![]() ![]() Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment? Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Keep death and exile before your eyes each day, along with everything that seems terrible - by doing so, you’ll never have a base thought nor will you have excessive desire. It was his way of practising a form of detachment which I know can sound quite callous, but he has a point, about everything being fleeting: He also lectured about, “impermanent bonds” through not just death itself, but the threat of exile in those days, which concerned those close to you. Looking at the writings of Arrian from the teachings of Epictetus, who often reminded his students of the servant reminding the general of his mortality. After all, we need a way to rationalise our acceptance that we as humans are made of organic matter, and it is only natural that we will one day perish. As we are privy to their inner workings about the subject of our mortality, we can safely say that dying was not something to cower from, but instead to embrace and relinquish the opportunities that being alive has created. Relating memento mori to Stoic philosophy in the Roman era of the Stoa is greatly enhanced by the oration or writings of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. However, in the meantime we should all seek to be indifferent to this notion at the very least, and simply focus on making the most of your limited time here. Of course, you may try and indeed succeed to be one of the few who makes a mark on society, either favourably or not. Death waits for no-one, and your lifetime will be merely other people’s memories in a few years when you’re gone. Meaning? That no matter your current position or social standing, you can’t take it with you. ![]() They were absorbed alike into the life force of the world, or dissolved alike into atoms. ![]() Something that Marcus Aurelius wrote in his private journal, the Meditations (6.24) coincides with the above sentiment favourably:Īlexander the Great and his mule driver both died, and the same thing happened to both. This acted as a strong reminder that their hubris is temporary and too where they, not to forget that we’d all inevitably meet the same fate one day. Hominem te memento,” or similar words, as they basked in the glory of their success. Accompanying him, there would be a servant of sorts and their responsibility would entail whispering, “ Respice post te. Taking you back to this ceremony, you’d find the area lined with citizens and the “triumphant” general or leader would then be paraded through the crowd on a chariot. Often when these guys returned from a successful campaign, they would be honoured with a “triumph”, one of the highest honours you could receive at the time by partaking in brutal conquests. To contextualise the phrase, we must visit Ancient Rome- as a way for the struggling senate to keep egos at bay, especially amongst victorious military leaders and generals. I do not feel the punishment of death, life was a punishment, in death rest is prepared for me. Refrain from tears, father and you, beloved mother, stop crying. This is echoed in the epitaph labeled B507, Some hundreds of monuments have survived to this day, on Rome’s Via Appia, and they offer a great insight in how the Romans approached death, with a sense of fearlessness, and sometimes even an indifference to life. ![]() The Ancient Romans lined monuments and tombs inscribed with epitaphs alongside most of their public roads as a way to remember their dead, and were not only for the rich. This invoked as sense of honour - even in death. If you think of the practices of burial for example: the constructing of large pyramids as shrines to the fallen pharaohs, and commemorating both their death (and life) by mummifying the dead, as well as opulent resting places for officials too. For example, in Ancient Egypt, death was so commonplace in everyday life that there are many treatises written about the “Egyptian obsession with death”. However, if you look into it, most civilisations have an iteration of this sentiment in their own dialects and practices. The words can be roughly transcribed from Latin as “ Remember you will die” and this was something that the Ancient Romans coined way back when. To begin with, let’s get to the heart of the translation. At the end of this piece I’ve included some exercises of how you could potentially apply them to your life with dedicated practice. We’re going to take a look at the history of what the phrase means, from the ancient societies of Egypt and Rome to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Whilst this phrase might not mean anything to you, or, on the flip side may well be a part of your daily vocabulary. If you’re interested in philosophy, have a penchant for Stoicism, self- improvement, or indeed maxims for living, you’ve probably come across the phrase “memento mori” a time or two. ![]()
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