The Wild Story Behind The 'Occupation: Slave' Meme Explained

Over the past six weeks on Twitter / X, a niche meme has taken off. It shows a Wikipedia page that says, "Cause of death: Suicide. Occupation: Slave. Known for: Being castrated," and usually appears over tweets of people talking about how much others should grind at work, mocking the idea.

The Wikipedia page in the meme is genuine, and the person it's for has a wild, tragic story.

Here's what's going on with this "Occupation: Slave" meme you might've seen as a reaction image or speech-bubbling rebuttal lately.

What Is The "Occupation: Slave" Meme?

As stated above, the "Occupation: Slave" meme is generally used to mock people really excited about doing their 9-to-5 jobs, similar to Wagie memes. The idea is that the person talking about how much they love their job or "the grind" has lost their liberty and their manhood.

It started around mid-September 2024 and has appeared in various contexts since, but the majority of the time, it appears over posts glorifying work or hustle culture.

Where Does The 'Occupation: Slave' Meme Come From?

The origin of the "Occupation: Slave" meme is the Wikipedia page for a man named Sporus, who had an incredibly fraught and tragic three-year period between 67 and 69 BCE.

Sporus was a male Roman slave. After Emperor Nero's wife Poppaea died, possibly by her husband's own hand, Nero saw Sporus and felt he resembled Poppaea. He had Sporus castrated and married him in either 66 or 67 CE, taking him around the Roman empire for a year before Nero's death in 68 CE. After his death, a power vacuum was created in Rome.

Sporus was first taken in by Praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus, who also treated Sporus as a wife before he was killed. Sporus then got involved with Otho, the second of a rapid succession of Emperors to take the throne in the wake of Nero's death.

After Otho was overthrown by Vitellius, Vitellus intended to have Sporus suffer in a live reenactment of the Rape of Persephone at a gladiator show. Sporus, however, committed suicide in 69 CE before the event could take place.

Nearly 2,000 years later, the death of Sporus has become a meme used by Twitter users making fun of the "grindset."

For the full history of Occupation: Slave, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.