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What Is Thucydides Peloponnesian Dialogue?

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Thucydides, The Melian Dialogue, The Peloponnesian War, pp.348-357, First publication 431 BC, originally a Athenian edition
Melian dialogue is part of the fifth book of the works of the eminent Greek historian Thucydides entitled '' Peloponnesian War ''. It is a very important historical source of knowledge on the war between Athens and Sparta, which took place in the years 431-404 BC The aforementioned piece is very valuable because it is the foundation of realism as a theory in international relations and is the subject of numerous studies conducted by specialists in many fields of science, among others: history, political science or literary criticism.
Thucydides in the passage which is Melian Dialogue describes main views on international …show more content…

A very important element is the ability to ask the question whether it has a relationship with the contemporary international politics? Are the reasons for actions change? Is modus operandi still the same? The answer is obvious. Despite the very large gap of time between the publication '' Peloponnesian War '' and today human nature was unchanged, people still thinking only about their own interests, the benefits that can be achieved for her/himself, without wondering whether our actions are for other people fair or whether our actions are within the limits of morality. The only difference in warfare is about more sophisticated technical achievements. Nowadays, it is not necessarily to use the army to seize power or land of another state. The actions taken by the Athenians have no longer apply, nobody sells women and children in captivity, nobody kills all the men from conquered lands. The current war is not the same as war more than 2,000 years ago, technological progress went ahead, the main themes of conflicts is oil, where the state turning the fight for control of these areas due to the raw materials there occurring, not on the desire for a larger territory, as it was in the case of Athens. Therefore, it is not always worth the effort to lead the

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Speaker: The author and the speaker of the article are both Christopher Xenopoulos Janus. Christopher Xenopoulos Janus talks from a third-person limited point of view. Janus studied at Harvard and Oxford and later served in war aid programs in Cairo and Athens, which may have further educated him about Greek matters. Occasion: The article describes the lifestyles of people that lived in ancient Greece, dating back to as far as around the 4th century B.C. The author may have been prompted to write the article due to the recent discovery of ancient Greek findings.

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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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Thucydides is the author of Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War was a direct and indirect conflict between Sparta and Athens that lasted from 460-404 BCE. Thucydides fought for Athens during the Peloponnesian War and was later exiled by Athens. Thucydides was writing about something that he participated in and the Peloponnesian War became the first contemporary history. Thucydides also made use of eyewitness reports from people who were participants in the war.

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In Richard Crawley’s translated version of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference” share the similarity of the Athenian representative using rich rhetoric and the differences of perspective of Athens. In both the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference,” the Athenians uses graceful rhetoric in order to disguise its military intentions. Before Pericles acknowledges the dead soldiers and their mourning family, he praises Athens on their beauty and intellect (Book 2 Funeral Oration of Pericles 40). He also denounces Sparta, the enemy, for their military policies.

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This dialogue is aimed at finding the true meaning of rhetoric by trying to identify and expose the defects of sophism synonymous in Athens during the period. Conventional Athens revered the ability to persuade people in political and legal fields, and this is the reason for

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The polis of Greece did not come together lightly. It was a struggle to obtain and maintain unity. Everyone wanted different things and wanted the country to go in different directions. Not only this, but everyone wanted to be king (142) I avm now adding in extra words and coloring them white to up my word

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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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men will do anything to have sex. Men are constantly thirsty for women because of their desperation for sex. How desperate are they? Enough to end a war. Lysistrata, during the time of the Peloponnesian war, used their power of sex to end the war.

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Both “Pericles’ Funeral Oration” transcribed by Thucydides and “The Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel demonstrate desire for a redefined culture: a culture geared towards a better societal attitude. Though both speeches address the need to honor peoples who have died (Pericles to those who have died in the Peloponnesian War; Wiesel to those who have died in the Holocaust) and invoke various feelings ranging from sorrow to pride, the manner in which both speeches present so differs slightly. The speeches use variations of tones that appeal to the audience in such a way that emphasizes their main idea. In “Pericles’ Funeral Oration”, Pericles praises Athens, especially its democracy, in contrast to Sparta’s.

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However, the Greeks returned to their incessant warfare once their common enemy was defeated. Greek soldiers were the leading warriors of their time, often defeating enemies even when they were outnumbered . Rome had a heavy army but they lost a lot of soldiers in

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Well, this essay speaks about that very thing. The Ancient Greeks were strong and smart when it came to military forces. They had tough weapons and genius fighting tactics. Many of the soldiers were called hoplites and were armed with a long spear, a large shield, and up to seventy pounds of armor.

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In The History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides famously describes the devastating epidemic that hit Athens which killed nearly a third of the Athenian population, including the famous general Pericles. The History can be quite a useful source if one wish to know the hardships the Athenians faced when the disease ravaged Athens as it is essentially an eye-witness account since Thucydides himself was infected for a time. But as an objective medical record it would be best to look elsewhere since Thucydides’ terms regarding the epidemic are imprecise. Thucydides, surely being familiar with the Hippocratic theory, did not assume there was a divine cause but did not give a cause and effect for the illness.

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In Isocrates Address to Philip of Macedonia, he found “that on no other condition could Athens remain at peace, unless the greatest states of Hellas should resolve to put an end to their mutual quarrels and carry the war beyond our borders into Asia...to wrest from the barbarians the advantages which they now think it proper to get for themselves at the expense of the Hellenes” (Isocrates). The barbaric, omnipresent influence of the Persians, which Isocrates and the rest of the Greek world felt was truly responsible for their misfortunes was quickly recognized by Philip as an fruitful opportunity for magnifying his power and authority over Greek affairs. The motivation to punish the Persians for the glory of Greece was not the ultimate goal of Philip as stated by the historian Polybius who perceived that Philip “reckoned on the cowardice and indolence of the Persians…further fixing his eyes on the splendor of the great prizes which the war promised… seizing on the pretext that it was his urgent duty to take vengeance on the Persians for the injurious treatment of the Greeks” (qtd. in Fredericksmeyers). The Persian characterization was powerful in conjuring intense emotions among both Macedonians and Greeks, creating an avenue for

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The ancient approach to war is not entirely different from how the Second World War was fought. In both instances,

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