Malaria in Greek History

William Henry Samuel Jones (1876 - 1963) and Edward Theodore Withington (1860 - 1947)

This book is an attempt to correct and develop the theory proposed tentatively in the little work Malaria. Put briefly, this theory is as follows. In the struggle for existence man has competed, not only with his fellow-men, but also with wild animals and disease- parasites. The fight against beasts was decided long before the historic period, but parasites have always been, and still are, formidable opponents. Whole tribes have been wiped out by plague, kala-azar and measles; and even when the disease-parasite does not win such a decisive victory, it often weakens a nation so much that the latter falls an easy victim to its healthier neighbours. This volume will show how malaria played a part in the decline of the ancient Greeks, along with statistics presented from the Greek Anti Malarial League, and evaluation of malarial literature. (Summary by Leon Harvey)

Genre(s): Medical, Antiquity, Life Sciences

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Preface. Disease-parasites competitors with man in the struggle for existence. The importance of this for historians. Leon Harvey
00:09:16
Play 01 Introduction. The nature and cause of malaria. Chief investigators since 1717. Leon Harvey
00:12:48
Play 02 Chapter I. Malaria in modern Greece, and its effects upon the inhabitants. Leon Harvey
00:17:24
Play 03 Chapter II. Malaria in the ancient non-medical writers. Leon Harvey
00:55:11
Play 04 Chapter III. Malaria in the ancient medical writers. Leon Harvey
00:18:53
Play 05 Chapter IV. The extent to which malaria was prevalent. Leon Harvey
00:09:27
Play 06 Chapter V. The effects of malaria upon the ancient Greeks. Leon Harvey
01:02:42
Play 07 Appendix. I. Home-life and the position of women possibly affected by the increase of malaria. II. Chief Greek diseases other than malaria. Leon Harvey
00:10:45
Play 08 Conclusion. Leon Harvey
00:04:53
Play 09 Additional Chapter. A difficulty in the history of Greek therapeutics explained by the "malaria theory" Leon Harvey
00:34:55