Female Suicide in Mythology

Classical Mythology usually is associated with the Greeks and Romans yet many mythological characters are from other cultures as well. Trojan mythology also forms a part of classical mythology. The range of mythology is a timeline from prehistory to the Byzantine. Myths are stories and problems and their solutions are exaggerated.

The subject matter of myths are issues in real life like murder, cannibalism, matricide, patricide, fratricide, infanticide, rape and suicide.

Suicide in women in Classical Mythology asks the questions that are even now misunderstood. Why is death preferable to life? When is suicide acceptable or necessary?

Some causes of suicide are grief, shame, madness, self-sacrifice, fear and frustration. 

Grief is a response of agonizing and sorrowful distress to a death or loss. Grief is a reaction to one's feelings of loss of control over life situations with loss of hope for the future. The view of the world and reality becomes distorted, and death seems the only answer to life’s disasters.

In ancient society a female’s role was primarily in the control of a male. Before marriage, the control was held by her father, but with marriage she was physically, economically and psychologically transferred to her husband, consequently owned by her mate. The physical dependence on males was so embedded in society that the female personality and social function was only complete in its relationship to the male. With the loss of the male authority, females could no longer perceive a role in society, and so suicide may occur.

Without their husbands a widow’s status was typically destitute or lacking. These ideas of being made empty or lacking means that marriage allows a woman to fulfill herself and with the loss of the male,  she becomes half; since marriage has made two of one, a widow is a woman that is not whole. The second most common grief for women is the loss of their child. The experience of childbirth combined with the social role of motherhood is more devastating in females than males; the number of mothers who commit suicide upon the death of their sons shows the profundity of grief to which they succumb. The mythological stories of mothers who commit suicide at the loss of children deal mostly with the loss of famous sons.

When celebrated women are abandoned by their lovers not only are in essence widowed, but they may also have to face the censure of their societies.  The women's betrayal of home or country and the shame that results combines with the grief felt by abandonment.

A sense of shame was a powerful motivation in the ancient world It is also associated with people who have strong feelings. Traditionally women are considered to put more worth in feelings more than thinking, in the ancient world shame far overshadows guilt in suicide in both male and females.

The mythological instances of females committing suicide either to avoid rape or, if unable to avoid rape, to display the resultant repugnance and shame.

When the rapist is a relative, sexually abusive incest, the victim is not merely suffers from the violation against her virtue of chastity, but also feels the effect of an offence against the reverence with which relatives should be regarded.  Suicide seems to point to from a female perspective there is a sense of self-worth that motivates one to choose honorable death over living in shame.

Sometimes instead of unrequited love leads to suicide the actions of the females lead s to a profound sense of shame that in turn prompts their self-destruction.

The usual link between mental illness and suicide for mythological characters; it is rarely is attributed to madness in mythology.

Throughout Greek mythology the idea of placing patriotic concerns over personal concerns to the point of self sacrifice for the benefit of the community. The noble suicide of these individuals to sacrifice her self for a greater good had an inclination to self-reliance and a severe devotion to social demands.