The
Peloponnesian War
Genre - History
What we refer to
as myth or legend was considered historical fact by most Greeks
down into and even beyond the fifth century B.C. For example,
the Homeric poems were taken seriously as an historical record
of the past. Indeed, as modern archaeology has shown, there is
a kernel of historical truth in the Iliad that is, a war
did take place at the site of Troy in approximately the same
period as was assigned to it by legend. Nevertheless, it is clear
that the overall account of the Trojan war in the Iliad
is the result of imaginative embellishment of a story told again
and again by generations of poets. It was not until more than
two centuries after the composition of the Homeric poems that
a more scientific form of history developed.
Rational analysis,
which had begun in Ionia1 with the Milesian philosophers
with reference to the universe, gradually extended to include
the recording of human events. Historie, the Greek word
from which our word "history" is derived, means 'inquiry'
and indicates the nature of this new way of dealing with the
past. The recording of human events is no longer the uncritical
retelling of traditional myths and legends, but an account which
is the result of critical evaluation applied to what the author
himself and others have seen and heard.
1Ionia
consists of the central portion of the western coast of Asia
Minor along with the islands off the coast. This area was inhabited
by the Ionian Greeks who had come from the Greek mainland to
escape the Dorian invasions around 1000 B.C. They spoke Ionic
Greek, the basic dialect of the Homeric poems, which were composed
in Ionia. Miletus, the home of the Milesian philosophers, was
one of the principal cities of Ionia.
As in the case of
the Iliad, the medium for myth and legend was poetry.
The artistic language of poetry adorned with various verbal ornaments
suited well the recreation of a legendary world which transcended
ordinary experience. On the other hand, an account of the world,
as everyone contemporary with the author saw and experienced
it, needed prose, a less artificial language and the vehicle
of everyday communication. Thucydides
uses the term "logographers" to refer to the prose
writers who came before and were contemporary with his great
predecessor Herodotus
(c 480-425 B.C.), and criticizes them because they are (1.21
2):
less interested in
telling the truth than in catching the attention of their public,
whose authorities cannot be checked and whose subject-matter,
owing to the passage of time, is mostly lost in the unreliable
streams of mythology.2
Although the writings
of the logographers were flawed as history when judged by Thucydides's
high standards, nonetheless they did not consider themselves
as story tellers in the epic tradition, but as inquirers, whose
aim was to convey the truth to their readers through the application
of rational criticism to their evidence.
2Quotations
from Thucydides are translated by R. Warner (Penguin translation).
All other quotations are translated by the author. The number
before the period refers to the book, and the number(s) after,
to the section(s) of a particular book.
Only a few fragments
of these prose writers survive, but there is one particular logographer
about whom we know more than any other, Hecataeus of Miletus.
He was actively involved in Ionian politics during the time of
the Ionian revolt against the Persians in the early fifth century
and had traveled much in Asia and Egypt. His writings are typical
of the logographers. He wrote a work called Trip Around the
World, which was a description of places and people he saw
on a sea voyage along the coasts of the Mediterranean and the
Black Sea. He also wrote a book named Genealogies, which
dealt with the legends of various heroes and the families (including
his own) that claimed descent from them. The most remarkable
thing about his writings is the spirit of rational criticism
which he applies to his subject matter. Hecataeus refused to
accept gullibly the fantastic stories which had been handed down
from time immemorial. His attitude is evident in the following
fragment from his work: "I write what I consider to be the
truth, since it seems to me that the Greeks tell many stories
which are absurd".
Like Hecataeus, Herodotus,
known as "the father of history", was also a traveler.
He was born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus in south-west
Asia Minor, but left because of political troubles there and
lived for a while on the Ionian island of Samos, in Athens, and
finally in Thurii, an Athenian colony in southern Italy. His
travels outside the Greek world took him to southern Russia,
Egypt and the Middle East. In the manner of the logographers,
his travels are reflected in his Histories which contain accounts
of various non-Greek places and peoples. Although Herodotus depended
very heavily on the oral traditions of lands he visited, he also
used literary sources. For example, he shows a knowledge of Homer
and Hesiod and of the logographers, especially Hecataeus, of
whom he is very critical.
