You may have heard of the phrase to die of laughter and even used it to describe an event or story that you find very funny. But throughout history, at least one person has made this promise come true: the Greek philosopher Chrysippus of Soli (Chrysippus of Soli).
The “killer joke” that caused his death seems very strange at first glance. But it was probably one of those jokes where you had to be there when it happened. After seeing a donkey eat all his figs, the playful Chrysippus told someone nearby to give him some wine to drink. He then continued to laugh until he died.
This fatal joke is detailed in Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume I, originally written by Diogenes Laertius and later translated by RD Hicks: “Some people say that he died of a fit of laughing. His donkey was eating figs. When he saw it, he said that he wanted some wine to be given to him, and then he laughed so hard that he died.”
However, if the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin are to be believed, Hrisippus was not the only one who died of prank that day. According to a research paper published in the journal Differences, “Hrisippos and Master Janotus burst into laughter and died together.”
As strange as it may be to imagine a Greek philosopher and his friend laughing to death over a donkey eating figs drinking wine, their deaths have been told and interpreted for more than two thousand years. It is therefore difficult to know for certain what the cause of death was, and if the Greeks had had access to the kinds of post-mortem investigations we use today, they would probably have come to a different conclusion.
A narrative of Bakhtin’s final moments certainly does not appear cheerful: “Her eyes watered with the violent jolt of the brain substance that suppressed these tear tears and forced them out of the optic nerves.”
Science Focus’s Dr. It’s actually possible to die of laughter, as Claire Asher said. But these cases are rare and are thought to center around a fit of laughter that triggers a heart attack or suffocation.
Bill Oddie’s ’70s comedy show, The Goodies, for example, triggered such a death when UK resident Alex Mitchell suffered a fatal heart attack after 30 minutes of laughter. Doctors later diagnosed Mitchell’s daughter with Long QT Syndrome, which they believe may have caused her father’s death as well.
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