the three plagues

“These are the times that try men’s souls” (Paine). Thomas Paine used these words to describe the American Revolution, but they also adeptly point out that trials and challenges have a way of revealing the true ideals of an individual. Because societies are just groups of individuals, trials and challenges also have a way of revealing the ideals of a society. While we may not know much about ancient Greek society, we do understand some of their morals from the way they responded to tragedy in the accounts of ancient Greek historians. Homer, Sophocles and Thucydides all wrote accounts of Greeks responding to plagues, showing the societal values of their day.

In Homer’s Iliad, the Greek encampment around Troy were struck with a deathly plague for nine days. According to Homer’s account, "Agememnon had dishonored Chryses, Apollo's priest, so the god struck the Greek camp with plague, and the soldiers were dying of it" (Homer 1). Agamemnon had taken Chryses’ daughter, Chryseis, as a war prize after a battle. Chryses, as any loving father would do, plead with Agememnon to trade Chryseis for a large ransom. Agamemnon refused and ordered Chryses out of his sight—a grave error on the warrior king’s part. Chryses, upset and offended, prayed to Apollo, asking, "Let the [Greeks] pay for my tears with your arrows!" (Homer 2).

Unfortunately for the Greeks, Apollo heard the prayer of Chryses and afflicted the Greek army with a sickness that led to the death of many of their men. Finally, on the tenth day, Achilles, one of the great Greek warriors, called an assembly. This should have been done by Agamemnon as basileus or “king”; he was responsible for the physical welfare of his people. Yet he did nothing as his men died from sickness. The plague must have been quite dire to prompt Achilles to overstep his bounds into the basileus role to call an assembly. He identified the need for catharsis or "religious purification." He suggested that they "consult some prophet or priest or a dream interpreter...who could tell [them] why Apollo [was] so angry" (Homer 3). Seers, prophets and soothsayers were the mouthpieces of the gods. They were often consulted to know the minds and wills of the immortals on Mount Olympus.

This reaction to misfortune displayed the priorities of Greek society. The Greek soldiers gathered under an authority figure to find a solution to the plague. They also immediately turned to a soothsayer who could tell them the will of the gods and what purification rituals they need to do to right whatever wrong had been committed. This shows that the Greeks were very unified around religious principles and were aware of how their actions affected others. They also had a clear understanding of right and wrong and the process of clearing their names.

Similar to the Illiad, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, is another play that begins with a plague and portrays the Greeks’ process of dealing with a trial. Instead of a plague that just killed people, this plague directly targeted the reproduction abilities of the city’s people, animals and crops. One citizen describes that there was “death in the fruitful buds from the earth and in the pasturing herds, and even in the childless births of women” (Sophocles 12). Life was becoming difficult to sustain.

The city was becoming desperate and they gathered in an assembly-like body to supplicate their basileus, Oedipus, for help. He assured them that he was already attempting to solve the mysterious cause of the plague and had sent Creon, his brother-in-law, to the oracle at Delphi to ask the gods for answers. This parallels what the Greek warriors did in the Iliad—sought guidance from the basileus who then turned to a soothsayer for direction. Upon Creon’s return, the Greeks discovered that the cause of the plague was related to their previous king’s murder. They had not performed the necessary religious purifications to rid themselves of the stain the murder left on their city because they were desperately seeking a way to rid themselves of a Sphinx that was terrorizing the city. Unlike Agamemnon, Oedipus shouldered the task of purifying the city. He proclaimed that he would “dispel the stain” (Sophocles 16). In their case, the proper purification ritual was to find the murderer and kill him; the gods would then feel that the universe was again balanced in an “eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth” type of way. Oedipus turned once again to a soothsayer for assistance in uncovering the murderer’s identity.

The society in Oedipus Rex responded in a similar manner to their plague as the Greek warriors in the Iliad did to their plague. They were also unified around religious principles and conscientious of righting any wrongs that would displease the gods. Before deciding on a course of action, they made sure to confirm with a seer or soothsayer that the gods would approve of their plan.

Thucydides’ account of an Athenian plague is quite different than that of Homer or Sophocles. He does not suggest a cause of this plague, preferring instead to leave “all speculation as to its origin and its cause…to other writers, whether lay or professional” (Thucydides 275).  His only reference to a possible cause of this plague was that there seemed to be no visible cause—perfectly healthy people were suddenly struck down without warning with a terrible fever that progressively worsened until they died.

In Homer’s and Sophocles’ stories, the people immediately turned to their king and the gods to resolve what they believed a wrongdoing on their part. However, in Thucydides’ account, the society acted completely opposite. Thucydides commented that because the plague was killing numerous amounts of people “…all the burial rites before in use were entirely upset, and they buried the bodies as best they could” (Thucydides 277). As people began to disregard religious funeral rites, they also began to become lax in other areas. The gods became of little importance as people realized that the plague was not discriminating between believers and non-believers—both were being sent to their deaths. As religion declined, so did society’s morals. The people decided to “spend quickly and enjoy themselves” while “perseverance in what men called honor was popular with none” (Thucydides 277). Because fear of losing their lives was greater than fear of unresponsive gods, Thucydides’ society determined that they would rather focus on present enjoyment in any way they would like than on living a righteous, moral life. Society no longer cared for religion like they had in Homer’s and Sophocles’ time and unity had no value.

These three accounts of how different Greek societies responded to a plague suggest an important lesson for modern times. Religion unifies people and helps keep their human nature in check. According to Homer and Sophocles, even though not everyone wanted to listen to the soothsayer and understand the will of the gods, the majority of society believed that something wrong had been done and deliverance from the plague was contingent on whether or not they corrected or purified themselves. When a problem arrived, these people united together and turned to their king and the gods. However, once religion declines, then the moral fabric of a society decays. Thucydides’ society threw religious principles out the window and lived their lives full of “lawless extravagance” (Thucydides 277). No one was interested in morality or in right and wrong. From the accounts of Homer, Sophocles and Thucydides, we learn that the true morals of society are revealed when they are faced with a trial.

Bibliography:

Paine, Thomas. "A Quote from The Crisis." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.