The Consequences of Self-Sacrifice: Betrayal in the Passion of Perpetua and the Alcestis

A martyr is someone who dies a specific, heroic death (van Henten, 2002), who dies for the refusal to accept or renounce a belief or cause, who ‘bears witness\u27 to their faith by letting the public know of their beliefs. In the case of the Christian martyrs, other Christians look up to the martyrs and look to follow in their footsteps, and ultimately the footsteps of Jesus. The voluntary martyrs are of interest, though. It was condemned to seek out martyrdom because Christians could have wrongly been looking for glory or seeking to right past wrongs (Ste. Croix, 2006). However, all martyrs must pay a price for accepting or renouncing their beliefs. van Henten describes the narrative of martyrdom in a five step process: 1) (pagan) authorities accuse a person 2) the enforcement of the law causes a conflict of loyalty 3) the accused chooses to die instead of giving in to the law 4) torture and 5) execution. These steps lead to the assumption that Christian martyrs must betray the Roman state. However, it is often overlooked that these martyrs are also betraying their families, friends, and even their roles in society because of competing obligations with their Christian faith. These aspects of betrayal are especially prominent in the Passio Sanctarum: Perpetua et Felicitatis. Perpetua and others are put to death because they refuse to sacrifice for the sake of the Emperor. She and her accompanying martyrs make firm refusals and rely on their faith in God for encouragement. How does Perpetua fulfill her testimony to the Christian faith? What is the goal of Perpetua\u27s martyrdom? Is she looking for her own personal gain of heaven, or is she trying to encourage others to believe in the Christian God? Also, there are multiple perspectives on betrayal within the Passio, such as the above-mentioned betrayal to the state and betrayal on a more personal level. This then raises the question of how betrayal is perceived within the story of Perpetua. What roles do Perpetua have to fulfill and how and why does she betray them? Tertullian and Cyprian offer explanations of other martyrdoms and the purposes of martyrdom as support for answering these questions. The various responsibilities of a martyr prior to and during martyrdom, particularly with a female martyr, will expose the various identities that a martyr has within a society. These identities force them to choose who and what to betray. The indicated questions will be addressed in this paper through textual analysis, drawing directly from the Latin text of Perpetua\u27s martyrdom, with supporting primary source evidence from Tertullian and Cyprian. Important terms and themes will be discussed, followed by a layout of the martyrdom of Perpetua, which will then be analyzed and discussed in response to the questions. With this analysis, I hope to reveal the multi-layered identities of Christian martyrs, exposing them as both actual active members of the state, but with more important and overriding goals in mind. This COMPS has been expanded to include a comparison between the Passion of Perpetua and the Alcestis