Herodotus's history
owes much to the spirit and organization of the Homeric epic.
Like the Homeric poems, his work centers around various heroes,
is characterized by a looseness of structure brought about by
numerous digressions, and is organized around a central theme,
the great conflict between the Greeks and the Persians in the
early part of the fifth century B.C. Herodotus's purpose, However,
is not only to preserve the memory of the great deeds of the
past, but also to give a rational account of the cause of the
wars. In the introduction of his work he refers to his history
as "the publication of his inquiry (historie)".
His purpose is not merely to chronicle3 events; he
strives to find through inquiry a meaningful pattern in the events
he narrates in order to make their significance clear.
3A
chronicler is a writer who merely records events in chronological
order.
On the other hand,
despite Herodotus's more scientific approach to the writing of
history, his view of the world is basically Homeric. Gods are
still seen as involved in human actions. According to Herodotus,
the Persians lost the war due to their king's attempt to exceed
the limitations of his humanity, an act which arouses the jealousy
of the gods and brings about his downfall. The distinction between
myth and actual historical events is not yet as clear-cut in
Herodotus as it is later in Thucydides. In the beginning of his
work Herodotus cites the Persian account of the origins of the
conflict between the Greeks and Persians involving the stealing
of two Greek women, Io and Helen, by Asiatics and of two Asian
women, Europa and Medea,
by the Greeks in retribution. The rape of Helen
led to the destruction of Troy which aroused the hatred of all
Asia (including the Persians) against the Greeks. All these events
are quite clearly legendary, but Herodotus does not reject them
on these grounds. Instead he refuses to express any judgment
on their truth or falsity and then proceeds to assign the origin
of the Persian wars to the injury which Croesus, an historical
king of Lydia (in Asia Minor) in the sixth century B.C., did
to the Greeks. Although Herodotus does not brand legend as mostly
fiction, his work, as in the previous example, is more often
than not on a solid historical basis. It remained for Thucydides
to banish mythology totally from history and thus create the
first scientific history.
Historical Background
In the sixth century
B.C. the Greeks in Asia Minor had fallen under the control of
the Lydian king Croesus, and later, when Croesus himself was
defeated by the Persian King Cyrus, were forced to become part
of the Persian Empire. In the years 499-494 B.C. the Ionians,
led by the city of Miletus and aided by Athens and the Eretrians,
attempted to revolt against Persia. After some initial successes
the revolt failed and Miletus was burned. Darius, the Persian
king, did not exact severe retribution from the Ionians, but
was determined to get revenge against the Athenians and the Eretrians.
Herodotus reports that when Darius was informed of the Athenian
involvement in the burning of a Persian city, he shot an arrow
into the air while saying: "Zeus,
allow me to punish the Athenians" and ordered one of his
servants to say three times everytime he dined: "Master,
remember the Athenians" (5.105). In 490 Darius sent an invasion
force across the Aegean, which was defeated by the Athenians
on the plain of Marathon
(image). In this glorious victory the Athenians lost only
192 men while over 6000 Persians died. Darius did not survive
to launch another expedition, but his son, Xerxes, in 480 sent
a massive force by land and sea with the object of conquering
all of Greece.
The Greeks under
the leadership of Sparta decided to make a stand against Xerxes's
land forces in northern Greece at the narrow pass of Thermopylae
(image). There 300 Spartans fought bravely, but were overwhelmed
by the great numbers of the Persians, who were aided by a Greek
traitor. The Athenians, realizing that the Persians were unstoppable
on land, abandoned their city to the enemy, who burned the Acropolis.
The Athenians, However, were able to fall back on their large
fleet, which formed almost half of the Greek navy. Through the
machinations of the wise Athenian leader Themistocles, the Greeks
were forced to engage the Persians on the bay of Salamis just
off the coast of Attica, and in the ensuing battle defeated Xerxes's
fleet. The victory was followed by the Greek defeat of the land
army left behind by Xerxes at Plataea in 479.
