I would suggest we to keep to the Bronze Age concepts of disease and
illness. The modern ideas of pathogens, to me anyway, suck out the ongoing
fear of a malady that strikes from "nowhere". While there might be
understanding that a well is "polluted" and a forbidden swamp is "unclean",
the description of illness as a physical entity which breeds and transmits
itself through predictable vectors is a distinctly modern concept.
My understanding of Bronze Age sickness that it is a type of curse that
affects the body, one that is generally avoidable by holding to a culture's
taboos, but potentially can strike the victims without warning even if they
have followed all of the rules of survival.
Humans have a great fear of the unknown (disease which can strike with no
reason or identifiable cause) and things they cannot control or avoid (even
the strongest can fall victim). To me, it is little surprise that Malia
receives propitory worship, given that it is the only method which suggest a
course of action people can follow.
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