Contagion in Athens -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 19:46:57 03/23/08 Sun
Author: JPJ II
Subject: Contagion in Athens

In describing the Plague of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides creates a narrative that fits into Girard's scapegoat paradigm pretty well. As the plague ravishes through all peoples regardless of class, the bonds holding society together begin to break. "For catastrophe was so overwhelming that men, not knowing what would happen next to them, became indifferent to every rule of religion or of law." - The plague erodes the bonds of friendship tying men together as people refused to visit the sick or even bury their children (for fear of catching the contagion), and eventually even the customs of religion are thrown aside as men "...were so overcome by their sufferings that they paid no further attention to such things." Pericles is then blamed by the community for the plague, and he himself even realizes that he must give them a new target to direct their hostilities if he is to maintain power or even survive.

Now, I don't want to be the Pharisee here, but when Plutarch and Thucydides blame Pericles for the Plague, are they following the general trend of persecuting a scapegoat, or should we agree with them that lodging the whole population of Attica inside a confined space was asking for trouble? More importantly, what do we do when someone really IS the cause of communal contagions such as war and plague? What do we do when the king IS guilty?

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