The Greeks, led by
the Spartan commander Pausanias, decided to pursue their advantage
and liberate the eastern Greeks (chiefly the Ionians) from the
domination of the Persians. After a significant Greek victory
over the Persians in Asia Minor, the Ionians, who had been pressed
into service in the Persian army, joined the Greeks. But the
Greeks, soon finding Pausanias's dictatorial behavior intolerable,
rebelled against their leader and asked Athens to lead them against
the Persians. Athens gladly accepted the role of leader and undertook
to form an alliance under their own presidency as an offensive
and defensive pact against Persia. The Spartans welcomed the
Athenian acceptance of this responsibility because they were
not eager for a long-term involvement in eastern affairs and
were, at that time, on good terms with the Athenians. The basic
purpose of the alliance was to take revenge on the Persians for
their invasions of Greece. The alliance has come to be known
as the Delian League because the temple of Apollo on the island
of Delos, a traditional center of Ionian worship, served as a
meeting place for its Assembly and as the location of the League's
treasury. The Delian League included the islands of the central
Aegean, the islands off the coast of Asia Minor, a few cities
on the coast of Asia Minor, Rhodes, and some cities in Cyprus,
Euboea and the northern Aegean. At its height the League numbered
200 member states. Most of these states were assigned a monetary
contribution to the common fund of the alliance while the more
powerful states contributed manpower and ships. Although Athens
would take the lead in case of war, in peacetime she was considered
only a first among equals. She had only one vote in the Assembly
of allies which determined policy of the league. In the ten year
period 477-467 the alliance freed many Greek cities on the coasts
of the northern Aegean and Asia Minor and expelled Persian garrisons.
While Athens was
consolidating her leadership in the east, at home the walls around
the city, which had been destroyed by the Persians were rebuilt
and the harbor of Piraeus was fortified. Sparta was alarmed by
these fortifications. It was a clear sign that Athens with her
strong navy and the resources of her allies was aiming to challenge
Sparta for the leadership of the Greek world. Sparta's fears
were soon justified. Athens openly revealed her imperialistic
designs when she began to use the Delian League against other
Greek states. In 472 she forced Carystos in Euboea to join the
alliance on the grounds that this city was too near Athens to
remain independent. Two revolts of member states followed in
469 and 465, which were dealt with effectively by the Athenians.
Both cities suffered a fate which was to become typical of rebellious
members of the Delian League: they lost their autonomy and were
forced to pay tribute to Athens instead of making contributions
to the alliance's treasury. Athens welcomed the opportunity to
reduce free states to the status of subject states because through
governors or overseers and garrisons they could exercise tighter
control over these governments. Athens was also anxious to decrease
the number of allies who contributed ships. It was more advantageous
for her that free allies contribute money instead of ships because
she could use that money to build ships, which nominally were
the property of the whole alliance, but in effect became part
of her own fleet. Many allied states, which originally contributed
ships and manpower, gradually became less and less willing to
endure the expense and rigors of military service. These states
played into Athenian hands by voluntarily substituting money
contributions for ships. Ultimately only three states contributed
ships and for this reason remained for most of the fifth century
important independent members of the League: Lesbos, Chios and
Samos.
After a disaster
suffered by the Athenians at the hands of the Persians in Egypt,
Athens dropped all pretense of equal alliance. The common treasury
of the League was transferred from Delos to Athens (454). The
treasury, which had been under the allies' control, now became
part of the Athenian treasury to be used in Whatever way Athens
saw fit. Other evidence of Athenian domination was the requirement
that members of the League use only Athenian coinage, weights
and measures and that all significant court trials involving
citizens of League member states be held in Athens. Perhaps the
most offensive practice in the eyes of the member states was
the settlement of Athenians, who retained their citizenship and
allegiance to Athens, on purchased or confiscated land in allied
states. These settlements enabled Athens through the surveillance
of her citizens to maintain tighter control in important parts
of their empire. This practice not only served to keep subject
allies in line, but was extremely popular at Athens because it
provided land and financial opportunity for the poor at Athens.
