Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece

Bremmer, Jan Ν.

doi:10.2307/311262

Cited by 95 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Gurney does not directly associate that ritual with the so-called ''Hittite plague'' studied by Trevisanato, nor does he claim that the practice had anything but symbolic significance. 82,83 These scapegoating rituals do not suggest actual transmission of disease. The ritual is symbolic, not physical, and the rituals are best understood not as BW but rather as a mystical understanding of disease causation (disease resulting from the acts of a god) and as a desire to convince friendly deities both to lift the disease and to inflict it on enemy societies.…”

Section: ''Primitive'' Warfarementioning

confidence: 98%

“…The ritual is symbolic, not physical, and the rituals are best understood not as BW but rather as a mystical understanding of disease causation (disease resulting from the acts of a god) and as a desire to convince friendly deities both to lift the disease and to inflict it on enemy societies. [82][83][84][85] Hence, there is simply no evidence to suggest that the Hittites waged biological warfare. Nonetheless, numerous publications have reported that the Hittites had engaged in biological warfare.…”

Section: ''Primitive'' Warfarementioning

confidence: 99%

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The History of Biological Weapons Use: What We Know and What We Don't

Carus

2015

Health Security

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This article critically reviews the literature on the history of biological warfare, bioterrorism, and biocrimes. The first serious effort to review this entire history, made in 1969, had numerous limitations. In recent decades, several authors have filled many of the gaps in our understanding of the past use of biological agents (including both pathogens and toxins), making it possible to reconstruct that history with greater fidelity than previously possible. Nevertheless, there are numerous remaining gaps, and closer inspection indicates that some supposed uses of biological weapons never took place or are poorly substantiated. Topics requiring additional research are identified.

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Section: ''Primitive'' Warfarementioning

confidence: 98%

Section: ''Primitive'' Warfarementioning

confidence: 99%

The History of Biological Weapons Use: What We Know and What We Don't

Carus

2015

Health Security

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“…These expulsions can be said to have taken place with the primary aim of confirming or reconstituting the unity of the city by casting out the representative of an unpredictable external threat that could affect or that has affected the inside of the 27 The mechanism of displacement in dreams, which was referred to in par 2 above is clearly of relevance here. 28 See in general, Bremmer [1].…”

Section: The Pharmakonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Plato’s Pharmacy

Ville

2010

Int J Semiot Law

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In this essay, one of Derrida's early texts, Plato's pharmacy, is analysed in detail, more specifically in relation to its reflections on writing and its relation to law. This analysis takes place with reference to a number of Derrida's other texts, in particular those on Freud. It is especially Freud's texts on dream interpretation and on the dream-work which are of assistance in understanding the background to Derrida's analysis of writing in Plato's pharmacy. The essay shows the close relation between Derrida's analysis of Plato's texts and Freud's study of the dream-work. The forces at work in dreams, it appears, are at play in all texts, which in turn explains Derrida's contentions in relation to the pharmakon as providing the condition of possibility of Plato's texts. The essay furthermore points to the continuity between this 'early' text of Derrida and his 'later', seemingly more politico-legal texts of the 1990s. A close reading of Plato's pharmacy, with its investigation via 'writing' of the foundations of metaphysics, and thus also of the Western concept of law, is obligatory should one wish to comprehend how Derrida attempts to exceed the restricted economy of metaphysics through his analysis of concepts such as justice and hospitality.

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“…Additionally, Neshites were directly blamed for the epidemic. In fact, Neshite rituals describe how a ram and a woman attending the animal were sent on the road, spreading the disease along the way [15]. The practice was confirmed by Arzawans who reacted to the plague caused by enemy by sending their own ram on the road in the direction of the enemy troops, and asking the gods to direct their attention to the Neshite land [2].…”

Section: Biological Warfare?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Hittite plague’, an epidemic of tularemia and the first record of biological warfare

Trevisanato¹

2007

Medical Hypotheses

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A long-lasting epidemic that plagued the Eastern Mediterranean in the 14th century BC was traced back to a focus in Canaan along the Arwad-Euphrates trading route. The symptoms, mode of infection, and geographical area, identified the agent as Francisella tularensis, which is also credited for outbreaks in Canaan around 1715 BC and 1075 BC. At first, the 14th century epidemic contaminated an area stretching from Cyprus to Iraq, and from Israel to Syria, sparing Egypt and Anatolia due to quarantine and political boundaries, respectively. Subsequently, wars spread the disease to central Anatolia, from where it was deliberately brought to Western Anatolia, in what constitutes the first known record of biological warfare. Finally, Aegean soldiers fighting in western Anatolia returned home to their islands, further spreading the epidemic.

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Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece

Cited by 95 publications

References 0 publications

The History of Biological Weapons Use: What We Know and What We Don't

The History of Biological Weapons Use: What We Know and What We Don't

Revisiting Plato’s Pharmacy

The ‘Hittite plague’, an epidemic of tularemia and the first record of biological warfare

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