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Empedocles was an influential philosopher and physician who was considered one of the great minds of his time, but he thought of himself as more than a mere genius. Empedocles believed that he was in fact a god. This is well-documented thanks to one of his poems, which includes the line “All hail! I go about you an immortal god!”
Calchas planted grapes to make wine, but a rival fortune teller said he would never drink wine from those grapes. This prophecy appeared to be incorrect, as the grapes grew and the wine was made. Calchas laughed so hard at his rival's supposed mistake that he choked on the first sip of the wine and died.
Calchas was a famed soothsayer from ancient Greece who appears at the beginning of Homer’s ‘Iliad.’ He advised great leaders like Agamemnon and assisted in the taking of Troy. Calchas made many great predictions during his life and was widely respected, but he clearly had a petty streak.
Draco the Lawgiver was a politician and lawmaker in ancient Athens. He was known for creating an excessively harsh penal system in which both serious and minor offenses were punished by death. He’s the source of the word “draconian,” which is used to describe extremely harsh penalties or laws.
When Draco proposed his new policies, the wealthy Greeks were so impressed that they jumped to express their adoration for him. They cheered and applauded, throwing their hats and cloaks at him. He was smothered to death by the number of garments that rained down on top of him.
Her son was involved in the resistance and she saw Pyrrhus target him. Knowing her son would not survive an altercation with the famed general, she took matters into her own hands. She took a tile from her roof and dropped it on Pyrrhus’ head. It caught him square on the noggin and sent him flying off his horse to his death.
Pyrrhus was a legendary Greek general and war hero, known for his incredible feats in battle. He was prepared for another victory, or an honorable death, as he led his army to seize the town of Argos. An old woman watched from the rooftop of her home as Pyrrhus and his men marched through the town.
Heraclitus covered himself in cow dung from head to toe, believing it would draw out the “noxious damp humor” of fluids. He lay in the sun while he waited for the treatment to work, but the dung dried into a hard shell, leaving him unable to move. Unfortunately, a pack of wild dogs came across his immobilized body and ate him.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus suffered from edema, a disease that causes fluid to accumulate under the skin, causing painful swelling. Doctors told him there was no cure, but the genius believed he was smarter than them and could find a solution.
Maccabeus had an army of 20,000 men, but they were up against an army of 50,000 and 30 large war elephants. In an attempt to raise morale and inspire courage in his men, Maccabeus charged one of the elephants. He ran underneath the large beast and stabbed its belly with his spear. He successfully killed the elephant, but also killed himself when it collapsed on top of him.
While many of the deaths on this list are the stuff of Greek mythology, this one is actually quite likely to be a true story. Eleazar Maccabeus, a prominent leader in the Maccabean Revolt of 167–160 BCE, was killed in a bizarre fashion during the Battle of Beth Zechariah.
Chrysippus was a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived during the 3rd century BCE. Despite all of the important work he did during his life, he is best remembered as the philosopher who laughed himself to death.
Chrysippus enjoyed parties and drinking into his old age. At 73, he got extremely drunk at a party and spotted a donkey eating a fig. He thought this was hilarious and demanded the donkey be given some wine to wash down his meal. He laughed so hard at his own joke that he keeled over and died.
Zeuxis is yet another figure from ancient Greece who laughed himself to death. He was a famous painter who was said to have such great skill that the birds appeared to swoop from his paintings.
Aeschylus was a great playwright who went from being a farm laborer to one of ancient Greece’s greatest writers. He wrote more than 90 plays in his lifetime. In 455 BCE, he received a prophecy that he would die by a falling object landing on his head.
To avoid this terrible fate, he went out to the countryside and stayed outdoors in the belief that he would be safe there. Unfortunately, an eagle flying overhead with a tortoise in its claws mistook Aeschylus’ shiny bald head for a rock. It dropped the tortoise on his head to break it open, killing him stone dead.
