Quote:
Originally Posted by creekster
In some ways, all martyrs really show tremendous faith in an after life, it seems ot me. Otherwise, what possible difference can it make if you are remembered? WHy would you possibly care? THis is somethign I have never been able to grasp.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters
Sometimes I would think it is the opposite. That they will be remembered is the only immortality they can have.
The people that shoot students at a college. They are trying to make their mark. "Billy wuz here 2007"
|
I think Waters' idea is a common one in history and literature. Achilles went to Troy, knowing he would never come home, because he would have undying fame. That type of glory (Greeks called it kleos) was really the only kind of afterlife that a human could expect. When Odysseus visits Achilles in the underworld, Achilles informs him that he would rather be a lowly slave on earth than king of the dead. Life was the time to make your mark, and hopefully you would be remembered after it was over. Death sucked.