... "History of the Peloponnesian War", Thucydides juxtaposes his factual account of the plague to Pericles' Funeral Oration that praises the grandeur of Athens with no reference to the gods. For the historian, this juxtaposition and the plague itself are used as tools to criticize the instability of democracy as a form of government that solely relies on the decisions of the self-interested demos, and the tragic repercussions that this implies. Thus, the plague allows him to analyze not only human virtue and honor, but also human response to adversity, and namely democracy's failure in maintaining order in time of crisis. On the other hand, his contemporary, Sophocles, in the tragedy of "Oedipus Rex" - written shortly after the plague occurred - dramatizes not only Oedipus' harmatia, but he is highly conscious of the increasing social and political confusion of Periclean Athens. The consequences of the plague make him realize the ...

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