Death and Dying

Historic Perspectives

The reality and ubiquity of death has had a profound impact in human psyche and civilization. The personalization of death as a figure or character has been present in the mythologies of many different cultures. The black-dressed skeleton with a scythe, well known in the United States, is only one of several images that came to use in different times and places, often reflecting popular values and beliefs toward death.

The beliefs and attitudes concerning death have varied a great deal: The Latin term memento mori, first evoked in Roman antiquity and translated as remember that you are mortal, was popular for centuries, but its meanings varied in the course of the years. Originally associated with the ideal of carpe diem (seize the day), memento mori was an advice toward hedonism. The idea is present even in the Bible: “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (Isaiah 22:13), but as Christian theology developed and brought death and dying to the forefront of religious life, the idea that was to influence the whole Western civilization was the moralizing role of death. In a system of belief with emphasis on the afterlife where a soul could either be sent to heaven or hell, depending on the Christian success on avoiding sin. Memento mori became a warning advice: By remembering one's own mortality, one would have it easier to uphold a pious life.

In the mid-14th century's Europe, the Black Death, a devastating pandemic, changed peoples’ views on life and death, with long-lasting effects. During the Black Death, anyone who seemed perfectly well could quickly die without apparent causes. In fact, the pandemia killed nearly two-thirds of the European population and virtually everyone was acquainted with victims of the disease, leading to deep cultural impacts. The uncertainty of life and the ubiquity of death came to populate the minds of medieval Europeans; as an example, the danse macabre, the dance of death, a popular allegory in which a personified Death danced with representatives of each segment of society of those times (typically an emperor, a king, a monk, a pope, a young boy, and a beautiful girl) was a popular remembrance of death not distinguishing between its victims.

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