{"id":924,"date":"2020-03-29T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogit.utu.fi\/collegia\/?p=924"},"modified":"2020-05-28T22:06:18","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T22:06:18","slug":"classics-in-time-of-pandemic-lock-down-reflections-from-the-ivory-tower-by-michiel-meeusen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogit.utu.fi\/collegia\/2020\/03\/29\/classics-in-time-of-pandemic-lock-down-reflections-from-the-ivory-tower-by-michiel-meeusen\/","title":{"rendered":"Classics in Time of Pandemic: Lock-down Reflections from the Ivory Tower by Michiel Meeusen"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bust of Apollo Belvedere wearing a mouth mask \u00a9 Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Western literature starts with a disease. At the beginning of the Iliad<\/em>, Homer sings of an \u201cevil pestilence\u201d (1.10) sent by the Olympic god Apollo to devastate the camp of the Greeks during their siege of Troy. Apollo, the god of medicine and healing (among other specialisms), could bring ill health and deadly plague with his arrows too. It is this darker side that the Greeks get to face: \u201chis coming was like the night\u201d (1.47).<\/p>\n

The Trojan war has been dragging on, non-stop, for almost a decade now but is about to enter its decisive phase. Unsurprisingly, the morale among the Greeks is at an all-time low, war-wearied, traumatized, and homesick, as they have become. An extremely irritable situation even for the noblest Greek hero. Add an epidemic to this epic mess and see what happens. (Homer\u2019s thoughts, not mine.)<\/p>\n

To give you some context. The angry god mainly targeted his plague arrows at Agamemnon (the Greek general), who had dishonoured Chryses (Trojan priest of Apollo) by scornfully rejecting the glorious ransom he offered in exchange for his captive daughter Chryseis (now Agamemnon\u2019s personal booty). Long story short: Agamemnon eventually gives in to the plea of the assembled Greeks to release Chryseis and appease Apollo. After all, he \u201cwould rather the people be safe than perish\u201d (1.117). Subsequently, he confiscates Briseis, the sweetheart of Achilles, thus triggering the next crisis. Great leadership for sure!<\/p>\n

Agamemnon\u2019s decision to set Chryseis free does not come one minute too late though, since by that time \u2013 pardon Homer\u2019s vividness \u2013 \u201cconstantly the pyres of the dead burned thick\u201d (1.52). Homer\u2019s lines suggest just how raw reality could be back then. \u201cThe men began to die one after the other, and the shafts of the god ranged everywhere throughout the wide camp of the Achaeans\u201d (1.382-384). In case of divine punishment, there was always plenty of space for collateral drama in antiquity.<\/p>\n

But considering the relatively deplorable state of ancient medical healthcare in general and the obvious absence of knowledge relating to microbial organisms in specific (including bacteria and viruses, invisible to the naked eye) Homer\u2019s plague is probably not \u2018pure poetry\u2019. Read Thucydides if you dare. His account of the plague of Athens is much more prosaic no doubt, but no less horrific (History<\/em> 2.47-54). Striking in the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BCE), the plague is estimated to have killed 75-100k people. 25k people margin. Go figure.<\/p>\n

For \u201ca kind of sickness which far surmounted all expression of words\u201d, Thucydides\u2019 description seems more verbose than strictly needed. But we should give him credit for offering a first-hand account of the epidemic. \u201cHaving been both sick of it myself and seen others sick of the same\u201d, Thucydides is writing his memoirs to help the reader identify the sickness \u201cif it come again\u201d. And, yes, he does raise some helpful points even for us now. Consider, for instance, the interesting detail that some people herded together like sheep and thus became \u201cinfected by mutual visitation, for the greatest mortality proceeded that way\u201d. Social distancing saves lives. If only the Athenians had known.<\/p>\n

Here are some other sad highlights: Doctors were unable to cure the disease as they lacked any knowledge about it. Worse, they were the ones who died first because they came in touch with the sick most. Dead bodies were lying unburied in the streets, and the birds and dogs that used to feed on human flesh either did not taste the corpses or died afterwards. Chaos ruled the city. The temples were all full of the dead too (anyway, the gods had left: they did not hear any prayer, nor did the oracles reply to enquiries). Thucydides\u2019 graphic description of the plague\u2019s devastating impact on the human body leaves little to the imagination<\/a>. Some people went (and stayed) completely mental but survived physically.<\/p>\n

Ok. Now relax.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 is not the plague, nor do we live in a world governed by the rules of ancient Greek drama (although we do get to wear fancy masks!). We do not hear the \u201cterrible twang of Apollo\u2019s silver bow\u201d (1.49) each time our news feeds break daily fresh infection rates. With unprecedented speed our scientists race to develop a vaccine. So it\u2019ll probably all be relatively fine relatively soon. \u201cThe sky is clearing, spring is coming\u201d (Richard Hendrick, Lockdown<\/em>). Birds are building their nests, and all that. We\u2019ll just have to sacrifice a season or two, best case scenario (let\u2019s stay optimistic!).<\/p>\n

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too is plausibility. We use narrative to make sense of the world we inhabit. Nothing new there, I know. But still, stories serve as a powerful antidote against the garbage which reality so often has in store for us. Some stories are more plausible than others, for sure. Think of the one about a secret laboratory experiment gone wrong, or the one that explains the virus as the product of natural evolution. Pick and choose!<\/p>\n

To tell a different story: in his Table Talk<\/em>, Plutarch of Chaeronea discusses whether new diseases can come into being, and, if so, from what causes. We are at a symposium, where men of culture used to drink and socialise. Yes, my boy, that was a thing once!<\/em> In summary, the party agrees that new diseases do indeed come into existence. As to the why, Plutarch concludes that they are probably caused by the luxurious life-style endemic to his time (the \u2018globalized\u2019 High Roman Empire): \u201cthe change in our way of life (\u2018diet\u2019\/diaita<\/em>), right here on earth, is capable of\u00a0\u00a0 creating new diseases and making old ones vanish\u201d (734C).<\/p>\n

Moralizing at a party is a bold move. Less to fear in times of social distancing, I hope, so let\u2019s give it a shot. I\u2019m no hero at this, but I am inclined to side with the climate change people, who at least have the guts to put A and B together. If we do not change our own \u2018luxurious lifestyle\u2019 (fill in adlib), expect more of this fun in the future.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case may be. Nous sommes en guerre!<\/em> As time passes, this self-quarantining \u2018diet\u2019 will make some of us war-wearied, sick of fighting the invisible enemy only to flatten the bloody curve. When things get more and more prosaic, predictably, the combat mentality will wear off.<\/p>\n

Just keep in mind that the true heroes in this story are not we but our doctors, nurses, virologists, epidemiologists, the modern heirs of Apollo the Healer, Asclepius, Hygieia and Panacea (to name only those healing gods whom the Hippocratics solemnly swore their Oath<\/em> to). They are our society\u2019s medical infantry bravely taking the blows at the viral frontline. Take it from a blind old Greek: \u201cA physician is worth many other men\u201d (11.514).<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s only half of the story. The catalogue of heroes is much more inclusive. What about our cashiers, our bakers, our butchers, our dustmen, our postmen, our busdrivers, our dockworkers? For god\u2019s sake, even our policemen? Impossible to be exhaustive here, but you get the picture. These are the people that keep things running smoothly. No Homeric quotes for them. But a big, fat kiss from the ivory tower nevertheless.<\/p>\n

A Platonic kiss, for now.<\/p>\n

Michiel Meeusen<\/p>\n

PS: For a slightly modified version of this essay check the Medical Humanities blog<\/a> of the British Medical Journal<\/em> (BMJ).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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