Re: H1N5 (and Bakker's virus extinction hypothesis) now H5N1

[Adrienne Mayor <afmayor@aol.com>]

Tim's right--but I meant the beginning of Homer's Iliad, which starts  
in the 10th year of the war. His Trojan War epic begins with the  
plague, so technically it is the beginning of the Trojan War in  
Homer's Iliad.

Like the other plague gods of the Assyrians, Hittites, Sumerians, and  
Egyptians, Apollo was responsible for sending plagues and therefore  
prayed to in order to send plagues to enemies. Tim's guess is  
correct--many scholars assume that Apollo was god of rodents because  
it was understood that they spread epidemics. There are many other  
temples dedicated to Apollo and rats or mice; some had venerated  
figures of mice and the one near Troy actually kept hordes of  
"sacred" rodents inside the temple precincts. the ancient sources for  
rodents causing plague include Herodotus, Josephus, Aelian, etc.



On May 15, 2006, at 7:36 AM, Tim Williams wrote:

Adrienne Mayor wrote:

> The plague that killed all the wild animals, then the draft   
> animals and then the soldiers at the beginning of the Trojan War  
> in  Homer's Iliad was also most likely anthrax.

A minor nit-pick: Homer's _Iliad_ is set near the *end* of the Trojan  
War, not the beginning.  The Greeks had been skulking around the  
walls of Troy for nine years before the plaque hit their camp.  The  
official explanation for the cause: the plague was sent by Apollo,  
who wanted to punish the Greeks for capturing the daughter of a local  
priest of Apollo, named Chryses.

Apollo (and his twin sister Artemis) were often blamed by the ancient  
Greeks for causing plagues.  Interestingly (maybe), the place where  
Chryses was priest is said by Homer to be the temple of "Apollo  
Smintheos".  The word "sminthos" means mouse.  Another reference to  
rodent-borne plague?

Cheers

Tim