In the early years
of the Delian League, Athens was led by the democratic anti-Spartan
Aristides, who was renowned for his fair assessment of allied
monetary contributions to the alliance, and the pro-Spartan Cimon,
who was one of the many aristocratic enemies of the democracy
at Athens. After the death of Aristides in the early 460's, Cimon
was left as the most influential man in Athens, but the democratic
movement at Athens was too strong for him to maintain his influence.
His power at Athens came to an end in the following way. While
Cimon led an expedition to Sparta to help that city put down
a revolt of her serfs, Pericles and a democratic colleague named
Ephialtes introduced reforms which ended the political influence
of a council made up of the two richest classes in the state.
These reforms left the popular Assembly, which was open to every
male over the age of 18, in full control of Athens' destiny and
were welcomed by the middle and lower class Athenians as greatly
diminishing aristocratic influence in government. Two other reforms
of Pericles, pay for political offices and for service on juries,
were enormously popular because they gave poorer citizens the
opportunity for greater participation in the affairs of state.
Cimon upon his return, in a general atmosphere of pro-democratic
and anti-Spartan feeling, was ostracized 4
4Ostracism
was a political process whereby a politician whose policies had
become unpopular could be banished from Athens for a period of
ten years by a vote of the popular Assembly. Ostracism was voted
upon by scratching the name of a politician on a broken piece
of pottery (ostrakon) which served as a ballot.
After the mysterious
murder of Ephialtes in 461, Pericles, a strong advocate of imperialism,
was now the most influential leader at Athens. Under his leadership
Athens extended her empire to include Athens' immediate neighbors,
Boeotia and Megara, the rich island of Aegina just south of Salamis,
and the Achaean cities in the Peloponnesus. In 448, no doubt
at the instigation of Pericles, Athens made peace with Persia.
The purpose of this truce, in which Persia in effect acknowledged
Athens' sea empire, was to allow Athens to maintain her present
control over her allies and subjects and to pursue any further
imperialistic designs without the distraction of the Persian
threat. With the conclusion of the Peace there was no longer
any reason for the existence of the Delian League, but the Athenians
were more determined than ever to hold on to their empire and
to exploit the financial advantages it provided them.
Although it seemed
that Athens had now very effectively consolidated her power,
unrest threatened the stability of her empire. Boeotia, Megara
and Euboea soon revolted (447). To add to Athens' problems, Sparta
took the occasion of the Euboean revolt to invade Attica, but
inexplicably the Spartan forces withdrew without engaging the
Athenians. Pericles, who had come back with his army from Euboea
to deal with the Spartan threat, was thus able to return to Euboea
and put down the revolt. The Athenians now realized that they
must insure themselves against attack by the Spartans, as they
had done with the Persians, and concluded a thirty year peace
treaty with the Spartans.
It was around this
time that Pericles embarked upon a program of rebuilding the
temples that had been burned in the Persian invasion. It was
his policy that, since these temples had been destroyed in an
invasion which was directed against all Greece, the building
program should be financed from the treasury of the Delian league,
which was now located at Athens. There was some resistance to
this policy at Athens among politicians who not only disliked
the democracy, but also were offended by the blatant imperialism
of Pericles. This opposition, However, could not succeed in defeating
an immensely popular building program which would beautify the
city and provide employment for the masses. The Assembly approved
Pericles's plan and, as a result, the great classical monuments
were built which survive as symbols of Athenian imperialism:
the Parthenon with the colossal chryselephantine statue of Athene,
the Erechtheum, the temple of Athene Nike 'victory', the
impressive entrance to the Acropolis (Propylaea), the temple
of Hephaistos,
and the temple of Poseidon
at Sounion.
During the last fourteen
years of his life (443-429) Pericles with his political wisdom
and eloquence completely dominated Athenian politics. He was
elected one of the panel of ten generals every year during this
period and although nominally his power was no greater than that
of each of the other nine, the Athenians willingly committed
their destiny to his direction. As Thucydides writes of the government
of Athens at this time: "so in what was nominally a democracy,
power was really in the hands of the first citizen" (2.65).
