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The Plague of Athens, which hapned in the second year of the Peloponnesian Warre: First described in Greek by Thucydides; then in Latin by Lucretius. Now attempted in EnglishHobbes, Thomas

Philosophy

The Plague of Athens, which hapned in the second year of the Peloponnesian Warre: First described in Greek by Thucydides; then in Latin by Lucretius. Now attempted in English

Name: The Plague of Athens, which hapned in the second year of the Peloponnesian Warre: First described in Greek by Thucydides; then in Latin by Lucretius. Now attempted in English
Author: Hobbes, Thomas

Hobbes, Thomas

Greece -- History -- Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.; Plague -- Greece -- Athens

~ATHENS~.


      Unhappy Man! by Nature made to sway,
      And yet is every Creatures prey,
      Destroy’d by those that should his power obey.
      Of the whole World we call _Mankind_ the Lords,
            Flattring our selves with mighty words;
            Of all things we the Monarchs are,
      And so we rule, and so we domineer;
            All creatures else about us stand
            Like some _Prætorian_ Band,
            To guard, to help, and to defend;
            Yet they sometimes prove Enemies,
            Sometimes against us rise;
      Our very Guards rebel, and tyrannize.
            Thousand Diseases sent by Fate,
            (Unhappie Servants!) on us wait;
            A thousand Treacheries within
            Are laid weak Life to win;
            Huge Troops of Maladies without,
      (A grim, a meager, and a dreadful rout:)
            Some formal Sieges make
      And with sure slowness do our Bodies take;
      Some with quick violence storm the Town,
            And all in a moment down:
            Some one peculiar sort assail,
      Some by general attempt prevail.
      Small Herbs, alas, can onely us relieve,
      And small is the assistance they can give;
      How can the fading Off spring of the Field
            Sure health and succour yield?
            What strong and certain remedie?
        What firm and lasting life can ours be?
      When that which makes us live, doth ev’ry Winter die?


II.

        Nor is this all, we do not onely breed
            Within our selves the fatal seed
        Of change, and of decrease in ev’ry part,
      Head, Bellie, Stomach, and the Root of Life the Heart,
        Not onely have our Autumn, when we must
            Of our own Nature turn to Dust,
            When Leaves and Fruit must fall;
        But are expos’d to mighty Tempests too,
        Which do at once what that would slowlie do,
      Which throw down Fruit and Tree of Life withal.
            From ruine we in vain
        Our bodies by repair maintain,
            Bodies compos’d of stuff,
            Mouldring and frail enough;
        Yet from without as well we fear
            A dangerous and destructful War,
        From Heaven, from Earth, from Sea, from Air.
        We like the _Roman Empire_ should decay,
            And our own force would melt away
                  By the intestine jar
        Of Elephants, which on each other prey,
      The _Cæsars_ and the _Pompeys_ which within we bear:
            Yet are (like that) in danger too
        Of forreign Armies, and external foe,
        Sometimes the _Gothish_ and the barbarous rage
        Of Plague, or Pestilence, attends Mans age,
            Which neither Force nor Arts asswage;
        Which cannot be avoided, or withstood,
      But drowns, and over-runs with unexpected Flood.


III.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Plague of Athens, which hapned in the second year of the Peloponnesian Warre: First described in Greek by Thucydides; then in Latin by Lucretius. Now attempted in English

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