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Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría

Print version ISSN 0034-7450

Abstract

ROSSELLI, Diego  and  RUEDA, Juan David. Desire of Death and Suicide in Western Culture. Part 1: Ancient History. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2011, vol.40, n.1, pp.145-151. ISSN 0034-7450.

Suicidal ideation may be as old as human existence. The first written records have plenty of references to suicidal acts and the desire to die. The Bible for example, records ten or so suicides beginning with Abimelech in the Book of Judges, to the suicidal act of Judas Iscariot in Matthew's Gospel. Suicide was not unusual in Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire, as noted in Herodotus' History or Plutarch's Parallel Lives. Greek myths, Homeric poems, and the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides are rich in suicidal practices, ideas of death, and discussions of social attitudes about killing one self. This paper explores these topics and collects the most important suicides of Old Age.

Keywords : Suicide; self-injurious behavior; ancient history; literature; Bible..

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