When Thucydides says “war is a stern teacher,” he is referring to how war strips people of their choices, and leads them to make more brutal decisions that they would normally never make. War, particularly for the Athenians in History of the Peloponnesian War, means the degradation of their higher society, as war has taken away their choices. Homer, however, does not depict a cultural change occurring. Instead, it is a change of the individual, as Achilles learns that kleos and geras will only lead to destruction. War teaches him philotes, caring for those other than himself. Although, Achilles shows only a moment of this, before he shows returns back to his rage. So it could be argued that Homer does not believe that war teaches anything, …show more content…
This is see when the civil war breaks out in Corcyra, and when the Athenians decided “put to death all the men of military age…and sold all the women and children as slaves,” and effectively end the Melian race. (Thucydides 5.116) This echoes the actions that the Spartans took against the Plataenas. Athenians prided themselves on being above the Spartans, believing that they had more restraint, and were above senseless killing in a way that the Spartans were not. This occurs earlier when Athenians debate the fate of the Melians they say “then we on our side will use no fine phrases” (Thucydides 5.89) which mimics the Spartan preference for avoiding long speeches something they voiced when they said, “[we] do not understand these long speeches which the Athenians make.” (Thucydides 1.86) As the war continues on, the Athenians begin to lose the identity they have built for themselves and begin to conform to the ideals of the Spartans. War destroys all that Athens is, and the lesson it teaches them is that at the heart of humanity, survival is the only thing that matters, everything else is