Should humans live forever? Amy Wagers, a researcher at Harvard, says, “Part of the meaning of life is that we die.” The Greeks warned about the danger of grasping for godlike powers. It didn’t work out well for Asclepius or Achilles, and it worked out even worse for Tithonus, whose lover, Eos, begged Zeus to grant him eternal life but forgot to request eternal youth as well. Decrepit, senile, and miserable, Tithonus eventually shrank into a cicada who stridulated ceaselessly, calling out for release.
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Adapted from Tad Friend’s article, “The God Pill.”