The story of Icarus is a famous one. He was the son of a famous craftsman called Daedalus, who was known for building the Labyrinth for King Minos. Minos wanted to keep the Labyrinth a secret, so he imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in a tower.
Once they had jumped from the tower and began soaring through the air, Icarus threw caution to the wind and began to fly higher and higher. The wax melted and his wings disintegrated, sending him falling to a watery grave.
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Pythagoras believed that humans and beans came from the same source, and were therefore closely related. He experimented by burying some beans and noting that they looked like human fetuses when he dug them up a few weeks later. He concluded that beans carried souls and to eat or even damage them would be like murder.
One tale about the death of Pythagoras says that he angered a nobleman called Kylon when he refused to allow him to join his followers (he was running a commune for like-minded individuals). Kylon raised an angry mob to kill Pythagoras in revenge. Pythagoras escaped and ran from the mob, but when he reached a field of beans, he refused to compromise his beliefs and chose not to cross. As such, he was captured and killed.
Pythagoras is one of few Greek philosophers whose name is still remembered by most today, thanks to the Pythagorean theorem. He is known for making incredible developments in the fields of math and science, but he also had some pretty strange beliefs.
Philitas was a scholar and poet who had a reputation for being extremely pedantic and irritating. To summarize many sources, he was the ancient equivalent of a grammar Nazi. Whenever another scholar misused a word or made a small error, he would sit down and write a lengthy paper on the issue.
He was so obsessed with correcting the errors of others that he literally starved to death while writing one of his many obnoxious papers. The inscription on his tomb reads: "Stranger, Philitas is my name, I lie – Slain by fallacious arguments, and cares – Protracted from evening through the night."
One day, Milo was walking through the forest when he noticed a tree trunk that had nearly split in half. He wanted to prove he was strong enough to tear the trunk apart, but ended up getting his hand wedged in the crack. He remained stuck there for days until a pack of wolves finished him off.
Empedocles once healed a woman who no other physician had been able to help. This further bolstered his belief that he was a god. To demonstrate his immortal status, he decided to jump into an active volcano and jump back out alive and unharmed. Needless to say, things didn't go as planned...
One day, a rich older woman came to him and requested he paint her as Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. The woman before him was so different from the usual depictions of Aphrodite that the resulting painting looked absolutely absurd. It caused Zeuxis to laugh so hard that he choked to death.
Milo of Croton was a famous wrestler in the 6th century BCE. He was known for his exceptional strength, which he was always finding new ways to test. It was said that he consumed 20 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of bread, and 20 pints of wine every single day.
The innovative father and son hatched a plan to escape. They created two pairs of wings using feathers and wax so they could fly out the window to safety. They had to be careful where they flew as the wax would melt if it was heated by the sun, and the feathers would be ruined if they got wet from the sea.
When we think of ancient Greece, we think of the birth of civilization. It was a time of immense development for mankind, from the creation of democracy to breakthroughs in philosophy, science, and art. Brave heroes and innovative geniuses seemed to be run-of-the-mill.
But if Greek mythology is to be believed, it was also an extremely dangerous time and place to be alive. Many of the greatest minds died as a result of their own innovation, while several others simply laughed themselves to death. Strange objects falling from the sky were also a serious risk!
When it comes to the deaths of famous figures from ancient Greece, each story is more absurd than the last. Click through the gallery to learn more about a choice few.
The bizarre and gruesome deaths of ancient Greece
So much for dying with dignity
LIFESTYLE Dark history
When we think of ancient Greece, we think of the birth of civilization. It was a time of immense development for mankind, from the creation of democracy to breakthroughs in philosophy, science, and art. Brave heroes and innovative geniuses seemed to be run-of-the-mill.
But if Greek mythology is to be believed, it was also an extremely dangerous time and place to be alive. Many of the greatest minds died as a result of their own innovation, while several others simply laughed themselves to death. Strange objects falling from the sky were also a serious risk!
When it comes to the deaths of famous figures from ancient Greece, each story is more absurd than the last. Click through the gallery to learn more about a choice few.