ABSTRACT
Human beings have always yearned for immortality. Interest in ‘anti-ageing medicine’ and research, both mainstream and fringe, is increasing. People have different interpretations of immortality, and we will distinguish some of them in the next section. Some religious views present the possibility of highly desirable forms of immortality in an afterlife. The almost universal presence throughout the world and human history of such religious views is testimony to the human desire for immortality. The ‘hyperborean’ theme is the idea that in some very remote part of the world people live immortal lives. History is replete with the use of substances—not necessarily liquids—thought to enhance longevity. Continuing the Fountain Theme, playwright Karel Capek and composer Leos Janacek discuss the situation of a woman whose father has developed an ‘elixir of eternal life’.
