The Death of Ettipus the King

Plagues always cause an intensity of religious sentiment. What happened in Athens in 430 and 429 was no exception. Whatever the Athenians believed about their gods, the destruction wrought by the plague made the city a chaotic, amoral jumble. People began to wonder about an old prophecy, a prophecy which said that quote. Adorean war, or a war with Sparta, shall come and with it death. And as for the Spartans, Thucydides writes, they had heard a prophecy too. And they had been told that quote, if they put their might into it, victory would be theirs. With this oracle, events were supposed to tally. So think about that.