate for the unnatural nature of the situation.

Source 9 - Amphion’s Suicide: Loss of sons

Fama mali populique dolor lacrimaeque suorum

tam subitae matrem certam fecere ruinae,
mirantem potuisse irascentemque, quod ausi
hoc essent superi, quod tantum iuris haberent;
nam pater Amphion ferro per pectus adacto
finierat moriens pariter cum luce dolorem.8
- Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​VI.267-72

Amphion was the husband to Niobe and father to fourteen children. Niobe continuously
mocked Latona, mother to twins Apollo and Diana, about how many more children she had.
Because of her bragging, Apollo killed all of Niobe and Amphion’s sons. While Niobe was
relatively unaffected (at that point, her daughters still remained), Amphion could not tolerate the
pain and immediately drove a knife through his heart— “​ferro per pectus adacto”​ . In doing this,
Ovid says that Amphion ended his pain along with his life— “​finierat moriens pariter cum luce
dolorem”​ . This shows that Amphion’s grief over the loss of his sons caused him so much pain
that he killed himself.

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Translated by Bill Thayer
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​ ​The rumour of trouble, the people’s sorrow, and the tears of her own family, confirming sudden disaster
to the mother, left her astounded that the gods could have done it, and angered that they had such power,
and dared to use it. Now, she learned that the father, Amphion, driving the iron blade through his heart,
had, in dying, ended pain and life together. (Kline)
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Source 10 - Iphis’ Suicide: Rejection

Iphis et ante fores haec verba novissima dixit:

"vincis, Anaxarete, neque erunt tibi taedia tandem
ulla ferenda mei: laetos molire triumphos
et Paeana voca nitidaque incingere lauru!
vincis enim, moriorque libens: age, ferrea, gaude!
certe aliquid laudare mei cogeris amoris,
quo tibi sim gratus, meritumque fatebere nostrum.
non tamen ante tui curam excessisse memento
quam vitam geminaque simul mihi luce carendum. 9
​ IV.717-725
- Ovid, ​Metamorphoses X

Iphis is a classic example of the “locked-out lover” trope— he is in love with a woman
named Anarexete who does not love him back. She is not subtle about her distaste for Iphis. He
says that she has a “​ferrea​”, a heart of steel, which emphasizes the lack of emotion that Iphis
recognizes that Anarexete has for him. In this excerpt, Iphis has given up on his efforts to win
her over. His last words are dedicated to her— he concedes that she has conquered him, and
that she can be happy now that he is dead. This shows that Iphis was so hurt by the rejection of
a potential lover that he killed himself.

Conclusion

While it might be assumed that because men and women in ancient times led different
lives and had different issues, they would commit suicide for different reasons. One reason for
suicide that might be seen as categorically male would be that of Ajax, in which he loses his
perception of heroism. The rape of Lucretia resulted in a suicide that would not likely be carried
out by a male. Chastity is a concept uniquely applied to women, and it is something valued so
deeply that its loss might result in suicide. However, in looking at the selected texts, it is evident
that men and women mostly commit suicide for the same reason— love. The loss of a lover, the
death of children, the pain of rejection— these are all situations that result in a broken heart that
the characters believe has no chance of being repaired.

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Iphis spoke these last words before her door. “You have conquered, Anaxarete, and you will not have to
suffer any tedium on my account. Devise glad triumphs, and sing the Paean of victory, and wreathe your
brow with shining laurel! You have conquered, and I die gladly: now, heart of steel, rejoice! Now you will
have something to praise about my love, something that pleases you. Remember that my love for you did
not end before life itself, and that I lose twin lights in one. (Kline)
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Works Cited

Exekias, Athens 530 BC

“Greek Art and Architecture.” ​ART 130/131 Resources,​ Furman University,
fuwesternart.weebly.com/greek.html.
Kline, A S. “Ovid - The Metamorphoses.” Poetry in Translation,
www.poetryintranslation.com/klineasovid.php
Kline, A S. “Virgil.” ​Poetry in Translation,​
www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidIV.php#anchor_Toc342032.
Livy, ​Ab Urbe Condita ​I.58
Ovid, ​Heroides I​ I.139-48
Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​XIII.692-6
Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​IV.105-115
Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​IV.133-34
Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​VI.267-72
Ovid, ​Metamorphoses ​XIV.717-725
Plutarch, ​Life of Theseus ​22
Thayer, Bill. “ p3 The Life of Theseus.” ​Arch of Augustus​,
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Theseus*.html.
“The Rape of Lucretia.” ​Augustus: The Expansion of the Roman Empire (A.D. 14),​
www.thelatinlibrary.com/legacy/livy/lucretia.html.
Virgil, ​Aeneid I​ V.649-58