American Philological Association

The Sminthian Apollo and the Epidemic among the Achaeans at Troy
Author(s): Frederick Bernheim and Ann Adams Zener
Source: Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 108 (1978), pp. 11-
14
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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 Transactionsof theAmericanPhilologicalAssociation108 (1978) 11-14

THE SMINTHIAN APOLLO AND THE EPIDEMIC

AMONG THE ACHAEANS AT TROY
FREDERICK BERNHEIM
Duke University
and
ANN ADAMS ZENER

AlthoughtheHippocraticwritings givemeticuloussymptoms ofa number

of diseases,Greekclassicalliterature
whichcontainsnumerousreferences
to plaguesand pestilencesdoes not,withtwoexceptions,describethemin
sufficientdetail for identification.The well-knownexception is the
descriptionby Thucydides(2.49) of the Athenianpestilenceduringthe
PeloponnesianWar. The symptomshave been analyzedby a numberof
scholarswho have arrivedat a numberofdifferent diagnoses.The second
exceptionis by Homer(II. 1.50) who givesno symptomsofthepestilence
whichkilledtheAchaeansat Troybutstatesthatthemulesand dogs died
beforethemen.The diseasetherefore cannothave beenmalaria,bubonic
plague or typhus.Man is susceptibleto all threebutequinesand dogs are
notequallysusceptible.The diseasewhichis thebestcandidateforkillingis
equine encephalomyelitis whichat the presenttimekillsequines 7 to 14
days beforesymptomsappear in man. The death of dogs in modern
epidemicsis unusual but,experimentally, youngdogs are susceptible.'
The DelphicApollo sidedwiththeLacedemoniansinthePeloponnesian
War (Thuc. 1.118). Apollo SmintheussidedwiththeTrojansat Troy.He
was invokedas Smintheusby his priest,Chryses.On both occasions a
pestilenceensued.
Krappe2was thefirstto suggestthatApollo Smintheuswas thegod of

'The objectionmaybe made thatHomerincludedmulesand dogs merelyto emphasizethe

severity
and terroroftheepidemic.Ifthiswereso, therewouldbe no needto mentionthetime
intervalbetweenthedeathof theanimalsand themen.This timeintervalmusthavehad an
impact,foritremainswhen,becauseofthetext'smanyvicissitudes, itmighteasilyhavebeen
omittedsince the simultaneousdeath of men and animals gives a more devastating
impression.
2A. H. Krappe,ARW 33 (1936) 40.

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12 Frederick
Bernheim
and AnnAdamsZener

bubonicplagueand pointedout thatthereisan unequivocalassociationof

bubonicplaguewithrodentsin theBook of Samuel(1.5, 6). The epidemic
startedin theportofAshdodwherethePhilistines wereholdingtheArkof
the Covenantcapturedfromthe Jews.The Philistinepriestsorderedthe
returnof theArkto theJewsalong withfivegoldentumors(buboes) and
fivegoldenmice. Sticker3dates thisepidemicat about 1060B.C.,4 a little
over 100yearsafterthefallofTroy.It is highlyprobablethattheMinoans
and Achaeans made the same associationseveralhundredyearsearlier.
Ships carryinginfectedrodentsdisseminatethe bubonicplaguewhich
usuallyoriginatesin ports.Procopius(2.22.9) in describingtheplagueof
Justinianin the sixthcenturyA.D. explicitlystatesthatit spreadinland
fromtheports.All SminthiamentionedbyHomerand Strabowereon the
islandsor the coast. None has been foundon themainland.5It mightbe
argued that if the cult of Smintheusoriginatedin Crete and diffused
eastward throughthe islands of the Troad, this would explain the
distributionoftheSminthia.ButwhydiditoriginateintheCreteofthesea-
faringMinoansratherthanin theGreekmainland?and whya mousecult?
Sminthiaat portsarestrategicallyplacedforworshippers to ask thegodfor
protectionagainstbubonicplague broughtto themby theships.
Therecan be littledoubtthereforethatApollo Smintheuswas thegod of
bubonicplagueand possibly,byextension,thegod ofall severepestilences,
since the Achaeans probably did not correlatethe symptomsof the
epidemicwiththespeciesof animalwhichdied priorto thedeathofmen.
Homertherefore wouldnotbe troubledbyChryses'invocationtoa mouse
god who thereuponkilleddogs and mules.
The god who controls rodentscan cause not only pestilencebut
starvationand defeatin battleas well. The controlof thefood supplyis
illustratedbya storybyAelian.6The Aeoliansand Trojanswerethreatened
by starvationbecause themicewereeatingtheircrops.The god at Delphi
was asked forhelpand he toldthemto sacrificeto Apollo Smintheuswho
thereuponreducedthe mouse population.
Herodotus(2.141) describesthe statueof the Pharaoh Sethos witha
mouse in his hand which he states commemoratesa victoryfor the
Egyptians when mice gnawed the quivers and shield handles of

