Erostratus, also known as Herostratus, is the name of an arsonist who set The Temple of Artemis on fire, located in Athens, Greece. This World Wonder unfortunately no longer exists. They captured Erostratus and with the means of torture, they asked him why he did it; he replied that he wanted to be known. It seemed like a ridiculous reason, but that is when the Greek government passed a law: to never mention Erostratus’ name. Apparently, the authorities in the government of Ancient Greece wanted to put a stop to such behavior. By banning his name, hopefully that event would not be repeated again. Obviously, they failed.

What strikes me about the man is that he wanted “to be known”. If that sounds a little familiar, it is because it is probably almost every millennial’s dream. They feel like their lives will not be whole, or lived if they are not popular. In this day of technology, young people rarely pass up the opportunity to post about their daily lives and activities. People try to come up with different kinds of dances (ex: running man, dab, nae nae), new words or slangs (ex: on fleek) every week, or to be the next meme.

Why are people obsessed with that? The fact of the matter is that everyone has this Erostratus’ complex. Do we do something because it is supposed to be done or do we have some ulterior motive? The examples listed previously are not bad in themselves. Just like Erostratus destroyed something precious centuries ago, people are destroying lives just to be at the front of the news.

We have all seen those internet trolls. The people that are against the government or speak unfavorably about it, are they for real? I also cannot stop wondering if all those shootings we witnessed are not just psychopaths that are trying to outscore the last one and establishing their legacy. Maybe, as a society, just like the Greeks did, we should stop giving platform to people who are craving for attention. It is a real toxic thing that leads to chaos.