Changes

==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]]."

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.

[[Category: Mythology]]

[[Category: Mythology]]