Peloponnesian War Speech Analysis

Improved Essays
The Peloponnesian War was a 30-yearlong battle between the Grecian cities of Athens and Sparta. Thucydides, an exiled general of the Peloponnesian War, wrote “The History of the Peloponnesian War”. In his writings, he describes three specific events that contributed to the downfall of democracy in Athens. Throughout the war, Athenian democracy shifts from an ideal that works for the people and the progression of society, to a military approach dedicated to maintaining their war by any means possible. In the first document, “Pericles’ Funeral Oration”, Thucydides is writing about a speech given at Pericles’ funeral. The speaker talks about how Pericles was looked at as a perfect ruler. It is mentioned that Athens was, “a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” This statement implies that because Athenian democracy was so perfect, other cities modeled themselves after Athens. Towards the end of the speech, the speaker switches gears to …show more content…
The Melians stayed neutral throughout the Peloponnesian War. However, the Athenians want to take over the city in order to make their empire bigger. The Melians insist on that fact that Athens does not need to take over by saying, “…we will try to save ourselves. Meanwhile, we invite you to allow us to be friends to you”. They are trying the best that they can to save themselves from total domination. Despite their efforts, Athens does not listen. They are no longer interested in the people they are affecting, and only want to win the war as soon as possible. When Athens saw that the Melians were not going to back down, “the generals at once betook themselves to hostilities, and drew a line of circumvallation around the Melians”. They took to means of threat and coercion rather than using peaceful diplomacy. At this point, the Athenians lost all sense of democracy and instead shifted to total

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In order to achieve these objectives, Athens imposed additional war taxes on their allied subordinate states to which many of them refused to pay but did out of fear. At the same time, Athens broke trust agreements with its allied subordinate and coastal states by occupying their lands, placing many them into slavery and killing those who opposed. The new aggressive strategic approach by Athens shifted the balance of power of the war in their favor as they mastered the art of fighting on land. But greed, pride, and overconfidence consumed them and denied Sparta’s request for peace and the war…

    • 1108 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Importantly, the Athenians do not disagree on principle. Instead, they say that it is the Spartans that would defeat them, not their subjects alone, and the Spartans would not be disposed to treat them terribly. This admittance seriously undermines the Athenian Thesis’ claim that justice is only relevant “between equals in power,” as the Athenians implicitly confess that arguments of justice could perhaps benefit them; they just don’t believe that those particular circumstances will arise. Justice and perceptions of justice, then, are relevant between those in unequal power – the Athenians only deny it to the Melians because that position is expedient to them. Thus, this disproves the universality of the claim that justice is only relevant between those equal in power.…

    • 1557 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Ancient Greek culture, honor was the most crucial virtue in their society. While honor might mean different things in different cultures; to the Ancient Greeks honor was an important part of their lives and culture. However, to the Ancient Greeks it was more than just honor that formed their identity. Arête as the Ancient Greeks called it consisted of honor, masculine virtue, physical strength, courage, success in battle and everlasting fame. Arête was the foundation of the family and the society, often dictating the actions of the people and consequently their fates and the fates of others.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pericles Funeral Oration

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “We throw open our city to the world, and never pass laws to exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of the enemy may occasionally profit from our liberality”, Athens does not deport foreigners, rather welcomes them into the city. With Athens’ openness, it allows for the foreigners to extend the ways of Athens democracy to their homeland, essentially spreading democracy across the world. He goes on to contrast the character of Athens in terms of education as compared to the Spartans. Spartans education is more militaristic and centered around training for war beginning at a young age, he says, “In education, where our rivals from their very cradles seek after manliness through a very painful discipline.” As for Athens, who is more open and less restricted, “at Athens, we live as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger”, even without the harsh military training, the Athenians are fully capable in a moment of need.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Athenian Government in 403 BCE Athens went through many changes in government structure, and eventually produced the most radical democracy of its time. The shape of the Athenian government in 403 BCE was especially important, because it changed from the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants, established by Sparta after the Peloponnesian War to a radical democracy. The radical democracy was successful and remained the shape of the Athenian government for around a hundred years. Athenians went through many government structures on their trip to democracy.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Athens Essay To begin to write on the topic of Athens is a remarkably overwhelming and broad undertaking. The city turned empire had some of the most creative and groundbreaking advancements to human society the world has ever seen. The city was one surrounded by controversy, a rogue doing whatever it wanted in order to achieve this city created in the wake of the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Some loved it, some did not. While many sources documented the city in a variety of aspects, we looked at two, the Periclean Funeral Oration, as well as Pseudo-Xenophon on the Athenian Constitution.…

