Consolation

Consolation may render loss more bearable by inviting some shift in belief about the point of living a life that includes suffering.

Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal has observed acts of consolation occurring among non-human primates such as chimpanzees.

[5] Papyrus letters from that era "often employ standard consolations, such as 'death is common to all' and frequently mention the dispatch of food stuffs".

[5] Furthermore, "[v]isits of consolation in antiquity extended to popular levels as well", including visits by philosophers intended to hearten villages that were facing invasion.

Although only fragments of his essays have survived, his influence is noted in the works of later writers, particularly Cicero's Tusculan Disputations and Plutarch's Consolation to Apollonius.

For example, in the Mahabharata, the Hindu avatar Krishna consoles his brother Balarama and the princess Sathya Bama after they have been humiliated for their prideful ways.

[14] A substantial body of Christian literature exists exhorting followers to take consolation in their faith for the various ills that befall them in life.

One branch of Christianity, Catharism, practiced a sacrament called consolamentum, which required consolation for the inevitable regret of living in order to move nearer to God or to approach heaven.

An example of this occurs in the Iliad, where Homer writes of an incident where Achilles is judging sporting contests being held among the Greeks during the funeral of Patroclus.