This Image Of A Man Preserved At Pompeii Has Gone Viral For Obvious Reasons

When Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy erupted in 79 CE, the Stratovolcano mountain destroyed the bustling town of Pompeii. Archaeologists and historians have found remains of around 1,500 people from Pompeii since archaeological work began. It is said that Pompeii victims’ bodies solidified in a blast of hot gas and ash, suggesting they would have been killed before they felt any pain.

 
“[There were no signs of a] voluntary self-protective reaction or agony contortions, indicating that their vital organs must have stopped within a shorter time than the conscious reaction time. The cloud was a mixture of hot gas and ash. It caused little damage in the town itself but killed these people instantly,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Alberto Incoronato of the University of Naples Federico II as saying.

Some of the bodies appear to depict the exact activities they were doing when the eruption occurred. Images of people who perished at Pompeii are amazing and emotional. One such image, which has long stood as an iconic image of Pompeii’s tragic destruction and a symbol of human love, shows two men embracing — one was an 18-year-old man and the second was probably a male aged 20 years or older.

But recently, one an image of a man who died from the disaster has gone viral on the Internet for a seemly interesting reason. People who shared the image on social media speculate that the man was preserved in one final act of self-love.

The image appears to show a man lying on his back and holding onto the crotch region of his body.

People believe the man saw his own death coming and rather than fleeing, he decided to have a sweet feeling, for it would be the last day of his life. People who put forward this assertion appear to be right. The image looks like the man was masturbating while dying.

However, there are some who also believe the man wasn’t actually enjoying. These people try to give him some dignity by arguing that he was just trying to protect his crotch from something headed towards it.

The controversy surrounding the image is deep. The debate about what the man was doing has prompted observers to say both theories could be right, but the strongest one appears to suggest the man was masturbating.

What do you also think the man was doing? Share your thought with us.