This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. As the world endures a pandemic, we look to a plague of the past. Thucydides description of the plague that struck athens in 430 bc is one of the great passages of greek literature. What did thucydides learn by observing the athenian plague. Thucydides and the plague of athens what it can teach us now. The history of the peloponnesian war book 2 chapter 7. Presently, we get most of our knowledge about ancient greece from his writing. Sophocless oedipus the king and book 2 of thucydides s history. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book ii, chapter 47. Some modern references to the plague of athens presume that it was smallpox. Thucydides says that he fought in the war, contracted the plague, and was exiled by the democracy. Such was the funeral that took place during this winter, with which the first year of the war came to an end. In 430, the second year of the peloponnesian war, he caught and survived the horrible plague which he described so graphically. King, and book 2 of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war.
Because of the importance of thucydides and athens in western history and culture, the plague of athens has taken a prominent position in the history. The great plague of athens has eerie parallels to today. C, which killed nearly a third of the athenian population and also athens leader pericles. Pericles was a general, the leader we most associate with athens golden age, but he ended up dying of plague before the end of the peloponnesian war. The disease, thucydides makes clear, affected athens ability to fight the war, and caused strong popular dissatisfaction with pericles and others in charge of the. One of the remarkable things about it is how focused it is on the general social response to the pestilence, both those who died from it and those who survived. Bibliography related content books cite this work license. Of numerous suggested identifications none has found general approval. He saw the rise of athens to greatness under the inspired leadership of pericles. According to thucydides reliable, first hand testimony the epidemic affected first the. The athenian historian, thucydides, in his history of the peloponnesian war, provides the only known eyewitness account of the plague.
It entered the city after decimating an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 inhabitants who lived in the city and near its port of piraeus. The revival of the funeral oration and the plague in thucydides books 67 tobias joho t the end of his account of the first year of the peloponnesian war, thucydides inserts pericles funeral oration, the most splendid surviving exposition of the spirit and achievement of fifthcentury athens. The athenian general and historian thucydides left an eyewitness account of this plague and a detailed description to allow future generations to identify the disease should it break out again. The plague of athens 429426 bce struck the city, most likely, in 430 bce before it was recognized as an epidemic and, before it was done, had claimed. His focus was the peloponnesian war fought between athens and sparta, and their respective allies, between 431 and 404 bc. Thucydides description of the plague that struck athens in 430 bc is one. The play oedipus was probably produced about 429 bc, and the plague of athens occurred in 430426 bc. Plague narratives about 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centrepiece of two great classical athenian works sophocles oedipus the king, and book 2 of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war. The epidemic, known as the plague of athens, swept through the main city of athens in the second year of the peloponnesian war, in about 430 bc. The plague and the peloponnesian war war on the rocks. Thucydides and the plague of athens volume 29 issue 2 j.
About 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centrepiece of two great classical athenian works sophocles oedipus the king, and book 2 of. The plague of athens 429426 bce struck the city, most likely, in 430 bce before it was recognized as an epidemic and, before it was done, had claimed between 75,000100,000 lives. About 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centerpiece of two great classical athenian works sophocles oedipus the king, and book 2 of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war. But thucydides didnt just write about history, he lived through it. Thucydides of athens, one of the greatest of historians, was born about 471 bce. Morgan bellevue, washington in the second book of his history, chapters 47 through 55, thucydides describes in great detail a severe vo6ao disease that ravaged the city of athens in the summer of. In livy the plague is mentioned briefly, occurring several times, the most. About 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centrepiece of two great classical athenian works sophocles oedipus the king, and book 2 of thucydides history of the. The city falls to the spartans, and thucydides is then punished with exile. The plague of athens 429426 bce struck the city, most likely, in 430 bce. Thucydides treats the plague in extensive detail, reporting theories about its origins and detailing its symptoms. Thucydides could not know the nature of the contagion he was proposing, although he thought it might be a fluid. Two somber developments share the focus of book 2, chapter 7.
Thucydides makes the point clearly that there was nothing any human agency. After his death, thucydidess history was subdivided into eight books. Book ii of this history contains thucydides famous account of the plague which broke out in athens in 430 b. In his chronicle, thucydides places ghoulish images of the plague immediately after an oration over the war dead by periclesa speech that. Plague narratives about 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centrepiece of two great classical athenian works sophocles oedipus the king, and book 2 of thucydides history. Thucydides s the history of the peloponnesian war chapter summary. Immediately after this big statement from pericles about, we are athens and were going to win, the plague arrives, and thucydides narrative goes straight into the plague.
