O crueel goddes that governe
This world with byndyng of youre word eterne,
And writen in the table of atthamaunt
Youre parlement and youre eterne graunt,
What is mankynde moore unto you holde
Than is the sheep that rouketh in the folde?
For slayn is man right as another beest…
And whan a beest is deed he hath no peyne;
But man after his deeth moot wepe and pleyne,
Though in this world he have care and wo.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. Palamon complains bitterly about the cruel gods treating men worse than the beasts. Men and animals die, but animals have no pain after death whereas man must weep and lament after his even though in this world he has cares and woe.