1
Suicide in Greek Tragedy Evidence of
what sociologists label “the suicidogenic
impulse” is prevalent in both Euripidean and
Sophoclean tragedy, but almost entirely
absent from the surviving plays of AESCHYLUS,
though we should note that this may not have
been necessarily typical of his work as a whole
(cf. the suicide of AJAX in his lost play Thracian
Women). In general, the tragedians depict
suicide as an inevitable, sometimes even
appropriate, reaction to an intolerable situa-
tion or condition. “When were you ever
apprehended fixing up a noose or sharpening
a dagger, which any honorable wife who was
desperate for her former husband would do?”
HECUBA inquires contemptuously of HELEN,
to prove that the latter colluded with PARIS in
committing ADULTERY (Eur. Tro. 1012–14).
Rarely, too, is a suicidal act criticized from a
moral standpoint. The noose and the knife
are the commonest methods of taking one’s
life. Overall, suicide is a much more popular
option for women than for men. It goes with-
out saying that any study of suicide “in”
Greek tragedy needs to acknowledge that
theatrical conventions play a significant part
in how both the impulse and the act are rep-
resented, and further that its depiction must
be used with caution as evidence of social
practice.
Greek tragedy supplies many different
motives for taking one’s life, including SHAME,
depression, self-loathing, or a combination
of all three. Ajax in SOPHOCLES’ play of that
name, DEIANEIRA in SOPHOCLES’ WOMEN OF
TRACHIS, JOCASTA in his OEDIPUS TYRANNUS,
and PHAEDRA in EURIPIDES’ HIPPOLYTUS all kill
themselves through shame and fear of evil
repute (see also FAME). Phaedra hangs herself
with the additional motive of seeking to pun-
ish her stepson Hippolytus for having rejected
her sexual advances (Eur. Hipp. 728–31),
while Deianeira stabs herself to death because
of the further realization that she has unwit-
tingly caused the DEATH of her HUSBAND
The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy, First Edition. Edited by Hanna M. Roisman.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
HERACLES (Soph. Trach. 720–1, 758–61,
1132). The dying Heracles orders his son
HYLLUS to immolate him alive on his own
funeral pyre, declaring his death will be “a
respite for my sufferings” (Soph. Trach.
1252–4). HAEMON stabs himself to death “in
anger at the murder perpetrated by my father”
upon learning of the death of his fiancée
ANTIGONE (Soph. Ant. 1177). Haemon’s
mother EURYDICE, hearing of her son’s death,
stabs herself in turn, CURSING her husband
CREON with her dying breath (1304–5).
In EURIPIDES the prospect of living without
one’s partner is also a motive for suicide.
MENELAUS and his devoted wife Helen take a
solemn OATH to perish together by the sword,
should their plan to escape from EGYPT fail
(Eur. Hel. 835–40, 982–5). Determined to
“lie beside my husband in death” as she puts
it, EVADNE commits suicide by immolating
herself on Capaneus’ funeral pyre (Eur. Supp.
1063–71). The motive of altruistic SELF-
SACRIFICE, i.e., suicide committed to further
some cause or for the sake of another person,
is also evident in Euripides. ALCESTIS agrees to
give up her life in exchange for that of her hus-
band ADMETUS (Eur. Alc. passim); IPHIGENIA in
EURIPIDES’ IPHIGENIA AT AULIS consents to sac-
rifice herself for the good of the Greek
army (1466–99, esp. 1472–3); the daughters
of king Erechtheus sacrifice themselves to save
ATHENS from defeat (Eur. Erechtheus, see
FRAGMENTARY AND LOST PLAYS); MACARIA vol-
unteers to sacrifice herself to Persephone in
order to placate the underworld gods and save
the lives of her brothers (Eur. Heracl. 500–
34); and MENOECEUS slits his own throat to
fulfill a PROPHECY which foretold that his death
would save THEBES (Eur. Phoen. 991–1018;
see also INDIVIDUAL GOOD VERSUS COMMON
GOOD). These last two are treated pro forma.
Macaria is never mentioned again once she has
left the stage and Menoeceus’ death is sum-
marily dismissed in a mere three lines
(1090–2).
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SOPHOCLES alone of the tragedians in the
surviving plays describes the final moments of
those preparing to commit suicide, through
the eyes of a third party in the case of both
Jocasta and Deianeira (Soph. OT 1240–50;
Soph. Trach. 900–26), and uniquely through
the mindset of the suicide-elect in the case of
Ajax (Soph. Aj. 815–65: discussed below). It
is Sophocles principally, too, who dwells upon
the horrified reactions of FAMILY members at
discovering the body of a suicide victim
(Soph. Aj. 891–924; Soph. Ant. 1220–5;
Soph. OT 1254–79; Soph. Trach. 929–42; cf.
also Eur. Hipp. 817–51).
Several characters in Greek tragedy enter-
tain suicidal thoughts without acting upon
them. IO, learning of the SUFFERINGS that she
must undergo as a result of Hera’s JEALOUSY,
contemplates hurling herself from the rock to
which PROMETHEUS is nailed (Aesch. *PV
747–51). Bitter at being first neglected and
now being exploited, PHILOCTETES threatens
initially to throw himself over a precipice and
then, later in Sophocles’ play, to slit his own
throat, rather than assist the Greek army in
taking TROY (Soph. Phil. 100–1; 1207–8).
