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Thucydides On The Peloponnesian War

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It could be said that it all started during the Greek ancient times as they first develop the concept of The Art of War through the eyes of the historian Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War. In which, although he was not a political philosopher, he was able to observe what has become the “ins-and-outs” of international relation policy making through the means of war. For Thucydides it was clear that politicians acted in an egoistic manner as they abused of their authoritarian state powers, (please let keep in mind that these people were the “educated-intellectual” of society), by disregarding inter-relations with other states and carry-on with their self-interest, questioning on a moral or amoral principles of human natures knowledge of right or wrong doing, as this was shadow by an inner vein superior strength. …show more content…

It is important to mention two may concepts that are apply, one is the idea of national security as this promotes the perpetual struggle of states inter-cooperation in the long term in their pursue of strong economy and military power provoking a paranoia reaction where every state looks for itself. The second idea is the concept of maintain a balance of power between international powers by making use of real politick theory and developing inter-state policies on the basis of pragmatism other than ideological in effort to promote peace in avoidance of

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The Athenian City State objectives had two overarching strategies during the Peloponnesian War. The strategies had different requirements of the means that the City State had to provide, which either increase or decrease the risks assumed by Athens. Pericles strategy at the start of the Peloponnesian War was driven off the objective to preserving the empire. The follow on leaders Cleon and Nicias, strategies shifted from defending to growth of the Empire that eventually contributed to its downfall.

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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

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While talking about the end of the Greek democracy, we have to talk about the Pericles, Thucydides, and "The Peloponnesian Wars". Ordinarily, Pericles was the famous Democratic leader of the Athens. He was also well known for this great speech. Regardless of being the famous leader, talented politicians like Pericles and Themistocles mostly dominated the Athenian politics in order to get supported on their own agenda and policies by the majority in the assembly.

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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.

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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

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How does fear influence a person’s individual actions and decisions? In most cases, extreme fear makes people act in an emotional way, whether that be good or bad. Thucydides takes this human nature characteristic one step further and argues that humans act out of self-interest. This human nature plays an imperative role in the function of a Democracy. The unique aspect of democracy is that power lies with the people.

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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.

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Thucydides was an Athenian historian that wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War. His account of the conflict is considered a classic and is one of the earliest works of history. When analyzing his work, there are multiple ways to view it. It can be looked at as an objective piece of history that attempts to record the events that unfolded. But it can also be seen as a piece of literature that tries to tell a story and evoke emotion through symbolism rather than be a historical recording.

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