Suicide Analysis

Analyzing Suicide in Classical Greek Tragedy and in 21^st Century America

Figure 1 - Suicide statistics from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (About Suicide)

            Commenting on the topic of suicide, American novelist Tiffanie DeBartolo once asked, “Did you really want to die? No one commits suicide because they want to die. Then why do they do it? Because they want to stop the pain” (qtd. in Gopal). Though there are many reasons that individuals choose to commit suicide, many do follow patterns that are related to the values and priorities of their cultures. As the tenth leading cause of death in the United States today and as a major part of Greek literature and theater, suicide has had a major impact on both cultures (About Suicide). Statistics on modern suicides and analysis of suicides in major Classical works of literature and theater like the ones we have read this semester reveal that the cultures have many commonalities when it comes to suicide, but they also have important differences. Modern suicides contrast with suicides in Greek arts in that they often involve mental health issues and issues of social ostracization while the suicides in Greek arts focus more on an individual’s regret for mistakes, but the reasons for which individuals in both cultures commit suicide are similar because they both often involve feelings of failure to meet the unrealistically high expectations of the individual’s society and self.

"Mental health disorders affect nearly
one in five U.S. adults..."

           Thanks to increased awareness in recent years, a large body of research exists to help point to common reasons, such as mental health issues and social ostracization, for which individuals commit suicide in modern American culture. Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder can lead to a lack of effective coping mechanisms for meeting life’s stressors and to an increased risk for committing suicide (About Suicide). Mental health disorders affect nearly one in five U.S. adults, but because they are still often seen as embarrassing and taboo in popular culture, millions of people suffer quietly and alone (“Mental Illness”). Many even reach a point where they choose to commit suicide (“Mental Illness”). As another example, prolonged stress due to social ostracization is a second leading risk factor in modern suicides (About Suicide). For example, one factor connected to social ostracization and suicide especially in Utah is sexual orientation (Hatch). In Utah’s socially conservative religious culture, many LGBTQ individuals experience identity crises or even interpersonal hostility. Social ostracization related to things like sexual orientation can cause stress in an individual’s life that can lead to suicide unless managed effectively (Hatch).

The modern focus on mental health issues and social ostracization as reasons for committing suicide reflect on American values of scientific understanding and social equality. As a product of Renaissance science and logic, American culture values scientific understanding much more than Greek culture, which helps explain a much greater focus on mental health in our culture. Increase social equality since the time of the Greeks has led to a larger focus on social ostracization as a source of stress that can lead to suicide. Both factors were likely also present in Greek culture, but modern American culture, through science as well as social progress, has put more of a focus on understanding these reasons for committing suicide.

In contrast with modern American culture, Greek tragedy focuses especially on regret’s role as a reason for committing suicide, which reflects Classical Greek views about fate. In the case of Oedipus’ wife Jocasta’s suicide in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, the chorus talks about fate, saying, “All-seeing time discovered you unwilling, it judged long ago your marriage that is no marriage” (Oedipus Rex 1245-1246). Jocasta recognizes her mistake at a time that feels too late, and in her passionate displeasure, she chooses to commit suicide. In Sophocles’ Women of Trachis, Deianera chooses to commit suicide for similar reasons after she unknowingly poisons her husband Heracles. Out of regret and a feeling of failure and loss, she chooses to commit suicide. Both women had been prophesied to make the mistakes they made, and as a result, they were victims of fate. This focus on regret for mistakes as a reason for suicide reflects on tragedy’s goal of persuading the audience to avoid the same mistakes, but it also reveals the Greek idea that fate could not be changed by an individual’s will; instead, individuals were to merely react.

