Agony is the critical state that precedes death.
Agony is the state prior to death . The term comes from the Latin agony, in turn derived from a Greek word that can be translated as “fight” .
Whoever goes through agony is in the moments before death , according to the first meaning mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). At this stage, it is usually considered that the person is fighting to survive.
For example: “After five days of agony, the young man shot at the exit of a rock concert died” , “Doctors are surprised by the recovery of a woman who spent four months in agony” , “I am not afraid of death, but yes to agony."
Agony, in this way, is usually linked to an instance that leads to death . However, occasional and even permanent improvements in the condition are a possibility. That is why agony can be understood as a dynamic process whose end cannot be exactly foreseen.
Agony, a critical state
There are many symptoms that indicate that a seriously ill person is in the so-called dying phase . Among them are a notable deterioration in the state of consciousness, breathing difficulties, confusion, rales and even pain.
However, you must know that in hospitals there are precisely areas and services that are dedicated to the care of those patients who are at that critical moment. We are referring to those that respond to the name of palliative treatments .
Although its duration is variable, agony implies a certain temporal extension. Suppose a person falls into the void from 50 meters high and dies instantly upon impact with the surface. In this case, there is no type of agony. On the other hand, a man who suffers a car accident and remains in a coma for eight months until he dies, went through extensive agony.
To try to reverse the agony, urgent medical attention is needed.
Something difficult to resist or that occurs near the end
The idea of agony, by extension, is associated with intense pain or suffering that is difficult to resist , both physical and spiritual, and that which enters its final stages.
“We are experiencing the agony of this company: in a short time, we will have to declare bankruptcy” and “The visiting goal came in the agony of the first half” are expressions that show this use.
The term agony in the cultural field
Within the cultural field we come across several books that use the term we are addressing in their titles. Among them is, for example, “The Agony of Eros” , which was published in 2014 by Byung-Chul Han and which revolves around freedom in society, neoliberalism, capitalism, beauty and sexuality.
Nor can we forget “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” Irving Stone published this book which is a fictionalized biography of the great Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarotti , the creator of works as important as “David” .
The concept in Andalusia
It must be stated that the term agony in certain corners of Andalusia has another meaning. Specifically, it is used colloquially to indicate that someone always thinks about money and tries to hoard as much as possible.
An example of this use would be the following: “Manuel is so agonizing that he even opened his business the day his father died.”