The Plague of Athens

David A Hyman, David M. Morens, May C. Chu, Stephen K. Katz, Merle N. Stern, Alexander D. Langmuir, Thomas D. Worthen, Jon Solomon, C. George Ray, Eskild Petersen

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

Abstract

To the Editor: Langmuir et al. are to be congratulated on their analysis of the plague of Athens (October 17 issue).* The article draws attention to one of the fundamental works on Western civilization, which, unfortunately, is too often ignored outside college history courses. However, I wish to raise several points about their interpretation of Athenian history after the disastrous summer of 430 B.C. There is little doubt that the plague had a terrible effect on the populace of Athens. As the death toll mounted, Athenian public-spiritedness diminished, and “lawless extravagance” became common. “Men now coolly ventured on what they….

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)855-856
Number of pages2
JournalNew England Journal of Medicine
Volume314
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 27 1986
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine(all)

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