Memento Mori, Remember Your Death pendant keychain, Gift for Philosopher, Philosophy Student gift, Philosopher gift, Memento Mori gift medal
Memento Mori, Remember Your Death, pendant keychain. It is printed on photo paper and sealed beneath a glass dome [Ø 25 mm] and fixed at Antique Bronze or Antique Silver circle bezel tray [36x28x3 mm]. It is made into your choice of either a necklace or keychain and packed in a black velvet bag [9x7 cm or 7x5 cm]. Memento Mori (Latin 'remember that you [have to] die') is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. In English, the phrase is pronounced /məˈmɛntoʊ ˈmɔːri/. Memento is the 2nd person singular active imperative of meminī, 'to remember, to bear in mind', usually serving as a warning: "remember!" Mori is the present infinitive of the deponent verb morior 'to die'. In other words, "remember death" or "remember that you die". In classical antiquity: The philosopher Democritus trained himself by going into solitude and frequenting tombs. Plato's Phaedo, where the death of Socrates is recounted, introduces the idea that the proper practice of philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and being dead". The Stoics of classical antiquity were particularly prominent in their use of this discipline, and Seneca's letters are full of injunctions to meditate on death. The Stoic Epictetus told his students that when kissing their child, brother, or friend, they should remind themselves that they are mortal, curbing their pleasure, as do "those who stand behind men in their triumphs and remind them that they are mortal". In early Christianity: The expression memento mori developed with the growth of Christianity, which emphasized Heaven, Hell, and salvation of the soul in the afterlife. The 2nd-century Christian writer Tertullian claimed that during his triumphal procession, a victorious general would have someone (in later versions, a slave) standing behind him, holding a crown over his head and whispering "Respice post te. Hominem te memento" ("Look after you [to the time after your death] and remember you're [only] a man."). Though in modern times this has become a standard trope, in fact no other ancient authors confirm this, and it may have been Christian moralizing rather than an accurate historical report.