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Thucydides pericles funeral oration and inaugural address
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Thucydides pericles funeral oration and inaugural address
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Pericles, who was Greek, can be biased in his statement because as a leader, he needs to win the people’s support. Therefore, he can only say the glories of Athens. Document 5 supports Document 4’s statement. Document 5 talks about the details of the Athenian government. It tells the reader “No one remained in power long enough to entrench himself”
After the Persian war and having spent money for the Delian League, the individuals living in ancient Greece must have found themselves hoping for a better future. The Periclean Building Program was introduced by Pericles in hopes of beautifying Athens, building temples, and providing free theater. While this has its benefits, there were some drawbacks to this program such as using the money meant to defend the city-states in the Delian League. The debate groups were able to use both pros and cons to argue the future of their city states. While facing the audience the participants of the debate used two very effective ways to sway the opinions of the audience.
Being alive to witness the events that occurred in and around fifth century B. C. E. Greece meant that Thucydides could not help but write down his experiences. The Athenians of Greece and the people of the Persian Empire were constantly at odds with each other, and these differences eventually led to the Peloponnesian war. This war lasted from 431-404 B.C.E. and began an era of conflict between the two peoples (Bulliet). This power struggle not only inflated the ego of the Athenians, but created many negative viewpoints of the Persians. Thucydides, being an Athenian, was therefore extremely biased against the Persians.
Around 460 BCE a man named Thucydides lived to experience and record the historical storyline the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides was an Athenian, unbiased, historian that is best known for the way he structurally reconciled information from the Peloponnesian War and is credible for the most reliable source that chronicled the war. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient epic poem regularly deemed as the first great work of literature, gives civilization a definition to the people of ancient Mesopotamia (Earth of Its Peoples, 26). Gilgamesh, the ultimate leader of Uruk, pursues immortality throughout his journey, exemplifying his power and educating himself on humankind along the way. If a fellow Athenian were to recite the Epic of Gilgamesh to Thucydides, he would likely
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 Athenians clearly have pride in their country, but this pride has caused them to believe that they have the right to rule over anyone they desire to. After the Melians reject their proposal, Athens’s response is to immediately enact a siege and not long afterwards, kill all the Melians. This is in strict contrast with the seemingly benevolent Athens that spared the Mytilenians or even that Pericles described as being considerate to all nations (2.39). Here, the Athenian praise on their country is used to justify their desire to expand their empire. They believe they are worthy of this expansion because they are so
Thesis: Pericles achieved all three goals that he had set through the use of democracy and help from the Delian League. Although he reached his goals, they didn’t last for very long because the soon-to-be conquerors, the Spartans, would soon leave Athens in Ruins. Pericles’ first goal was to strengthen the democracy. He increased the number of public officials that an income. Before this act, most public officials didn’t receive a salary, and only the most wealthy citizens could become an official.
In Pericles’ speech, he appeals to the desiring and spirited parts of the tripartite soul. He starts his speech by entrancing the desiring parts of the soul by promising to “satisfy the individual wishes and expectations” of all those present at the funeral (Thuc. 2.35). This shows that Pericles wants each person to receive pleasure and comfort in their lives. He also feeds on the desiring part of the soul by saying “Famous men have the whole earth as their tomb” (Thuc. 2.43). Pericles appeals to the spirited part of the soul by encouraging the soldiers to “look day after day on the manifest power of [the] city, and become her lovers” (Thuc. 2.43).
In Thucydides’ On Justice, Power, and Human Nature, Alcibiades proves himself to be a persuasive orator. He capitalizes on his mastery of Athenian rhetoric by using his oration skills to sway the Athenian masses in favor of embarking on the Sicilian expedition. Additionally, he utilizes his skills to persuade the Spartans to accept and trust him even though he had just betrayed Athens. Alcibiades is able to manipulate both the Athenians and Spartans; two different cultures with opposing stances on the value of sophistry, into supporting him by using his grasp of Athenian rhetoric to transform his weak arguments into persuasive speeches.
For thousands of years, individuals recorded events behind the rise and fall of great nations. Among historians, notables recognize Polybius of Arcadia as the most notable authority on ancient Roman history during the period following the third Punic war. This is the period after 146 BCE, which followed Rome’s completion in conquering the civilized world and includes the destruction of Carthage. Leaders of nations in the western world should study Polybius historical writings to gain insight on how to avoid the pitfalls of the histories of Carthage and Rome.
The goal of this paper is to discuss the teaching of the Holy Trinity, and how it presents the distinctively Christian understanding of God. In order to address such a vast topic, I will take a particular angle on it, and focus on the exposition of the Holy Trinity as found in Irenaeus from Lyon's On the Apostolic Preaching. As we shall see in detail it is Irenaeus view that the incarnation of the Son and belief in Jesus as God Saviour implicates necessarily a Trinitarian understanding of God. Accordingly, Irenaeus supports the Trinitarian teaching as a way to explain and support a Christian understanding of God’s economy – that is, as climaxing with the life of Jesus.
This essay will be explaining the ways in which tyranny was a good thing for Greek states across the Mediterranean during the 6th, 5th, and 4th centuries BC. In the first instance, What tyranny is and how some of the Greek States were, in general, before tyranny will be explained. Additionally, examples of two tyrants from two different locations will be discussed. Finally, why and how tyranny came to be seen as a bad thing will be discussed. Tyranny
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.
Pericles, a key political figure of 5th century Athens states, “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” The Athenians had no desire to follow what appeared as mediocre government, the Athenians pushed for the best form they could find. Arete, for Athens, meant every person had a voice in politics. Politics embraces the reason of the mind as well as the emotion of the heart. Therefore, the very essence of a good human being would lie in being a politically active person.
An example of Pericles’s cautiousness is his choice of military policy. He decided to play to Athens’ strengths be was based upon the principle that Athens' predominance depends upon having the