Pericles's policies were based on a simple idea: Athenian control
over her empire must be maintained at all costs. In pursuance
of this aim, Pericles, after a long siege, subdued the revolt
of Samos (439), an important independent ally and one of the
few member states still contributing ships to the alliance. Pericles
dealt harshly with this threat to Athenian interests and returned
home a military hero.
Sparta and her Peloponnesian
league decided not to intervene in the conflict between Athens
and Samos, but two incidents involving the Corinthian colonies
of Corcyra and Potidaea brought Athens and the Peloponnesians
to the brink of war. In both cases Corinth (a member of the Peloponnesian
league) took offense at Athenian action. first, in 433, as a
result of a dispute between Corinth and Corcyra involving the
latter's colony Epidamnus, Corcyra formed a defensive alliance
with the Athenians, who then intervened in a naval engagement
between Corcyra and Corinth. secondly, late in 433, Potidaea
in the north Aegean, a member of the Delian league, encouraged
and militarily supported by her mother city Corinth, attempted
to revolt from Athens. The rebellion was put down by Athens only
after a difficult two-year siege. Corinth, motivated by these
offenses in addition to her traditional commercial rivalry with
Athens, instigated the Spartans, already distrustful of Athenian
power, to initiate the hostilities which are the subject of Thucydides's
Peloponnesian War.
|
To learn more about
the ancient authors mentioned in the text above from the Perseus
Encyclopedia, click on their names below.
Aristotle, Aristophanes,
Hecataeus
of Miletus, Herodotus,
Pausanias,
Plato,
Plutarch,
Pythagoras
(5), Sophocles,
Thales,
Thucydides |
EXERCISE FOR READING,
COMPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction -
Book 1.1-23
Why did Thucydides
choose to write a history of the war between Athens and Sparta
(1)? Why was life unsettled in primitive Greece (2)? Why did
Attica5 achieve stability early (2)? What was the
first collective action taken by the Greeks (3)? What names does
Homer use for the Greeks (3)? What name was commonly used in
later times (3)? What is the origin of this name (3)? What was
the achievement of Minos (4)? How did ancient Greek life change
from primitive to more modern times (6)? What effect did the
acquisition of wealth have on the Greek cities and relations
among them (8; 13)?
5Attica
is an area of about 1000 square miles, of which Athens is the
capital.
How was Agamemnon
able to gather together the expedition against Troy (9)? Read
carefully Thucydides's account of the logistical problems of
the Greek army at Troy (11). Briefly compare in a very general
way this account of the war with that of Homer
in the Iliad. What is the most important difference in
the way these two authors view the Trojan war? How did Corinth
achieve prominence (13)? What was the most important result of
the development of naval power (15)? After the Greek victory
over Persia What alliances developed in the Greek world (18-19)?
What criticism does
Thucydides make of Greek oral tradition (20)? of poets and logographers
(21)? What is Thucydides's method with regard to the speeches
included in his work (22)? With regard to his evidence (22)?
What is his purpose in writing history (22)? What is his view
of the cause of the war (23)?
Sparta
In the seventh century
B.C. Spartan political and social life had undergone significant
changes with the introduction of reforms (attributed to a legislator
named Lycurgus), which made Sparta very different from other
Greek states. Perhaps the most striking result of these reforms
was that Spartan males from age seven were required to spend
most of their life in a constant state of military training and
preparedness. The Spartan devotion to military affairs produced
a powerful infantry, which was renowned throughout the Greek
world for its invincibility. On the other hand, Sparta's domestic
situation prevented the development of a powerful navy because
the relatively small number of Spartan citizens would have required
the service of the much more numerous and potentially rebellious
helots (serfs) as rowers on the ships, a situation which the
Spartans would not tolerate.
