English Translation Suicide

To start this exploration it is best to begin with the oldest cases of suicide, and work up to modern day to see both changes and similarities amongst them. Before doing so, the actual meaning of the word suicide needs to be established. Suicide translates to “self-murder” in English. The word suicide comes from the Latin word suicidium. Sui in the word means oneself, and cidium which means the killing. The Latin word translates to the “killing of oneself”. When compared to the English translation, the Latin translation comes off as much more natural, or far less malicious than the English translation. The use of the word “murder” gives the English translation a very negative perception of the action of suicide. Of course for this paper the English translation will be used, however it is both interesting and important to understand the change in the meaning of the word overtime.

To begin the history of suicide, there is no better place to examine than that of ancient Greece. There was a very important burial ritual practiced by the Greeks, a ritual that was

stripped from those who committed suicide. According to the metropolitan museum of art, the
In Rome at the time suicide was considered both good and bad depending on the situation. For example, if a slave was too much of an expense for the master, suicide was expected. Likewise, if someone lost a loved one it was not uncommon for the person to kill themselves at their loved ones funeral (Retterstol, 1998). Those are just a couple of the acceptable reasons for suicide. The bad reasons include members of the roman army. It weakens the army by losing a soldier, and is considered desertion to the army officials. Ironically the punishment for desertion is death, and that is the punishment for those roman military men that tried to commit suicide. It is very clear that suicide was for the most part an unselfish act in Rome. That is unless it hurts Rome as a