Interestingly, this war against Sparta, also known as the First Peloponnesian War, was due to the Athenians trying to unify all of Greece under a democracy. Pericles informs the people that they deomcratically voted to go war under his leadership and that if they keep fighting and directing rage to him and each other, that they would be their own undoing. He unifies the people to remember who their real enemy is and that they must all stay strong together and help each other stay
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
In Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, Athens invaded the Spartan island of Melos. The Athenian king was determined to conquer Melos, one of the weaker islands surrounding them rather than let them be neutral. The citizens of Athens perceived neutrality as a sign of weakness, which could later cause his subjects to rise against him. Athens presents the Melians with a choice of becoming their vassals or for the Athenians to decimate Melian territory. After rejecting the cruel offer, Athens considered Melos an enemy of war, besieging the small island.
Alcibiades is the most responsible for the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War over Pericles, Lysander, and Nicias. Due to Alcibiades inability to remain loyal to a single nation, his selfish desires, and his repeated manipulation to maneuver situations into his favor, Alcibiades tactics made detrimental impact on the outcome of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles was seen as incorruptible and as a virtuous leader (Plut. Pericles 2). Nicias was hesitant to endanger men’s lives and was not one support a spontaneous or an ill-conceived plans (Plut. Nicias 6).
Also, Thucydides is usually viewed as one of the first true historians, because he was able to write from a direct take as it happened without romance. Thucydides was exiled in 424 since he failed to carry out a task. During exile he got information from many eye witnesses. He puts a great value on eyewitness testimony, however Thucydides recognized that it could be unreliable because two people could have different accounts on the same situation. In The Landmark Thucydides (2008) Robert Strassler mentions that, Thucydides illustrates that the funeral ceremonies as, “the dead are laid in the public sepulcher in the most beautiful suburb of the city, in which those who fall in war are always buried,” (Strassler, 110).
The Peloponnesian War was fought from 431-404 BCE in ancient Greece by the two most powerful city-states, Athens and Sparta. Military commander and politician, Alcibiades, son of Clinias, was well-born and wealthy. He was, on one hand, the most handsome, a great orator, patient, hard-working, skilled, and generous man; however, he was lustful, of bad moral character, and easily angered (Nepos, Alcibiades, (Albert Fleckeisen, 1886), chapter 1). During the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades led the Athenians, but once he was convicted of defacing the Hermae, he fled to Sparta out of fear of death, betraying Athens. Once at Sparta, he helped the Spartans lead in the war; however, eventually, the Spartans feared that Alcibiades would soon betray them
Written in Classical Greek, it has been translated into dozens of languages, including Old English and modern English, and kept the ancient traditions, morality, and stories alive centuries after the author’s passing. As the “Father of History”, Herodotus holds a status of academic immortality, and through his work we have a foundation for how to keep record of history for future generations to know and almost place themselves in those times. What reading Clio has reminded me of is the importance of history to the world, and how this book and its eight brethren were the blueprints for all future historical writings. It shows how well recordkeeping can stand the test of time, and how keeping information and knowledge of the past can continue to teach and shape the
How Did The Peloponnesian War Start? By Molly M Deen Thesis! The Peloponnesian War started because the Spartans were jealous of the wealth and power the Athens had.
Biases and Their Consistencies in Greek History Humans have made notable accomplishes for many centuries. Only recently in human history, recently being the start of civilization, did people start recording events. As a species we naturally have a bias, be that toward our culture or an ideology. Thucydides and Herodotus both had distinct source types as well as biases, but conform to them in different ways reflective of their different writing styles.
Thucydides’ Work as an Accurate Depiction of History In Thucydides’ historical narrative, The History of the Peloponnesian War, the author shares an account of the struggles ancient Greeks faced to obtain power over both their enemies and allies. Due to Thucydides’ dedication to writing a historically accurate and objective depiction of the Peloponnesian War, the account that he shares is a valuable piece of historical text as it is intended to inform and guide future audiences. To start, Thucydides created a piece that brought together many different sources, speeches, and points of view into one place.
To accurately conclude why this war has begun, Herodotus must tell both sides of the story even when delivering this narrative to just the Athenians. It is essential to attempt to recall the information unbiasedly so that the conclusion reached is also unbiased. Although the opposition rulers were different in approaches to gaining the throne and reign over Persia, they both had the same conquest in mind: total and ultimate power. Although, this is not ever directly stated by Herodotus; nor are their overwhelming negative personality traits. For example, Cambyses is an impulsive evil king with no respect for the living or dead, “He ordered that the corpse be whipped, plucked of its hair, stabbed, and subjected to every other kind of outrage as well” (Herodotus, page 214).
Well, Sparta's main goal in the Peloponnesian War was to retain its hegemonic status in the Greek world. In an effort to keep Athens from assuming an excessive amount of power, Sparta worried about the expansion of Athenian influence and power. As it sought to stop Athens from gaining more power and influence in the Greek world, Sparta's campaign against Athens was mainly defensive in nature. Rome on the other hand waged more expansionist wars against the city-states of Italy and the city of Carthage.
Patterson’s argument that our modern definition of freedom and its three chords: sovereignal, civic, and personal; is clearly seen in Thucydides’ “funeral oration” in the work History of the Peloponnesian War. The first of the Patterson’s chords is sovereignal or sovereignty, the ability for a group of people to govern themselves. Thucydides communicates this idea in the following manner, “and a keen feeling of honour in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valour,”(Thucydides, 3). Sovereignty here is gain through sacrifice.
The Peloponnesian War lasted three decades, from 431 BC - 404 BC. Thucydides, an Athenian historian and commander in the early years of the war, documented the entire war. Virtually all of our knowledge of the Peloponnesian War comes from Thucydides. Local allegiances to the two cities ensured that all of Greece participated. In addition to the disagreement over the form of government, Sparta feared the increasing power Athens gained as the capitol of Greece.
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.