The Spartan government
created by the Lycurgan reforms was a combination of different
principles of political administration. Unlike most other Greek
states, the Spartans still had a hereditary kingship shared by
two kings who were the supreme commanders of the army. In addition
to the kings, the government was administered by a council of
elders, an Assembly, and five ephors (overseers) who were guardians
of the people's rights. It is difficult to put one label on the
Spartan constitution. Her hereditary kings suggest monarchy,
but the sharing of the kingship was a contradiction of the term
('government by a sole ruler') and their powers were quite limited.
The council, consisting of the two kings and twenty-eight elders
over the age of sixty, which prepared business for the Assembly
and had great influence in all governmental affairs, gave the
appearance of oligarchy. Since there was an Assembly, in which
every Spartan citizen (male) could vote, but not debate, Sparta
might be called a democracy. But Spartan citizenship was restricted
to a relatively small number who controlled a much larger subject
population and the lack of debate was a serious curtailment of
the Assembly's powers. Thus Sparta was certainly not a democracy
in the same sense as Athens.
The physical appearance
of Sparta was quite deceptive. The Spartans lived in modest villages
with none of the impressive monuments of a city like Athens.
As Thucydides points out (1.10):
Suppose, for example,
that the city of Sparta were to become deserted and that only
the temples and foundations of buildings remained, I think that
future generations would, as time passed, find it very difficult
to believe that the place had really been as powerful as it was
represented to be.
The physical aspect
of Sparta is a good example of the conservative resistance to
change which had become one of her most prominent characteristics.
Her conservatism was also evident in her extreme suspicion of
strangers, which resulted in an ordinance forbidding foreigners
to reside in Sparta for any length of time.
Sparta had been leader
of the Greek world and champion of Greek freedom since the sixth
century. throughout that century she had driven out tyrannies
on the Greek islands and mainland, including Athens. In the Peloponnesian
war she again had the role of liberator with regard to the Greek
states in the Delian league which had fallen subject to the tyranny
of Athens. Sparta, being a rather poor city, did not have impressive
financial resources to support their efforts against the Athenians,
who could rely on a seemingly bottomless treasury. but Sparta
did have the important resource of her own disciplined manpower
and the aid of her allies in the Peloponnesian league, the oldest
and ultimately the longest lasting alliance in the Greek world.
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The Debate at
Sparta - Book 1.66-78
Why does
Sparta call a meeting of her allies (67)? What important criticisms
do the Corinthians make of the Spartan character (68-71)? What
picture do they paint of the Athenians (68-71)? hat is the most
important accusation the Corinthians make against the Athenians
(68)? What is the main point of the Corinthian speech (71)?
What is the purpose
of the Athenian reply (72)? What is the main point of the Athenian
mention of Marathon and Salamis (73-74)? How did the Athenians
acquire their empire (75)? What were their motives in so doing
(75)? How do they defend their acquisition of empire (76)? How
do the Athenians evaluate their own imperial rule (76-77)? What
warning do the Athenians give to the Peloponnesians (78)?
Pericles's Funeral
Oration - Book 2.34-46
Why is Pericles
chosen to give this eulogy of the war dead (34)? What is Pericles's
main purpose in this speech (36)? What does Pericles see as the
political and social advantages of democracy (37)? What is the
Athenian attitude toward law (37)? What pleasures in life are
available to the Athenians (38)? What are the important differences
between Athens and Sparta (39)? Summarize briefly Pericles's
estimate of the Athenian character (40)? What does Pericles mean
when he says: "...our city is an education to Greece"
(41)? What is Pericles's view of Athenian imperialism (41)? of
women (46)?
The Plague - Book
2.47-55
What is Thucydides's
purpose in recording the symptoms of the plague (48)? Compare
this with his purpose in writing history (1.22). What do the
two purposes have in common? What effect did the plague have
on the behavior of the Athenians (52-53)? Why did they behave
in this way? What is the point of Thucydides's comment on the
oracle about a Dorian6 war (54)?
6The
Dorians were a division of the Greek race, of the which the Spartans
formed an important part.
