Eski Hellen Literatüründe İlahi Cezalandırmanın Tezahürü Olarak Veba Metaforu: İki Örnek

Öz

Bu makale, Eski Hellen literatüründe vebanın mecazi kullanımına dair iki eser üzerine odaklanmaktadır. Bu eserler Homeros’un Ilias (Ἰλιάς) destanı (I.1-487) ve Sophokles’in Oidipous Tyrannos (Οἰδίπους Τύραννος) tragedyasıdır (1-215). Bu çalışmalarda Tanrı veya Tanrı(ça)ların aracılığıyla bir toplum üzerine veba gönderilmesi, miasma olarak adlandırılan insanoğlunun kirleten, ritüel olarak saflığı bozan ve ahlaki açıdan tiksindirici eylemleriyle bağlantılandırılmaktadır. Bu bağlantı açıklığa kavuşur kavuşmaz, bir kent veya toplumu ilahi güçlerin gözünde miasmadan saflaştırmak ve böylelikle vebadan kurtarmak için girişimlerde bulunulması gerekmektedir. Bunun sonucunda günahkar faaliyetleriyle vebayı tetikleyen veya tetikleyenlere karşı yaptırımlar uygulanmaktadır. Böylelikle veba vurgusunda bulunmak ızdırap çekmekte olan toplumdan neyin arındırılması veya defedilmesi gerektiğini tanımlama yöntemine dönüşmektedir. Bunun için öncelikle Tanrı veya Tanrı(ça)lara şükredilmesi gerekmektedir. Bu mecazi kullanım içinde günümüzde de kullanılan ‘bir musibet bin nasihatten iyidir’ deyiminin izlerine de rastlanmaktadır. Veba teması ilahi güç veya güç(ler) tarafından tehdit altındaki sosyal bir hüviyetin hizmetinde bir mecaz olarak kullanılmasına rağmen, ilgili metinlerin analizinden vebaların doğası ve toplum üzerine etkileri hakkında da bazı bilimsel açıklamalarda bulunabilmekteyiz. Bu metinlerdeki deliller aynı zamanda Eski Hellenlerin, MÖ XIII. yy.’ın ikinci yarısında gerçekleştiği düşünülen Troia Savaşları öncesinden itibaren veba hastalıklarına maruz kaldıklarına da işaret etmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Veba
• Homeros
• Sophokles
• Metafor
• Eski Hellen Edebiyatı

Metaphor of Plague in Ancient Greek Literature as a Manifestation of Divine Punishment: Two Cases

Abstract

This article concentrates on two works in ancient Greek literature concerning the use of plague as a metaphor. These works are Homer’s Iliad/Ἰλιάς (I.1-487) and Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus/Οἰδίπους Τύραννος (1-215). In these works, a plague, which can be inflicted upon a society by the agency of the God or the Gods, is connected to the defiled, ritually impure, morally repugnant deeds of human beings, called as miasma. Once this connection has been clarified, attempts have to be made in the eyes of divine powers to cleanse a city or a society from miasma and so save from the plague. As a result of this, sanctions are put into place against the person or persons whose sinful agency triggered the plague. Ponting out to plague thus turns out to be a way of identifying what needs to be purged or expelled from the suffering community. In order to do this, first of all, they had to sacrifice to the God or the Gods. Within this metaphorical use, one could see the traces of the expression that ‘one affliction is better than thousands of advice’. Although the theme of plague are used as a metaphor in the service of a threatened social identity by a divine power or powers, the analysis of the relevant texts also offers some scientific explanations concerning the nature of plagues and its effects on the society. The evidence in these texts also shows that ancient Greeks were suffering from plagues before the Trojan Wars, supposed to have occurred during the second half of the XIIIth century.

Keywords

• Plague
• Homer
• Sophocles
• Metaphor
• Ancient Hellenic Literature

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