The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
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The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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c. 471-401 B.C.
Greek historian known for his eyewitness account of the plague that struck Athens in 429 B.C. at the outset of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) "The bodies of dying men lay one upon another," Thucydides wrote, "and half-dead creatures reeled about in the streets. The catastrophe became so overwhelming that men cared nothing for any rule of religion or law." Thucydides himself suffered from the illness but recovered, and noted that survivors were able to tend the sick without catching the illness again. The epidemic, which claimed the life of the city's great leader Pericles (c. 495-429 B.C.), was undoubtedly the result of poor sanitation and over-crowding exacerbated by the war. As for the nature of the illness itself, modern scientists have variously identified it as typhus or influenza.