Phaedra’s NURSE threatens to throw herself
off a rock when she learns that her mistress is
in love with her stepson (Eur. Hipp. 355–7;
see also PASSION). Less intense, so to speak, is
the vague wish to die or be dead. THESEUS,
upon discovering that his dying son
Hippolytus is innocent of the crime of RAPE
with which he has charged him, expresses the
desire to “become a corpse” in his place (Eur.
Hipp. 1410). MEDEA, when informed by her
husband JASON that she will be sent into EXILE
without her CHILDREN, asks how to kill herself
(Eur. Med. 97, 226–7). The FATHER of Glauke,
on discovering his daughter’s murdered body,
expresses a desire to die with her (Med. 1210).
In Euripides, depression bordering on the
suicidal sometimes takes the form of a desire
to escape from life, typically by growing wings
or by being swallowed up in the earth – a
topos that can be traced back to epic (And.
861–5; Hec. 1099–106; cf. Hipp. 732–41)
(see also ESCAPE ODES). The threat of suicide
is occasionally used as blackmail. In
AESCHYLUS’ SUPPLIANTS the daughters of
DANAUS threaten to hang themselves and
thereby desecrate the sanctuary of ELEUSIS if
the Athenian king Theseus rejects their appeal
for asylum (154–61, 459–64). In EURIPIDES’
IPHIGENIA AMONG THE TAURIANS ORESTES
reveals that he swore to starve himself to
death if APOLLO deserted him in his hour of
need (970–5).
Exceptionally a character is prevented from
committing suicide (OFF STAGE, of course), as
in the case of HERMIONE, who first attempts
to hang herself and then to stab herself (Eur.
Andr. 802–13, 846–50). Though AGAVE
(Eur. Bacch.), Creon (Soph. Ant.), OEDIPUS
(Soph. OT), and Theseus (Eur. Hipp.) unwit-
tingly cause the deaths of those most dear to
them, they all choose to live with the conse-
quences of their deed, rather than to commit
suicide.
It is Sophocles in the Ajax who not only
demonstrates the fullest awareness of the
complex psychodynamic formulation that
results in the decision to take one’s own life,
but who also provides the most detailed
discussion in surviving Greek tragedy of
the consequences for others of an act of
self-destruction (see also PSYCHOLOGICAL
APPROACH TO GREEK TRAGEDY). Having failed
to win the prize for being the best soldier in
the Greek army, Ajax goes berserk (see also
MADNESS). His delusional phase is followed
by one of intense depression, and when he
returns to his senses he is overcome with
shame. He now reaches the conclusion that
he has no place in the world. Using much the
same argument that Andromache employs
unsuccessfully in Homer Iliad 6 to dissuade
her husband HECTOR from going into battle,
Ajax’s wife TECMESSA pleads with the hero to
reflect upon the kind of life to which she will
be consigned as the result of his death; begs
him to think of his family ties; emphasizes her
dependence upon his protection; and con-
cludes with a reminder of the debt of kindness
she is owed in return for the happy life they
have shared together (see also GRATITUDE/
INGRATITUDE). In other words, rather than
criticize suicide from a moral standpoint, she

bases her opposition to it on the adverse con-
sequences that it will have upon his family
and friends. In the final address to Ajax before
he delivers his great speech on Time, the
CHORUS, observing the gloomy despair which
has now replaced his former frenzy, com-
ments that a man in his position would really
be better off dead, thus in effect sanctioning
the act which is to follow. The reaction of
Ajax’s friends and fellow-soldiers post even-
tum can be summarized as follows: on the
part of the Chorus, a feeling of guilt at having
failed to recognize his intention earlier; on
the part of Tecmessa, a fatalistic acceptance of
the fact that this is both what heaven willed
and what the victim sought; and on the part
of Ajax’s half brother TEUCER, mainly self-pity
at the prospect of having to break the tragic
NEWS to his parents. It is also instructive to
note that in the lengthy debate that occupies
the whole last third of the play concerning
the hero’s entitlement to his FUNERAL dues,
the fact that he is a suicide is never
mentioned.
The bodies of suicides were occasionally
displayed to the AUDIENCE, most effectively
with the aid of the EKKYKLēMA. The corpse of
Eurydice, for instance, was revealed beside
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the altar upon which she stabbed herself
(Soph. Ant. 1293), that of Deianeira
(perhaps) on a couch (Soph. Trach. 936–43),
and that of Phaedra (perhaps) on a bier (Eur.
Hipp. 806–16). Ajax’s body, too, in
Sophocles’ play of that name, is displayed on
the ekkyklēma “where he silently holds stage
for the rest of the play” (Rehm 2002: 131).
Jocasta’s corpse is not displayed, however,
presumably so as not to detract from the
dramatic impact of Oedipus’ self-BLINDING
(Soph. OT; see also FEATURES OF GREEK
TRAGEDY; PERFORMANCE).
References
Rehm, R. 2002. The Play of Space: Spatial
Transformation in Greek Tragedy. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
Further Reading
Faber, M.D. 1970. Suicide and Greek Tragedy.
New York: Sphinx Press.
Garrison, E.P. 1995. Groaning Tears: Ethical and
Dramatic Aspects of Suicide in Greek Tragedy.
Leiden: Brill.
Garrison, E.P. 2000. “Suicide in Greek Tragedy.”
Journal of Psychology and Judaism 24.1: 77–97.
ROBERT GARLAND