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Raj Persaud in conversation - the podcasts


Apr 22, 2020

Plaster cast bust of Thucydides (in the Pushkin Museum) from a Roman copy (located at Holkham Hall) of an early fourth-century BC Greek original
Born c.  460 BC[1]
Halimous, Athens (modern Alimos)
Died c.  400 BC (aged approximately 72)

 

Thucydides from Ancient Greece - perhaps the first Historian - gives a famous Account of the Plague of Athens from over 2000 years ago - Ancient Greek Literary Scholar Jenna Colclough explains to Dr Raj Persaud the relevance to today's pandemic using her thesis researched while she was at the University of Western Ontario.

 

You can also listen to this interview on a free app on iTunes and Google Play Store entitled 'Raj Persaud in conversation', which includes a lot of free information on the latest research findings in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience and mental health, plus interviews with top experts from around the world. Download it free from these links. Don't forget to check out the bonus content button on the app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rajpersaud.android.rajpersaud

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dr-raj-persaud-in-conversation/id927466223?

 

Thucydides’ detailed description of the Athenian plague, which is estimated to have killed from a quarter to a third of Athens’ population and led to the breakdown of several social norms By combining elements of personal narrative, literature, and historiography, Thucydides rendered the story of the Athenian plague into an aesthetic representation and thus provides a collective memorialization of the forgotten victims. Jenna Coclough suggests in her thesis while studying at the University of Western Ontario that his vivid description (ἐνάργεια) of the immense suffering enabled his readers to empathetically engage with the traumatic event and thus work through their own trauma.

 
Here are the links:
 
Thucydides’ plague episode, 2.47-54, Perseus Tufts: 
 
"The Language of Thucydides’ Description of the Plague Episode,” by Adam Parry: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43646392.pdf?seq=1
 
Pale Horse, Pale Rider, by Katherine Anne Porter: 
 
Writing History, Writing Trauma, by Dominick LaCapra: 
 
And here is a link to Jenna's Academia account, which has her thesis and CV: https://westernu.academia.edu/JennaColclough