Sparta was perhaps the first totalitarian state in history and our founding fathers would have learned of it through the work and writings of Plutarch. Sparta was a warrior society that believed in individual sacrifice for the common good. Studying this history allowed them to learn “about the strengths and weaknesses of republics that emphasize the collective good over individual rights”(23). What the founders derived from this, Richard argues, is that they “preferred to rest their republic on the natural rights of individuals, even while urging sacrifice for the common good”(23). Samuel Adams admired spartan “frugality, selflessness, valor, and patriotism” (31) so much that he hoped that the city of Boston would evolve into a “christian Sparta”(31).
For example, Plutarch describes it as "…the grace of his eloquence, the beauty of his person, the strength and valiantness of his body, joined together with his wisdom and experience in martial affairs, were the very causes that made them to bear with him all things, and that the Athenians did patiently endure all his light parts, and did cover his faults, with the best words and terms they could," (Plutarch 103). This shows a bitter sweet moment in Athens history. They wanted to stay aligned with their values and morals, but the most they could do was be contempt with the way Alcibiades was acting. This shows us that they would risk their empire to remain in power and that their lust for this greed is what leads to their downfall. This was prior to them getting ready to go to war with Sicily.
Undyingly, Veidt’s desire to follow the path of Alexander the Great is detailed as “I was determined to measure my success against his” (356, 11). Certainly, Veidt’s obsession with having power is directly seen through his aspiration to become an equal to Alexander the Great. Like, the powerful ruler of Macedonia, Veidt wants to “cut the Gordian Knot”, or in his specific case, save society. Consequently, Veidt's Gordian Knot is what deters him down the path of corruption. Veidt wants to be all-powerful so badly that he will take any action to achieve this power, even if it is detrimental to society, exemplified through his utilitarian killing in order to as he believed, save society.
The question of whether or not globalization benefited everyone after World War Two ( 1945-present) can be a hard question to answer. But I’m here to tell you about the positive benefits of globalization after the war. Although there were many negative impacts, there were many positive impacts such as increased income and life expectancy. Globalization After the war, there were tremendous changes in income. The graph (in document 3) shows the sky rocket of income from 1800 where most people were taking home a salary below the poverty line, then increasing during 1975 where more people were making enough money to barely surpass the poverty line but leaving thousands still in poverty.
Pericles argues that Athens has become a model for others, and articulates what it is to be a good citizen. This can be seen when he says, “although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (Thucydides, 2.39) It proves that Ancient Athens’ valued greatness and worked in order to achieve the excellence of the state, by focusing on rebuilding themselves back up after the Persian war. Pericles played a big role in this because he showed his ambitions to rebuild Athens, which lead to the thriving of other subjects such as literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion.
Gary Mottershead once said, “ A bad system, can destroy good people.” Throughout the world, we can see leaders progressively gaining more control each year, and it isn’t a good thing.. Powerful leaders can evoke a state of fear, and create destruction. In “Antigone”, Creon, the new king of Thebes, uses his power in a negative way, to use the people’s fear against them.
The Sicily Expedition was historically defined as a Athenian military campaing to Sicily in 415-413 BC. Thucydides described this expedition in his «History of the Peloponnesian War» books VI-VII. Thucydides (471-401 BC) the ancient Greek historian and chronicler, his work «History of the Peloponnesian War» is an illustration of Political Realism paradigm and its primary original source. The main ideas of Political Realism concept -states as main actors, anarchy, power, state interest and security, can be found in Thucydides work. The Sicily Expedition played a significant role in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) and had reflections in modern International Relations.
Today, many of the world’s government structures were based on the principle of one of Greece’s city-states. Greece became a country advancing well before its time, strong in both military and brain power. This country was able to produce two city-states that became foundations to advancing the rest of the world. The first city-state, Athens, is thought to be the first to implement a democratic government while Sparta became known for their military power. While Athens and Sparta provide the world with advancements they differ in the ways of government structures, social motivations, and cultural differences.
Bothered by Socrates’ logic, Thrasymachus presents a revised version of his previous argument. Thrasymachus says that injustice is stronger than justice and that it most definitely results in a happier life. The example he uses (of a powerful dictator who is made happy through injustice is a reference to his earlier example that justice is used to the advantage of the stronger). Thrasymachus has not greatly changed the principle of his argument, just using alternate examples.
A demagogue, defined by Michael Signer, is a “political figure who fashioned themself as [a] leader of the masses and who would go to almost any extreme to hold and expand their power” (2009, p. 20) . This is not a new idea. As M. I. Finely covers in their work “Athenian Demagogues,” the writer Thucydides discussed the demagoguery of the fall of Athens in the 400s B.C. Many other nations throughout history have also been exposed to this system of power. In America, this term, since 2011 , began to gain relevance as Donald J. Trump, of television and business fame, rose to power as the forty-fifth president of the United States.
Introduction The history of Western civilization was influenced by the Ancient Greece in more than a few ways, for instance, they inspired various achievements that shaped the early foundation of civilization in the west, and other parts of the world. Some of these developments arose during renaissance and industrial revolution, and impacted on various aspects of the modern world including philosophy, politics, education, and religion. Essentially, the Greeks accomplished great feats in these aspects of life, and the Ancient Greek Culture is popularly known as the birthplace of Western civilization. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the ancient Greek’s political structure played an important role in the world history considering the fact that it had a noteworthy influence on Western Civilization.
All was given to the freedom of the fatherland, leaving very few free themselves. However, as Plutarch notes, this lack of freedom to live by one’s whims is not a lack of excellence, but rather a more pure and base form of excellence. The Spartan’s may not have valued true freedom as arete, but instead found arete in the practical, which in turn, made them into a great city that was to be
Nicole Tschida ENG 210 Paper 1 2-26-18 The Iliad and The Consequences of War The plot of the Iliad takes place in the middle of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans that lasted for ten years. This conflict according to Homer and ancient Greek mythology occurred because the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, the wife of Menelaus, brother to king Agamemnon. In this paper, I will be examining the consequences of war, as outlined by Homer.
Their claim to power and how it gives them the right to whatever they want shows their signs of savagery. Them ignoring the natural justice and carrying out their campaign regardless of who or what stood in their way was nothing short of brutal. After the dialogue they proceed to attack Melos which resulted in an Athenian victory, but they still showed no mercy. They killed all the grown men and sold the women and children into slavery in their quest for expansion. Human nature showed its true colors in these two events and proved that without restraint, human nature coupled with power can be
The actions inspired by vengeance and justice in Homer’s Iliad shows how detrimental the effects can be on others. The Justice seeked by warlike Menelaus causes pain and suffering to many on all sides of the war. Paris by abducting Helen hurt Menelaus’s pride, “Menelaus had in mind taking revenge on the man who’d injured him” (Homer, Iliad 3. 26-27). Seeking this revenge Menelaus
