what disease was the plague of athens

No one knows what caused the Plague of Athens in the 5th century B.C. Marble bust of Pericles with a Corinthian helmet, Roman copy of a Greek original, Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museums . Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the causative agent of Typhoid fever. Effects on Society. The Plague of Athens (Ancient Greek: ... Plague doctors wore a mask with a bird-like beak to protect them from being infected by the disease, which they believed was airborne. ' The two works mentioned above were produced at about the same time. Figure 1. A disease spreads when the pathogen that causes it is passed from one person to another. We are not entirely sure what kind of disease it was, and scholars continue to fight over it. Before I finish this article, I should also mention that there are several opinions about the actual disease. In the next 3 years, most of the population was infected, and perhaps as many as 75,000 to 100,000 people, 25% of the city's population, died. The disease was apparently brought into the Greek port of Piraeus by travellers and merchants, from whence it quickly escalated into an epidemic, tearing through the population of neighbouring Athens. The disease is not known to spread from person to person, and so as it is considered that the plague was a viral infection this suggestion can be discredited. Shrewsbury, in “Plague of Athens,” identified the disease as being unique to Athens and provides a list of opinions from 1940s CE attempting to recognize the disease. The plague disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is enzootic (commonly present) ... John VI Kantakouzenos, who wrote a description of the disease modelled on Thucydides's account of the 5th century BCE Plague of Athens, but noting the spread of the Black Death by ship between maritime cities. The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War. MORE than 2,400 years ago this summer, a mysterious plague swept through ancient Athens. The plague had critical impacts on Athens society and its organization. The two works mentioned above were produced at about the same time. Alternative theories about the nature of the Athens plague. It may have killed up to 100,000 people in ancient Greece. Thus, in his account of the Great Plague, Thucydides looks frankly at the practical and moral weaknesses that the disease was able to exploit. Various infectious diseases have been proposed as the cause of the plague of Athens, and there is no consensus among classical scholars or physicians even regarding the most likely plausible explanation. The Plague of Athens: The Plague of Athens was one of the most famous epidemics in history. In 430 BC, a plague struck the city of Athens, which was then under siege by Sparta during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). In “The Plague at Athens: A New Oar in Muddied Waters,” Clifford H. Eby and Harold D. Evjen conceded that Thucydides’ description of the outbreak’s symptoms, resembling a number of known infectious diseases, would allow the reader to draw their own conclusion as to the precise disease affecting Athens in 430 BCE. During the second year of the Peloponnesian War, in 430 BC, a terrible epidemic devastated the city of Athens. Michiel Sweerts’ Plague in an Ancient City (circa 1652). He sharply notes how crowding in Athens… have become part of our daily discourse. : Plague of Athens. 136 Ja tínez Political Consequences of the Plague of Athens fiLNKY / ARTICLES Introduction The Plague of Athens (430–426 BCE) remains one of the most famous epidemics in history, even though only one eyewitness account, that of Athenian citizen Thucydides, survives (Salway & Dell 1955). The plague is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, where it spread to Egypt, Libya, and into the Greek territories through the Mediterranean Sea. This analysis attempts to illustrate the seminal effects of the great plague of Athens. For a pathogen to cause disease, it must be able to reproduce in the host’s body and damage the host in some way. The pandemic caused severe moral panic to spread throughout Greek society, especially in … The infectious disease that caused the plague of Athens has been the topic of discussion among classical scholars and physicians for centuries, and the debate continues. Two-thirds of the population died. The play Oedipus was probably produced about 429 BC, and the plague of Athens occurred in 430-426 BC. [2.47.3] Not many days after their arrival in Attica the plague first began to show itself among the Athenians. Many experts argue that there was never bubonic plague in Athens. Such was the history of the plague. (Pericles, his wife and sons eventually died from the Athens plague). The Plague of Athens - 430 BC Hippocrates. However, this doesn’t mean that it wasn’t as dangerous as plagues later on in history. Plague on Society In total 100,000 people died which is equivalent to more than one-third of the Greece population. The sudden outbreak of the disease in the city of Athens has been linked either to incoming travellers from other countries like Egypt into the port of Piraeus, or to the speculated poisoning of the water reservoirs by the Spartans, who were laying siege to the city at the time. The Athenian general and histo … 430 B.C. The play Oedipus was probably produced about 429 BC, and the plague of Athens occurred in 430-426 BC. Words like “epidemic” and “pandemic” (and “panic”!) After the first outbreak began to relent, the Athenians must have breathed a collective sigh of relief. Considering no one knew who could be the next victim of the growing disease, the overwhelmed