Do All Heroes Live Tragic Lives?

Stoic Heroes and Tragedy

Photo by Landon Parenteau on Unsplash

What seems to be regarded as universally noble is the idea that you voluntarily bear your suffering. Sure, that’s a very Christian idea, but even taking the religion out of it, it does seem to be the case that we have a deep respect for those who accept death willingly, for example, or who are really sick but bear it nobly.

Tragedies of Life

Those two examples — death and sickness — you might call these “tragedies of life”. They aren’t the only ones, though. There’s heartbreak, betrayal, exile — the list goes on and on. If we extract this idea to the extreme, we could say that the noblest, most virtuous person is he who is able to virtuously bear the most tragic life. And that is really the story of Christ.

“Let each thing you would do, say, or intend, be like that of a dying person.”

Marcus Aurelius

Heroes in Stoicism

You could also look at that idea among the Stoics. Marcus Aurelius, for example, had one hell of a reign. He dealt with a plague, the death of many friends, and his own death, surely, but also the politics that make up the political realm. He has a whole section of his book dedicated to that idea of how to deal with these rude and ungrateful politicians…