3G. Sticker,Abhandlungenaus der Seuchen Geschichteund Seuchen Lehre 1 (Giessen

1908) 17.
41n the OxfordAnnotatedBible, H. G. May and B. M. Metzger,Eds., (Oxford 1962),
footnotelb 7.2 to I Sam. 4 givesthedateabout 1050B.C. forthiswarbetweentheJewsand the
Philistines.
5L. R. Farnell,Cultsof the GreekStates IV (Oxford 1907) 165.
6NA 12.5

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The Epidemic
amongtheAchaeansat Troy 13

Sennacharib'sbesiegingarmy.7In the legendof Teucer(Strabo 12.1.48)

mice ate the leatherof the armorand preventedfurther conquestof the
Troad. Teucer interpreted thisas a signfromthegod. Thus a mousegod
has threeways of rewardinghis worshippersor punishinghis enemies.
Man earlyrecognizedthemenaceofrodents.In VedicIndia,as pointed
out by Krappe,Ganesha,thegod ofdeath,rodea rat.Thereare,however,a
numberof pestilencescaused by Apollo wherethereare no references to
rodentsor other animals. These include the pestilenceat Troy when
Laomedon refused to pay him for his help in building the walls
(Apollodorus 2.5.9); the pestilence along with thunder bolts and
earthquakeshe broughtto the Phlegyanswhen theyattackedDelphi
(Pausanias 9.36.3); pestilenceto thehouse of Amphionwho mockedhim
(Pausanias 9.5.9); and to Athensduringthe PeloponnesianWar.
In the epidemicat Troy rodentsplayedno part.The arrowswerethe
direct transmitter of the disease. Mosquitoes, as we now know, can
transmita numberof diseases includingequine encephalomyelitis. This
diseasewas firstprovedto be infectious formanin 19398and is causedbya
viruswhichis harboredby a numberof animals whichshow no overt
symptoms.9 But ifan infectedanimalis bittenby a mosquito10theinsect
ingeststhevirusand transmits itto thenextanimalitbites.Ifthatanimalis
susceptiblethe symptomsof encephalomyelitis appear.