The Policy of
Pericles - Book 2.56-65
What caused
a change in spirit of the Athenians (59)? What is Pericles's
view of the relationship between the interests of the state and
of the individual (60)? According to his own estimation, what
qualities of leadership does Pericles possess (60)? What does
he see as the advantages and disadvantages of his policy (61)?
as the real source of Athenian power (62)? How does he view the
morality of the Athenian empire (63)? What is the result of the
Athenian devotion to warfare (64)? What future profit is gained
by enduring the present hatred of mankind (64)?
What are the important
results of Pericles's speech (65)? Summarize briefly Thucydides's
estimate of Pericles's leadership by listing his most important
qualities as a political leader (65)? According to Thucydides,
How did leadership at Athens decline in the war years after Pericles's
death (65)? According to Thucydides, Why did Athens ultimately
lose the war (65)?
The Mytilenian
Debate - Book 3.36-50
What decision
did the Athenians make about the punishment of Mytilene (on the
island of Lesbos) (36)? Why were the Athenians especially angry
at Mytilene (36)? What was the Athenian feeling about the original
decree the next day (36)? What do the Athenians decide to do
as a result of this feeling (36)? How was Cleon originally involved
in this affair (36)? How is he characterized by Thucydides (36)?
What criticism does
Cleon make of democracy (37)? What are his views of law and citizenship
(37)? How do his views of citizenship and political action contrast
with those of Pericles (see 2.40)? How does Cleon view the motivation
and rhetorical techniques of his opposition (38)? According to
Cleon, what purpose will the decreed punishment serve (39)? What
view does he express with regard to the claims of pity and decency
(40)? to the relationship between justice and Athenian interests
(40)? Look up the word "demagogue" in a good dictionary
or reference work. In what sense can Cleon be called a demagogue?
What is Diodotus's
view of discussion before political action (42)? How does he
deal with Cleon's insinuations of bribery with regard to his
opposition (42-43)? What is Diodotus's primary concern (44)?
How does he view the role of justice in this discussion (44)?
the effectiveness of the death penalty (45)? of human nature
and the sanctions of law (45)? According to Diodotus, what will
be the result if Cleon's arguments convince the Athenians (46)?
What is a better method of ensuring the security of the empire
(46)? Compare this method with Pericles's statement in 2.40.
What does Diodotus see as the result if the original decree is
carried out (47)? What is Diodotus's view of the claims of pity
and decency (48)?
What was the decision
of the Athenian Assembly (49)? How did the Athenians prevent
the punishment originally decreed from being carried out (49)?
What punishments did the Athenians impose on Mytilene and on
Lesbos (50)?
Civil War in Corcyra
- Book 3.69-85
What two
political parties were involved in the civil war? Which side
was supported by Athens? by the Corinthians (69-81)? What pretext
did the democrats use to kill the oligarchs (81)? What was their
real motivation (81)? What atrocities were committed (81)? Of
what political condition throughout the Greek world was the civil
war in Corcyra the first example (82)? What comment does Thucydides
make on morality in time of war (82)? What effect did revolution
have on language (82)? Give one example of this phenomenon. What
was the most important human motivation in time of revolution
(82)? How was language used in civil strife (82)?
Give two specific
examples of the general deterioration of character throughout
the Greek world (83). What is Thucydides's view of man's true
nature (84)? What happens to the general laws of humanity in
civil strife (84)?
The Melian Dialogue
- Book 5.84-116
What arguments
do the Athenians say they will not use (89; cf. 1.73-74)? What
is the Athenian view of the application of justice to this affair
(89)? To What standards of human behavior do the Melians appeal
(90)? Why do the Athenians want the Melians to become part of
their empire (95;97)? What warning do the Athenians give the
Melians about hope (103)? Why do the Melians have confidence
in the support of the gods (104)? According to the Athenians,
what universal law governs both the gods and men (105)? What
is the Athenian view of the Spartans (105)? of Spartan justice
and self-interest (107)? of honor (111)? What do the Melians
resolve to do (112)? What was the fate of the Melians (116)?
