Classics in Contemporary Culture

What Killed Alexander?

On the anniversary of Alexander the Great's death, N. S. Gill (ancienthistory.about.com) points to a couple of articles that go through some possibilities...Notably:  Swine flu?*  West Nile virus?  Arsenic seems not quite up-to-the-moment...

Might I suggest:  Knowing that a 72-foot statue of him would one day be erected in Skopje did him in?  No, I imagine he would receive a tribute of such adulation pretty willingly.

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*Ok, ok, the article doesn't really suggest H1N1, only generic influenza.

I Heart Silphium

So, where does the heart symbol come from anyhow?  John Riddle, a medical historian, is cited in The Age (Australia) for the idea that it derives from the heart-shaped seed pods of the silphium plant, which was used in ancient times as a contraceptive, and was thus an effective symbol for love...

Classical literature is rife with references to silphium. The Roman bard Catullus alludes to its sexual properties in one of his love poems. When asked how many kisses it will take to satisfy him, he says: "As many as the grains of the sand in the desert near Cyrene where silphium is gathered."

Others have different ideas...

Greeks and Romans on Disabilities

Today, the RogueClassicist cites the testimony of Rud Turnbull (click here for 75-page CV; here for his page at the U of Kansas) before the US Senate HELP Committee on issues related to the Terri Schiavo case. In the relevant section, Turnbull basically outlined Greco-Roman discussion of infanticide, quoting Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the XII Tables. For more (in fact, with close to the same citations), see Bonnie L. Gracer, "What the Rabbis Heard: Deafness in the Mishnah," Disability Studies Quarterly 23 (2003) 192-205 [html/pdf]; also, note one of her sources, Margaret Winzer in the Disability Studies Reader (ed. L. J. Davis) [ah--link to "search inside" may not work; but here's amazon.com's page on the book; search inside for "Margaret Winzer" to get access to specific pages--pp. 84ff. are the important ones here], who gets the Hippocrates reference from R. Etienne, "Ancient medical conscience and the life of children," Journal of Psychohistory 4 (1976) 131-61 [sorry, no link!]. Also of interest in this regard is a page (under construction) of notes on children, disabilities, insanity, etc. in the ancient world at "Diligio.com." In all this (though I could be wrong), I don't think I've seen one reference to blind poets and seers, such as (traditionally) Homer himself and Teiresias--nor to the lame god Hephaestus. Hmm...

The specific references to Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle obviously focus on paramount Greek thinkers, for rhetorical effect (?)--but their views on infanticide amount, more or less, to endorsement of the contemporary status quo; Margaret Winzer (p. 84) makes it clear that Hippocrates, at least, had a positive impact with respect to the issue of disability: "He attempted to treat a variety of disabling conditions--visual impairment, deafness, epilepsy, and mental retardation--and, in doing so, largely discounted older conceptions of etiology." Winzer also mentions (p. 86) Galen's attempts at treating deafness. Early Christian and Medieval society were regressive from this perspective, although I wonder about the allegation that Augustine excluded deaf people from "church membership" (p. 91).

Final comment (of linguistic pedantry): Contra Radutsky apud Gracer, Roman Law did not classify deaf people as mentecatti furiosi (see Winzer, p. 88, for the correct mente capti).

Dido's Words Resound...

An article on a new hospice in Arizona finds a Roman poet's formulation significant:

Currently, RTA Hospice is serving 110 patients in the Rim country, most in their own homes. The hospice house patient wing is only for the most extreme cases, and then only for a limited stay.

But the new hospice house is much more than a place to go and die. A tour of the facility generates the unmistakable impression that the people who labored to make it a reality and who will operate it are people of strength and compassion.

And, like the town's new library, it makes an unmistakable statement about the values of our growing community.

As the Latin poet Virgil wrote of death, "I have lived, and I have run the course which fortune allotted me; and now my shade shall descend illustrious to the grave."

Now that the open house is over, the new hospice house will attract much less attention as it blends into the fabric of our community. But make no mistake, it has changed the face of Payson by providing a most vital service -- allowing the dying to "descend illustrious to the grave."

De Senectute

Merrily Manthey, writing about the absence of senility in a number of famous historical figures and (a little irrationally) contrasting their advanced age with average life expectancies of the times, draws a conclusion--"Just Do It":

"I didn't know the average life expectancy during the golden age of ancient Greece was little more than 18 years," she said, glancing up from the book. Her Jedi Guy paused to listen. Now reading aloud, "Yet, Pericles," the brilliant and charismatic politician and general "delivered his famous 'Funeral Oration,' the foundation of modern democratic thought, at the age of 69."

"What is the "Funeral Oration?" he asked, caught on the worrisome phrase instead of her forthcoming point. She took a moment to explain that this famous speech was given by the Athenian leader after the first battles of the Peloponnesian War."

"Riiiiiight. The Peloponnesian War. Yup. Just today I put that subject on the top of my King of Focus List."

Ignoring his sarcasm, she explained that funerals after battles were public rituals, and Pericles used the occasion to make a classic statement on the value of democracy.

"I knew that."

...

Maybe there are no diseases of the aged, but simply diseases among the aged.

"Let's go for our power walk."

Volcanos, Plague, Global Warming

In a piece on global warming, Richard Lovett (San Diego Union-Tribune), citing the views of Univ. of Virginia's William Ruddiman, talks about ancient deforestation in Europe and the Mediterranean (fairly extensive by the birth of Christ), and historical dips in carbon dioxide levels--corresponding with times of plague, such as at the "height of the Roman Empire." Hmm...

Socrates and Bioethics

Paul Seaton (Tech Central Station) defends the President's Council on Bioethics against attacks from liberals and libertarians...focusing on two political scientists who are members of the council, Diana Schaub and Peter Augustine Lawler. He appeals to the examples of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, as well as Bacon and Locke, to suggest that these individuals do indeed have a rightful place at the table. More than that:

Speaking of Socrates, Schaub and Lawler are particularly Socratic in their attention to various "soul-types," distinctive configurations of thought, character, and personality into which humanity -- ancient and contemporary -- ranges itself. It is here that people like today's humanitarian scientists and partisans of the autonomous self get uncomfortable with Socrates and those who follow his interrogatory practice. His probing questions force them "to give an account" of their views, their agendas, and themselves. That is tough to do, of course, and not everyone goes away grateful for the experience. Lawler in particular for some time has been querying both of the above-mentioned types who have large stakes in the biotechnical/bioethical debates. After all, they claim a particular expertise in truth and knowledge, freedom, and the human good or goods. They're worth examining and cross-examining. That is how science and human wisdom progress, isn't it?

Unconvincing Etymologies

Recently posted at about.com: a history of spas. On the sidebar: "Possible Origins of the Word 'Spa.'" Everyone sitting down?

• From the Latin words 'Espa' (fountain) and 'Sparsa' (from spargere = to bubble up).  
• "Sanus Per Aquam" [S P A] - meaning health by or through water.  
• "Solus Per Aqua" [S P A] Latin for enter by means of water. Other interpretation: "health through water."
• “Salut Per Aqua” [S P A]  Latin for health or relaxation through water. Found in graffiti in Roman baths

This site mentions the real origin (Spa is a place name in Belgium: cf. OED), and then goes on to mention the above, with minor variations, not much better at the Latin, but at least with references to books that make the various suggestions.
Another suggestion I don't believe--Hungarian...