Martyre as a Romantic Concept

Martyrs
"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."
— Oscar Wilde
"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs
for their religion--
I have shuddered at it,
I shudder no more.
I could be martyred for my religion.
Love is my religion
and I could die for that.
I could die for you."
— John Keats
"The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins."
— Søren Kierkegaard
അവനവനു വേണ്ടിയല്ലാതെ അപരന്നു ചുടു
രക്തമൂടി കുലം വിട്ടു പോയവന്‍ രക്തസാക്ഷി
മരണത്തിലൂടെ ജനിച്ചവന്‍
സ്മരണയില്‍ ഒരു രക്തതാരകം രക്തസാക്ഷി .
മുരുകന്‍ കാട്ടാക്കട

One of the most romanticised concepts in this period is the concept called martyrdom. Martyr is one who sacrifices everything for the well being of the community or group in which he belongs. He sacrifices what is called the selfish, personal interest for the larger interest of the group. For him the silly issues like family and such affairs are nothing. The world we live now emerged because of the sufferings and sacrifices of such great revolutionaries and martyrs. For every nation there will be at least one or two martyrs with great stories surrounding that personality, most of which looks like Byronic tales. The idea of sacrifice without any selfishness is something very hard to digest. Is it possible for a man to live without any personal interest? Is selflessness possible?
The irony is that those who celebrate the martyrdom of great personalities never allowed an objective study of their contributions. Each year they celebrate the sacrifice and each of such programmes will leads to new sacrifices.
The sacrifices are never been sacrifices, if we closely analyse each and every case in detail. They will be either the victims of a plot by their own friends and followers, or they simply could not escape the situation. Once they rose to prominence they can’t go back to their simple life because it will be considered as cowardice. They will not have any other option but move forward. In certain cases they may be unaware of their opponents’ strength.
These all are mere possibilities; my point is that there are so many myths related to martyrdom which are highly romanticised.