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| ==Origin== | | ==Origin== |
| New Latin, from [[Greek]], defilement, from ''miainein'' to [[pollute]] | | New Latin, from [[Greek]], defilement, from ''miainein'' to [[pollute]] |
− | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_century 1665] | + | *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_century 1665] |
| ==Definitions== | | ==Definitions== |
| *1: a vaporous exhalation formerly believed to cause [[disease]]; also : a heavy vaporous [[emanation]] or atmosphere <a ''miasma'' of tobacco smoke> | | *1: a vaporous exhalation formerly believed to cause [[disease]]; also : a heavy vaporous [[emanation]] or atmosphere <a ''miasma'' of tobacco smoke> |
| 2: an [[influence]] or [[atmosphere]] that tends to deplete or [[corrupt]] <freed from the miasma of [[poverty]] — Sir Arthur Bryant>; also : an atmosphere that [[obscures]] : [[fog]] | | 2: an [[influence]] or [[atmosphere]] that tends to deplete or [[corrupt]] <freed from the miasma of [[poverty]] — Sir Arthur Bryant>; also : an atmosphere that [[obscures]] : [[fog]] |
| ==Description== | | ==Description== |
− | In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology Greek mythology], a '''miasma''' is "a [[contagious]] [[power]] ... that has an independent life of its own. Until [[purged]] by the [[sacrificial]] [[death]] of the wrongdoer, [[society]] would be chronically infected by [[catastrophe]]." | + | In [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology Greek mythology], a '''miasma''' is "a [[contagious]] [[power]] ... that has an independent life of its own. Until [[purged]] by the [[sacrificial]] [[death]] of the wrongdoer, [[society]] would be chronically infected by [[catastrophe]]." |
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− | An example is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atreus Atreus] who invited his brother [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyestes Thyestes] to a delicious stew containing the [[bodies]] of his own sons. A ''miasma'' contaminated the entire [[family]] of Atreus, where one violent [[crime]] led to another, providing fodder for many of the Greek heroic tales. However, attempts to cleanse a [[city]] or a society from ''miasma'' may have the opposite effect, that of reinforcing the miasma. | + | An example is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atreus Atreus] who invited his brother [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyestes Thyestes] to a delicious stew containing the [[bodies]] of his own sons. A ''miasma'' contaminated the entire [[family]] of Atreus, where one violent [[crime]] led to another, providing fodder for many of the Greek heroic tales. However, attempts to cleanse a [[city]] or a society from ''miasma'' may have the opposite effect, that of reinforcing the miasma. |
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| [[Category: Mythology]] | | [[Category: Mythology]] |