PERICLES AND BORIS, THE PLAGUE OF ATHENS AND COVID-19: HOW THE ANCIENT WORLD REMAINS RELEVANT AND TOPICAL EVEN IN A MORE MODERN CONTEXT

By Eesha Patel

Some may wonder why civilisations and cultures that existed well over 2000 years ago bear any significance to us at all. We have (and we certainly like to think we have) made considerable advancement since the classical era. However, the truth of the matter is that trains of political, philosophical and even mathematical thought trace their origins back to the ancient world and continue to influence ideas and concepts even today. From modern interpretations of ancient drama and literature to modern advancement of philosophical ideas, there is, of course, still avid interest and enthusiasm for unpicking and understanding the classical world.

Boris Johnson’s admiration for his political hero, the Athenian statesman Pericles, (of whom he even, supposedly, has a bust of in his office at 10 Downing Street) and his appreciation of the work, oratory and rhetorical technique of other classical authors is an epitome of this. Johnson’s keen passion for Classics, which was cultivated in his time at Eton College and later, during his degree at the University of Oxford, is often exuded through its integration within his political life. In the House of Commons, he recently quoted Aeschylus’ Agamemnon to his opposition, declaring that “A great ox has stood upon his tongue.” After his own encounter with COVID-19, he established a quote from Cicero, “Salus populi suprema lex esto (the health of the people should be the supreme law),” as the country’s new motto in the face of COVID-19. Even during his time as Mayor of London, he often made his love for Classics well known, perhaps most notably when he partook in the “Greece vs Rome” event, where he went head-to-head with Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge. Sometimes he even manages to let whole books, verses upon verses, of Homer’s Iliad in the original Greek seamlessly flow from his tongue. Some view this as an expression of his undeniable love and passion for the classical era; others, are far more sceptical. One of Beard’s own posts as part of her blog A Don’s Life in the Times Literary Supplement, entitled “Boris Johnson and the Classics”, explores, discusses and considers the wide array of different opinions on this matter particularly well.

Nevertheless, what is it about an Athenian statesman, whose political career blossomed in the late 5th century BCE, that appeals to a politician of the 21st century? It may well be his oratory skill, of which Thucydides’ version of Pericles’ Funeral Oration is testament to, that most appeals to Johnson. Pericles’ Funeral Oration, which has been hailed as one of the greatest speeches of all time, and its appeal to the customs that lay at the very heart of Athenian society is a prime example of the precision, care and thought that Pericles engineered his speeches with. Perhaps Johnson takes inspiration too from the restoration of Athens that Pericles instigated after the Persian Wars, involving a series of restoration projects comprising the rebuilding of the Parthenon (which is still standing on the Acropolis in Athens) after its destruction at the hands of the Persians. Doubtless, Johnson believes that the attributes of Pericles, his character, his capability and his charisma, are worthy of replication in a more modern context.

Johnson’s own personal encounter with COVID-19 made for an uncanny resemblance between him and his hero, Pericles. When Pericles was General in Athens, he too was faced with an epidemic (the plague of Athens) and, having been struck down with it himself, he tragically lost his life, as was recorded by the Greek historian, Thucydides. Now, Thucydides’ account of this plague, which records the physical implications of this illness upon those who became infected, but also considers the ramifications upon society as a whole, is so accurate that it has even been used by medical experts to try and identify what sort of illness this plague actually was. Thucydides, who faced the plague himself but survived, recounted everything from the symptoms of the illness to possible immunity from the disease for anyone who had actually survived it and he gives his own reasons as for why he believes these things to be the case. This is exactly the kind of response that the World Health Organisation and leading scientists adopted towards the COVID-19 outbreak.

The social ramifications are also key to Thucydides’ account and he talks about how he saw the very fabric of society tearing apart at the hands of this illness. An example of this is that due to the large number of people losing their lives, the ritual of burial, which was hugely important in Ancient Greek culture, simply could not be conducted and this had a great impact upon those mourning their loved ones and traditional Greek practice. This is perhaps reflected when, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, funerals were limited to a certain number of people, who could be in attendance and those who were attending had to implement social distancing; people could not mourn the loss of their loved ones together with their family and friends. These parallels of the approach of 5th century Athens to a plague and that of our own modern society to COVID-19 conform to Thucydides’ own observation of human nature and the purpose of history, set out at the beginning of his History of the Peloponnesian War, which is as follows:

“It may be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will, at some time or other and in much the same way, be repeated in the future. My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the needs of an immediate public but was done to last for ever.”       

                                                                                                                       -Thucydides 1.22

Pericles and the plague of Athens, as recounted by Thucydides, are merely two examples of ways in which the classical world remains resonant in today’s society. I would, therefore, like to stress that the influence that this period of history has had upon modern society is, quite simply, immeasurable. From sculpture to drama, architecture to literature, medicine to anthropology, aspects of the classical world can be found almost everywhere.