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The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kousoulis, AA; Economopoulos, KP; Poulakou-Rebelakou, E; Androutsos, G; Tsiodras, S
Published in: Emerging infectious diseases
January 2012

Sophocles, one of the most noted playwrights of the ancient world, wrote the tragedy Oedipus Rex in the first half of the decade 430-420 bc. A lethal plague is described in this drama. We adopted a critical approach to Oedipus Rex in analyzing the literary description of the disease, unraveling its clinical features, and defining a possible underlying cause. Our goals were to clarify whether the plague described in Oedipus Rex reflects an actual historical event; to compare it with the plague of Athens, which was described by Thucydides as occurring around the same time Sophocles wrote; and to propose a likely causative pathogen. A critical reading of Oedipus Rex and a comparison with Thucydides' history, as well as a systematic review of historical data, strongly suggests that this epidemic was an actual event, possibly caused by Brucella abortus.

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Published In

Emerging infectious diseases

DOI

EISSN

1080-6059

ISSN

1080-6040

Publication Date

January 2012

Volume

18

Issue

1

Start / End Page

153 / 157

Related Subject Headings

  • Microbiology
  • Medicine in Literature
  • Humans
  • History, Ancient
  • Greece, Ancient
  • Epidemics
  • Drama
  • Cattle
  • Brucellosis
  • Brucella abortus
 

Citation

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Kousoulis, A. A., Economopoulos, K. P., Poulakou-Rebelakou, E., Androutsos, G., & Tsiodras, S. (2012). The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 18(1), 153–157. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1801.ad1801
Kousoulis, Antonis A., Konstantinos P. Economopoulos, Effie Poulakou-Rebelakou, George Androutsos, and Sotirios Tsiodras. “The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.Emerging Infectious Diseases 18, no. 1 (January 2012): 153–57. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1801.ad1801.
Kousoulis AA, Economopoulos KP, Poulakou-Rebelakou E, Androutsos G, Tsiodras S. The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Emerging infectious diseases. 2012 Jan;18(1):153–7.
Kousoulis, Antonis A., et al. “The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 18, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 153–57. Epmc, doi:10.3201/eid1801.ad1801.
Kousoulis AA, Economopoulos KP, Poulakou-Rebelakou E, Androutsos G, Tsiodras S. The plague of Thebes, a historical epidemic in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Emerging infectious diseases. 2012 Jan;18(1):153–157.

Published In

Emerging infectious diseases

DOI

EISSN

1080-6059

ISSN

1080-6040

Publication Date

January 2012

Volume

18

Issue

1

Start / End Page

153 / 157

Related Subject Headings

  • Microbiology
  • Medicine in Literature
  • Humans
  • History, Ancient
  • Greece, Ancient
  • Epidemics
  • Drama
  • Cattle
  • Brucellosis
  • Brucella abortus