7Sticker(above, note 3) statesthatbubonicplague struckSennacharib'sarmyand that

Sethos livedsevenhundredyearsbeforethe battlewas fought.
8EpidemicEncephalitis,ThirdMatheson Report(New York 1939) 21.
9F. L. Horsfalland I. Tamm,Eds., Viraland RickettialInfections in Man (Toronto19654)
590.
'?Sincemosquitoesare theusual vectorsforequineencephalomyelitis itis possiblethatthe
terrifying soundofApollo's bow, KXa-y-yV(1l. 1.49),is a metaphorfortheterrifying soundof
myriadsofmosquitoes.Accordingto LSJ,KAayy7yis an unspecific wordusedforthebarking
ofdogs,thecryofbirds,thegrunting ofpigs,thehissingofserpents, etc.It istranslatedbyA.
T. Murrayin his Loeb editionof Homer as "twang,"a sound producedby vibrationand
closely related to "whine" which is usually of higher pitch than twang but
producedby thesame mechanism.The usual translations, "clang"and Lattimore's"clash,"
are not too felicitoussincethesewordsdefinesoundsmade onlybycontactof two or more
objects.The KXay-yvyj, whine,of Smintheus'bow was terrifying probablybecause it was the
signalfortheoutbreakofpestilence.As faras we havebeenable to ascertain,no emphasisis
placedon thesoundofthebow whenApollo is shootinghisarrowsforotherlethalpurposes.
It is also temptingto explainarrowsas a metaphorforinsects.Twice in theIliad (1.51,
4.129) arrowsaredescribedas eXe7reVK4T.
Thisis translated byA. T. Murray.Smith
"stinging"
and Miller,The Iliad of Homer(New York 1944),use "biting"and "bitter,"and Lattimore
uses "tearing"which seems singularlyinappropriatefor describingan arrow wound.
Superficialarrowwoundscould be equatedwithinsectbites,as thewhineofthebowwiththe
whineofmyriadmosquitoes.This does notimplythattheAchaeansthoughtthatmosquitoes
werethecause ofthedisease.Insectvectorswereonlydiscoveredat theend ofthenineteenth

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14 Frederick
Bernheim
and AnnAdamsZener

Accordingto themap in Schliemann'sbook' I twoswampsareshownon

the tributariesof the Simois about 700 metersfromitsjunctionwiththe
Scamander.The swampscould be thebreedingplaces of themosquitoes,
manyspeciesofwhichare vectorsforthevirus.Thereareat presentseveral
strainsof virusproducingsomewhatdifferent symptomsin man. Since
Homerdoes notdescribesymptoms, itis notpossibleto determinewhether
thepresentday virusesdiffer fromtheancientone. Contemporary viruses
infectman,equines,certainruminants and youngdogswheninjectedinto
theblood stream.Adultdogs are infectedonlyifthevirusis injectedinto
thebrain.Iftheadultdogs oftheAchaeansdied,theancientvirushad the
property ofpenetrating thebrainfromtheblood stream,a property absent
frommodernviruses.Mutationsoftenoccur in virusesand thischanges
some of their characteristics. Occasionally another insect vector can
transmit them.Equine encephalomyelitis, nowendemicintheNearEast,is
caused bytheso-calledBornastrainwhichcan be transmitted byticks.12A
man infectedwitheasterntypevirus(firstisolatedin theeasternUnited
States) has a highfever,edemaofthelegsand face,convulsions,cyanosis,
stiffneck and becomes comatose. Death occursin 3-5 days. If theman
recoversthereare no sequelae. At the presenttimeepidemicsof equine
encephalomyelitis are confinedto the westernhemisphere.The virus,
however,has been isolatedin manycountriesincludingCzechoslovakia
and Russia.
Equine encephalomyelitis has no longhistory sincethediseaseinequines
and man was only recentlycorrelated.It may or may not have been a
disease of theancientworld.All thatcan be said is thattheswampsand
mosquitoeswere probablypresentat Troy and thatthe priordeath of
equines is consistentwithwhat we know at presentabout the epidemic
characteristicsof thisdisease.

century.The arrowsofSmintheuscausedthediseaseand themosquitoeswereitsharbinger

in
the sensethatdyingrodentswereconsideredharbingers of plague.
Thereis a tenuousassociationof insectsand arrowsin Iliad 4.129-31:

.3EXos EXE7rEVKESa6uvl'ev.
n be' rouov pev ccpyep dro Xpo6s, cugorTE/7Tt7p
ora56O apYN ,UvZav',
60' ?)&i XEAiTaTCp.
Athenaprotecting the woundedMenelaus "wardedoffthestingingarrow.She sweptit
aside fromthefleshas a mothersweepsa flyfromherchildwhenheliesinsweetslumber."

The arrowis not,however,equated withtheflynor are fliesnecessarilystinginginsects.

IIlios, Cityand Countryof the Trojans(New York 1881) 82.
'2R. Daubney and E. A. Mahlau, Researchin VeterinaryScience 8 (1967) 375-97.

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