Stephen Cave does an excellent job explaining things that I feel like many people are too afraid to talk about. He makes some very direct observations about how humanity contemplates its own end.
He discusses four main stories that humanity tells itself in order to come to terms with death.
Elixir- Many people new and ancient believe in ways to extend life or hopefully even to become immortal. The Greeks thought many foods or drinks would allow them to live longer or become immortal, for example. Modern day medicine has brought many breakthroughs in life longevity, and in some cases, it has even become a trend for consumers to try and find ways to extend their lives to the maximum. Like Cave explains, we even put billions of dollars into stem cell research and cloning techniques. I think elixir myths are some of the most common stories that people tell themselves, even without be aware of it at times.
Resurrection-This is one of the stories I think many people tend to avoid expressing even if they do believe it. The idea of deceased bodies retaking life is more than many people want to admit, even if they truly believe it. Greek mythology speaks of times when humans taken down to Erebos and then somehow being able to return. Some modern day religions speak of reincarnation, where one who has died is able to come back in a different life form. They don’t necessarily return as a human, but one way or another they are resurrected back into some form of life.
Soul- The ancient Egyptians were huge believers that the soul was the part of the body that would continue into the after-life. They took great care to protect and preserve the souls of the dead so that they would arrive happy and clean on the other side. A modern day example that comes to mind is the idea that is portrayed in the movie “Transendence”. A scientist is terminally ill and decides to have his mind uploaded into a computer that he designed to be self-aware.
Legacy- “The idea that you can live on through the echo that you leave in the world”, says Cave. I really like this observation. I think this is the kind of immortality story that we strive for unconsciously. Everybody grows up wanting to leave behind some sort of legacy. Some of them are family oriented people that want to leave behind a better life for their children than the life that they personally had. Sometimes people want to live on through their fame. Some people just want to be remembered as a great person, and to be talked about long after they are gone.
Based on Cave’s observations I think the best way to be comfortable with any of these stories is to simply decide which one is the most harmonic with our “terror management” system and then cling to it. Most every one that have ever lived has had some sort of fear of death, and demanded some sort of explanation whether it be from a god or a scientist. The trick to life is figuring our which story gives us the most passion to live our lives the best we can. If it is our desire to leave a legacy maybe we need to start having more kids or writing more books. If it is our desire to have some sort of elixir, maybe it’s time to start investing in stem cell research and regrowth-hormones.
I loved Cave’s observations!
Hum 115: World Mythology 
I really liked your observations! I think that the idea of an elixir is so exciting to people is because it is a complete solution to our fear of death. Even though the idea of a legacy is the most attainable, I think it is also an extremely dangerous one. We hear about all of these horrible people and all that they want is for their name to be known forever and they do these unthinkable things like shooting up schools.
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Ugh – I hadn’t made that connection before.
We’re going to be looking at “legacy” a lot more next week. When we look at Greek heroes, we’ll talk about the concept of kleos. Kleos is fame or glory that lives on after your death, but it doesn’t have the same sort of negative connotations that we might ascribe to “fame-seekers” (like certain reality-show families). Instead, it’s helpful to understand kleos in relation to the Greek underworld that you read about this week. If you have nothing to look forward to after death except for the slow dissolution of your psyche, then kleos becomes the only way to live on after death. You’ll be reading about Herakles (Hera + kleos), and we’ll be talking about the meaning of his name.
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I think I’ve come to terms with the inevitability of death. Therefore, it is not death itself that I fear but the idea that death will come knocking all too soon, before I have really been able to live and achieve my greatness. I suppose going to school is the start of creating my legacy and in the meantime I strive to live life to the fullest. No regrets. How about you? What are your fears? How do you cope?
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Certain experiences have allowed me to come closer to the reality of death than I would have liked. Because of those experiences I don’t fear my personal apocalypse very much. My only real fear when it comes to death is that I may not yet have secured the future I would like for my wife and son if I die. In a way I guess you could say my fear is what my legacy will be. I cope by getting up early and hustling all day to make sure tomorrow life will be better for my family than it was yesterday. My terror management plan is to accept death as a reality and spend my time making sure that my son never has to see his mom fixing my mistakes or paying off my debts. You?
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