What the historian thucydides saw in athens plagueand. The following description of the athenian plague is from the history of the peloponnesian war of thucydides, trans. In the first days of summer the lacedaemonians and their allies, with twothirds of their forces as before, invaded attica, under the command of archidamus, son of zeuxidamus, king of lacedaemon, and sat down and laid waste the country. The first book on your list is by vincent azoulay, and its called pericles of athens. However, he almost didnt survive one historical event.
Lets talk about the books youve chosen to better understand thucydides and his time. The ancient athenian historian thucydides folds it into his history of the peloponnesian war, his massive account of the decadeslong struggle. Molecular investigations published in 2006 papagrigorakis et al. After the second invasion of the peloponnesians a change came over the spirit of the athenians. The two works mentioned above were produced at about the same time. Thucydides and the plague of athens leonard norkin.
Thucydides was an eye witness of the plague and its effects, and indeed even caught it himself, although he was fortunate enough to recover from it. And, while the epidemic in athens is referred to today as a plague, it almost certainly was not bubonic or pneumonic plague. The best ancient account of the great plague, as for all of the peloponnesian war, can be found in thucydides s history of the peloponnesian war. Thucydides and the plague of athens leonard norkin virology site. Thucydides description of the great plague at athens the nature of the plague described by thucydides in book 2, chapter 49, has long been discussed both by medical and by classical scholars. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. About 270 years after the iliad, or thereabouts, plague is the centerpiece of two great classical athenian works. The history of the peloponnesian war chapter summaries. David morens, an epidemiologist and leading researcher on the athenian plague at the university of hawaii at manoa, said in an interview that reading modern diseases into thucydides. Thucydides description of the great plague at athens. They did not develop the infection again though they are in close contact with the affected people. They began to find fault with pericles, as the author of the war and the cause of all their misfortunes. The plague suddenly appeared in the cityperhaps making its way from the port of piraeusin 430 bce. Thucydides gives no mortality statistics, but scholars have estimated that up to a quarter of the athenian population perished in the plague which recurred in subsequent years.
The first real evidence supporting the writings of thucydides, about the plague of athens, did not come to light until 1994, when a mass grave, together with hundreds of tombs, dated at around 430426 bc were discovered a little way outside athens ancient kerameikos cemetery. Historian thucydides 460395 bc was a greek philosopher and historian. The ancient athenian historian thucydides folds it into his history of the peloponnesian war, his massive account of the decadeslong struggle between athens and sparta that ended with the former. Thucydides writes prose, not verse as homer and sophocles do, and he worked in the comparatively new field of history meaning enquiry or research in greek. The nature of the plague described by thucydides in book 2, chapter 49, has long been discussed both by medical and by classical scholars. The plague epidemic occurred in between 430 to 410 bc, has killed about rd of athens population from this epidemic, he observed that the survivors of plague become immune to the infection. Thucydides and the great plague of athens have a lot to. What can thucydides and the plague of athens teach us in.
What can the plague of athens teach us about todays. Thucydides and the plague of athens consortiumnews. Thucydides famously describes to us the plague of athens in 430 b. History of the peloponnesian war, volume i thucydides harvard. What the great historian thucydides saw in athens plague and our own although it is genuinely awful, when measured against the plague that beset athens in the early years of the peloponnesian. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections. Excerpt from the history of the plague of athensrefe. Thucydides was an athenian aristocrat who it is believed was in his late twenties or early thirties when the war first broke out in 431 b. The revival of the funeral oration and the plague in. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, volume i. Despite thucydides detailed descriptions, until recently scholars have been unable to come to a consensus of which disease or diseases caused the plague of athens.
Thucydides and the plague of athens cambridge core. Thucydides and the plague of athens what it can teach us. Its a plague that ends up lasting onandoff about four years, but he focuses on. His history of the peloponnesian war recounts the fifthcentury bc war between sparta and athens until the year 411 bc. Nez floridas emerald coast real estate podcast with nathan abbott chillout music radio.