Death by martyrdom constitutes not only the inclusio of Origen’s public life from the martyrdom of his father to his own post-imprisonment death in 254 CE, but also the theme of one of his shorter writings, Exhortation to Martyrdom, where he offers advice to his friends Ambrose and Protoctetus, both of which appear to be awaiting their martyrdom. This paper compares the ideal death envisioned by Origen to death ideals in Greco-Roman culture.