community lost their interest in the rule of every religion or of law. First Pandemic Ever. This study has been called into question, however, and Typhoid is caused by contaminated water, but Athens had multiple wells, and some soldiers away from the city fell ill. But that was then, before the plague strikes Athens and takes Pericles as one of its first victims. When assessing the critical junctures of history, historians seem more inclined to focus on the impact of conquering armies, economic revolutions, and technologic breakthroughs. Bubonic plague, typhus, anthrax, tuberculosis, cowpox and cat-scratch disease were not found. The epidemic erupted in … It passed through Libya, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and it reached Athens as the Spartans laid siege. Thucydides on the plague [2.47.2] In the first days of summer the Spartans and their allies, with two-thirds of their forces as before, invaded Attica, under the command of Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, king of Sparta, and sat down and laid waste the country. In five years flat, it killed perhaps a quarter of the population of … Thucydides (c.460-400BC) and Sophocles (490-406BC) would have known one another in Athens, although it is hard to say much more than that for a lack of evidence. An alternative disease is Dengue fever, which is an infectious disease carried and spread by mosquitoes. Plague of Athens; resident aliens in Athens; metics; women; xenophobia. Thucydides (c.460-400BC) and Sophocles (490-406BC) would have known one another in Athens, although it is hard to say much more than that for a lack of evidence. What we know about the Plague of Athens. The Plague of Athens, taking place in 429 B.C.E., is the first mass killing plague known to historians today. Another way the disease traveled was through the source of food and supplies that entered through Athens’s port of Piraeus. Well, an epidemic is an outbreak of a particular disease, and it can turn into a pandemic when it affects a high proportion of people or even the majority of the population. For example, the burial ceremonies’ tradition became meaningless because of the high number of deaths that happened quickly. Plague in an Ancient City, 17th century, Michiel Sweerts, Ahmanson Building 1. With all these factors playing a role, the plague spread like wildfire through the streets of Athens, taking the lives of soldiers and civilians. In 430 BC, a plague struck the city of Athens, which was then under siege by Sparta during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). That fall began in 431 B.C.E. Thucydides’ description of the plague that struck Athens in 430 BC is one of the great passages of Greek literature. The Athenian general and historian Thucydides left an eye‐witness account of this plague and a detailed description to allow future generations to identify the disease should it break out again. To battle this imaginary threat, the long beak was packed with sweet smells, such as dried flowers, herbs and spices. The Plague of Athens was an epidemic that devastated the Greek city-state of Athens from 430 to 429 BC and from 427 to 426 BC, killing between 75,000 and 100,000 people. J.F.D. More than one third of the Athenian population died from the plague. When did Athens fall? As said in the introduction, the first pandemic ever recorded was the Athenian Plague or the plague of Athens. More than 2,000 years ago, a plague gripped the Greek city of Athens. … The disease, suspected to have been typhoid fever, weakened the Athenians significantly and played a big role in their defeat by the Spartans. The Plague of Athens. The plague revealed a truth about Athens; for all the popular stories about public service and unique commitment to the ideals of the state, the society was profoundly individualistic and profoundly unequal. For the plague broke out as soon as the Peloponnesians invaded Attica, and never entering Peloponnese (not at least to an extent worth noticing), committed its worst ravages at Athens, and next to Athens, at the most populous of the other towns. But there is no loss of limbs or loss of sight, which leads me to conclude that this was not the plague of Athens. Disease as a pivotal factor in determining the course of human events may be one og the least considered historical variables. Wikimedia By Chris Mackie, Professor of Classics, La Trobe University* The coronavirus is concentrating our minds on the fragility of human existence in the face of a deadly disease. With this oracle events were supposed to tally. Owing to the close quarters, and poor hygiene, Athens became a breeding ground for disease. Hippocrates, considered the father of Western medicine, was 30 years old when plague struck Greece. The plague was brought on the heels of overpopulation and warfare, and public order collapsed - citizens rioted in the streets and the dead were piled up across the city. 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 of the West for the past 2500 years. In the book “The Plague”, the city of Oran is overrun by a deadly disease. Once the navy was exposed to this epidemic, it was only a matter of time before Athens would become infected; it is thought that an estimated 25% of the population died as a result. 115 SAVES. The disease however didn’t give a shit about class, about conscience, about political orientation.

Universal Corporation Ltd Careers, Afl Racism Policy, Meghan Markle Siblings, Rachael Kirkconnell Antebellum Picture, Men's Brooch For Wedding, Things To Do In Stone Lake, Wi, Paddy Power League 1, How To Go Republic Poly, Scooby Doo And The Witch's Ghost - Hex Girl Lyrics, Snacking Cakes Barnes And Noble,