The Suicide of Ajax by Exekias

Despite the differences between reasons for suicide in modern American and in Classical Greece, the two cultures share at least one common reason for committing suicide, which is a failure to meet personal and societal expectations. One manifestation of this in modern American culture is when middle-aged men feel they are not properly providing for their families. In fact, middle-aged men account for 40 percent of American suicides, and this can be attributed in large part to cultural expectations that these men be the “breadwinners” for their families (“Preventing Suicide” 5-8). In these and in other cases of suicide in the United States, feelings of inadequacy and failure to meet perceived expectations are a common reason for which individuals commit suicide. Similarly, Greek tragedy involves many examples of individuals who commit suicide after failing to meet expectations. Before his suicide, Ajax talks about the high expectations of men when he talks to his son, saying, “when you do grow up, you’ll have to demonstrate to your enemies just what sort of a man you are” (Ajax). Ajax, who is known for his strength and prowess in battle, has just lost to Odysseus in a competition of strength and prowess in battle, which leaves Ajax a failure who cannot even win a competition in his specialty and leads him to commit suicide in response. In Women of Trachis, Deianera’s suicide can be considered the product of failing to meet expectations in addition to being the result of regret. Deianera represents the best of women, but when she unintentionally kills her own husband, she falls short of that ideal. In addition, Deianera’s son Hyllus curses and rejects her as not worthy of the name of mother, saying, “How could she gain the grand name of mother, she who’s so unworthy of it? She does nothing to match that word. Mother!” (Women of Trachis). This failure leaves Deianera in ruins, and she then chooses to commit suicide.

The Greatest Showman: An example
of modern American idealized media

The shared emphasis on failure to meet perceived expectations as a reason for individuals to commit suicide reflects on the values of both modern American culture and Classical Greek culture in important ways. It shows that both cultures value the pursuit of perfection and greatness highly. Classical Greek culture consistently showed idealized versions of human life and mathematical perfection of form in works like Ictinus and Callicrates’ Parthenon and like Polykleitos’ “Spear-Bearer”, and modern American culture similarly shows idealized versions of family life, strength, leadership, success, and beauty in its artwork as in movies like The Blind Side or The Greatest Showman. Though Classical works focused on perfection in a more abstract sense and American works focus more on concrete examples of supposed excellence and leave out compromising details, both communicate ideals that are difficult to achieve. As these ideals are impossible to achieve, individuals in both societies inevitably fail to meet these expectations. Failure or even perceived failure can lead to disastrous results like suicide.

Through the similarities and differences in the reasons for which individuals commit suicide in modern American culture and in Classical Greek culture, we can recognize important cultural beliefs including American culture’s focus on scientific understanding and social equality, Greek culture’s focus on fate’s unchangeable path, and the two cultures’ shared focus on the pursuit of perfection. Understanding these factors especially in our own modern culture can hopefully help us to reach out to those who may feel that they are not meeting expectations, those that are struggling with mental illness, or those who are otherwise at risk for committing suicide. Suicide is unfortunate in all cases, and we should work to understand it better in order to better help prevent it.

Works Cited

About Suicide. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2018, www. afsp.org/about-suicide/. Accessed 1 October 2018.

Gopal, Leo. “Suicide, I tried it.” Medium, 15 March 2017, www.medium.com/invisible-illness/suicide-i-tried-it-help-me-help-others-3a1550cecb9e. Accessed 1 October 2018.

Hatch, Heidi. “Is Utah's youth suicide rate linked to Utah's culture surrounding LGBT?” KUTV, 6 July 2016, kutv.com/news/local/is-utahs-youth-suicide-rate-linked-to-utahs-culture-surrounding-lgbt. Accessed 1 October 2018.

“Mental Illness.” National Institute of Mental Health, November 2017, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml. Accessed 1 October 2018.

“Preventing Suicide among Men in the Middle Years: Recommendations for Suicide Prevention Programs.” Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Waltham, MA: Education Development Center, Inc., 2016, http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/SPRC_MiMYReportFinal_0.pdf. Accessed 2 October 2018.

Sophocles. Ajax. Translated by George Theodoridis, 2009, www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Ajax.php. Accessed 2 October 2018.

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Translated by J.E. Thomas, Clayton, Delaware, Prestwick House, 2005.

Sophocles. Women of Trachis. Translated by George Theodoridis, 2007, bacchicstage.wordpress.com/sophocles/women-of-trachis-aka-trachiniae/. Accessed 2 October 2018.