Editing Ichor (section)

==In medicine==
In [[pathology]], "ichor" is an antiquated term for a watery [[Pus|discharge from a wound or ulcer]], with an unpleasant or [[wiktionary:fetid|fetid]] (offensive) smell.<ref>
{{cite dictionary 
 |title = Ichor 
 |type = definition
 |dictionary = Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedia
 |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ichor
}}
</ref> 

The Greek [[Christianity|Christian]] writer [[Clement of Alexandria]] deliberately confounded ''ichor'' in its medical sense as a foul-smelling watery discharge from a wound or ulcer with its mythological sense as the blood of the gods, in a polemic against the pagan [[Greek gods]]. As part of his evidence that they are merely mortal, he cites several cases in which the gods are wounded physically, and then asserts that

<blockquote>if there are wounds, there is blood. For the ichor of the poets is more repulsive than blood; for the putrefaction of blood is called ichor.<ref name="ClementExhort">
{{cite book
 |last=Clement of Alexandria
 |chapter=Protrepticus
 |title=Exhortation to the Heathen
 |url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-exhortation.html
 |access-date=16 December 2016
}}
</ref></blockquote>