The Second War began when the Spartan King Archimedes II laid siege to the city of Plataea. The Athenians were able to hold their position until 427 B.C.E., when the city fell. During that time, a revolt by the Spartans as taking place at Mytilene, which put additional pressure on Athens. While they defended and successfully extinguished that revolt, the Athenians made additional progress into Peloponnese, by sea, as well as Italy, by land. Athens’ success eventually ended when they were defeated in an attempt to recover Amphipolis in 422 B.C.E.
The historian Thucydides described himself as a wealthy Athenian general whose exile to the Peloponnese allowed him to personally observe, from both the sides of the conflict, a comprehensive account of the Peloponnesian War. Book 1 in Thucydides’ “History of the Peloponnesian War” is dedicated to explaining over fifty years of the events and proceedings that led to the abandonment of the Thirty Year’s Peace and subsequent war. In Book 1 he identifies four main incidents, which I shall refer to as ‘grievances’, regarding the conduct of Athens towards both their Delian members and the Peloponnesian allies. Yet he also mentions what he deems to be a more ‘real’ truth than these four grievances that led to Sparta and the Peloponnese going to
There were 300 Spartans commanded by their king, Leonidas and 6,000 soldiers from other city-states against the Persian army of 100,000 men. The small Greek force held their position for two days till a Greek traitor told Xerxes of another path that was used by local people. Using this pass, the Persians passed through the mountains in secret and trapped the Greeks from the front and behind. On the third day, King Leonidas chose to stay to fight to the end and told the rest of the city-states to run while they still could but the Spartan army would die till the end. Although the Battle of Thermopylae was lost it showed that the Spartans were not afraid of the Persians and brought hope to the rest of the Greek city-states.
Although Pericles’ words strived to inspire and encourage the Athenian people to fight valiantly against Sparta and its allies, they are not enough to embolden the Athenian people onto victory in the Peloponnesian War. His words do motivate Athenians to make tremendous effort in extending their power and defeating Sparta and its allies, but in the end, may have lead to Athenians’ demise. Fostering pride and determination throughout the war, Athens makes several attempts to expand its naval power, but fails in its plan to overtake Syracuse on the coast of Sicily, weakening its efforts against Sparta and its allied city-states. Finally, in the naval battle at Aegospotami, the Spartans have a decisive victory over Athens, and the Athenians eventually surrender, ending the Peloponnesian War.
In “Antigone” Sophocles proves that it is a moral choice to do something that will result in our death if we have a good enough reason to do it because it shows bravery, proves the importance of human rights, and can create role models for
In ancient Greece religion was an important facet of everyday life as well as an essential aspect of warfare and battle. Soldiers in ancient Greece frequently sought support from the deities to ensure a safe and conclusive victory through ritual sacrifice. Sometimes warriors even had to sacrifice multiple times to ensure support, even if this meant postponing battle. Religion did not only dictate the time in which one could begin a battle, but times in which battles could not be fought at all, that is during festivals and religious games. Religion also dictated spaces in which battles could not be fought, in holy sites such as temples, and spaces in which battles should be fought, something that could be decided through the interpretation of religious prophecies.
In the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Pericles argues that actions which are not informed by reasoned talk, speeches, dialogue, or deliberation are not actions worth taking and will ultimately lead to the downfall of Athens. Sophocles’ Ajax is, in some ways, a challenge to Pericles’ claim. Ajax the character is the practical “man of action,” the brave and heroic warrior, whose authority is not rooted in lofty speeches or thoughtful dialogue, but rather in combat, where he always comes out the victor. However, Sophocles opens the play just as the Trojan War has ended, and Achilles arms have been awarded to Odysseus by a tribunal, thus reducing Ajax to a man of words and speeches as he spends most of the play lamenting his situation and condition, often in the form of soliloquys, before taking his own life by falling on his sword. Just as one war has ended, Ajax is thrown
In the tenth year of the Trojan War, Achilles, the greatest fighter for the Achaeans (the Greeks and their allies), is enraged. King Agamemnon, who leads the Achaeans, has brought an illness upon the army by refusing to give up a woman, Chryseis, whom he seized as a prize in a recent battle. Chryseis is the daughter of a priest of the god Apollo. When Agamemnon refuses to give her back in exchange for a ransom, her father calls on the god, and Apollo sends a plague. When Achilles calls on Agamemnon to give up Chryseis in return for future compensation, Agamemnon seems to view the idea of future compensation as unlikely for a warrior who lives moment by moment and demands immediate restoration of his pride by claiming Briseis, the woman Achilles
Essentially, Achilles’ prayer demonstrates how his greed for honor and respect is valued above the lives of his comrades, leading to the loss of many Achaean
One of the major consequences of war is the horrific tragedies that occur. In the Iliad, in book eighteen, when Achilles hears that Hector killed Patroclus he is filled with rage and enters the war seeking vengeance. His rage causes him to kill hundreds of trojans and seek
Homer’s The Iliad proves that Hector and Achilles have vast differences but, their few similarities are some of what we see a lot throughout the epic poem. Both Achilles and Hector have their certain strengths and weaknesses, which are noticeable countless times throughout the conflicts that come up in the Iliad. These two characters have distinct differences in their approaches to fitting the noble form to which they both attempt to achieve. Nevertheless, regardless of their differences and the fact that their armies are rivals and are brought to each other with execration in battle, they also have numerous identical traits which reasonably show the comparison between the two men, Hector and Achilles.
Pride and glory were worth dying for. This is demonstrated through Homer’s book, the Iliad. One of the character that shows this is Achilles
In Homer’s The Iliad, epic hero Achilles serves as an example of how rage, when unchecked, leads to disastrous repercussions. Achilles, though nearly superhuman in his physical abilities, struggles repeatedly to contain his anger. Throughout The Iliad, as Achilles’ fury compounds, the consequences of his actions become catastrophic, eventually leading to the death of his best friend, Patroclus. Although Achilles ultimately chooses to avenge Patroclus’ death and achieve his own kleos, or honor, his rage-driven actions lead to the death of many Achaean soldiers, and change the course of his fate.
Also, although not describe in The Iliad, Achilles went to such extremes after killing Hector, that he even lost his own life in battle (Krause). Not suffering a valiant death as a result of the war, Achilles died once his pride consumed him and encouraged him to kill for entertainment. Completely controlling Achilles, the pride resulting from victory, combined with arrogance and anger create an epic downfall for the once worshiped
The Roman military was extremely strict and well trained. In order to have a well tuned fighting force the Romans favored recruiting young boys at an early age. During training the boys were formed into groups of eight, also known contuberniums, which means a group sharing a tent. This contubernium did everything together forming a close bond between the young boy soldiers. In basic training, these young boys had to march thirty six kilometers in five hours with the added burden of twenty five kilos of equipment.
