Citation

Avramidis S. Int. J. Aquatic Res. Educ. 2009; 3(4): 422-431.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Bowling Green State University)

DOI

10.25035/ijare.03.04.09

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to describe the prevalence of drowning as a cause of death in the mythology and ancient Greek history and under what circumstances it occurred. From all the names and references (n = 40,000) recorded in a database of the ancient and mythological Greek literature (Devouros, 2007), the number of drowning incidents was identified: n = 37, 17 males (45.94%), 6 females (16.22%), and 14 reports of multiple casualties (37.84%). The review of the database confirmed that drowning was attributed to "acts of demigod" but was more often due to human accidental submersion or to "acts of God" such as disasters like heavy rain, flooding, or tsunamis. Based on this review, the causes and rates of drowning (down from 57.5 to 2.69 per 100,000 population) may have changed through the centuries, but death by drowning remains a major health problem in Greece.

Language: en