    • 1564 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ancient Greek democracy appears to have ended as a result of both internal and external factors. Like the subsequent Roman Empire, the Athenian state appears to have over-reached in its militaristic ambitions, ultimately weakening it; while the relative strength of other empires enabled them to take Greece over. The imposition of rule by foreign empires finally ended Greek democracy. From internally, Athens moved from being a defender of its own nation to an aggressor though it would have no doubt maintained that this was in its national security interests. One of the consequences of this aggression and ambition was the loss of the alliances that had helped repel the Persians and in some cases their subjugation (Brand, n.d., p.28).…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thucydides Human Power

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book, Justice Power and Human Nature, Thucydides describes different events that take place during the Peloponnesian War. Keeping the chronology in mind, he gives us each and every detail of the war that he also lived through. Thucydides uses elaborative speeches throughout the text, Pericles’ eulogy being the best of them. While these elaborative speeches and debate are persuading and motivating, they also reflect the oral culture among the Greeks. Thucydides interpretation of the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War is really commendable; his description of the plague gives us an insight that only an eye witness can give.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    War has evolved throughout history. From ancient sword fights to modern nuclear battles, one constant is that there has always been an imperial power or a group striving to be an imperial power. The Peloponnesian War was no different. The war was fought between the Peloponnesian League and Athens. In this case however, the power striving to be imperial was Athens, who, at the time was supposedly a democracy.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Sparta And Athens

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sparta and Athens were both successful City States in Ancient Greece. Although they both were located in the same country, they both had conflicting views on several issues and they were different in the way they operated. The Athenians cared more about learning and the arts, while the Spartans were focused on military training and following orders. The two city states had different governments and social make-ups. Although the challenging city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Pacifists believe that focus should be on programs and institutions that allow for the avoidance of war and the ability to peacefully resolve conflicts (Ryan, 2015). Therefore from the perspective of a Pacifist the Athenian’s argument is immediately written off. A Pacifist would strongly argue that under no condition were Athens to inflict themselves upon the Melians as the act, in itself, is considered ‘war making’. Only brief attempts at peace building was made during the Melian Dialogue as the Athenians offer the Melians the chance to submit without direct conflict; “…you will not think it dishonourable to submit to the greatest city in Hellas, when it makes you the moderate offer of becoming its tributary ally, without ceasing to enjoy the country that belongs to you; nor when you have the choice given you between war and security, will you be so blinded as to choose the worse. ”(Thucydides, Warner, & Finley, 1972, Chapter XVII).…

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For years the debate over whether or not Classical Athens under the rule of Pericles was a true democracy has been a subject for controversy. Some historians argue that Pericles was an elected ruler and that Athens was “ruled by her first citizen” instead of by the people while others argue that Athens was a true democracy based on the actions of the Athenian city-state and the way their government was set up . However, Athens under the rule of Pericles should be considered a democracy for several reasons. These reasons include Pericles’ rise to power, the different members of government and their powers, and the changes in the idea of a democracy.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Athenian Democracy Essay

    • 1625 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The development of Athenian democracy was influenced by complex social, economic, and military issues, not to mention the obvious political aspect. However, even among these complex set of factors, one aspect in the development of Athenian democracy that stands out and affects all three sets of issues is warfare. Warfare was a constant in ancient Greece, and indeed most of the ancient world. City-states constantly fought, mostly against each other, though they would often band together against outside threats such as the Persians. The Greek style of warfare also tended to be fairly homogenous throughout the city-states as well, with an infantry formed from hoplites, and in the fifth century and later, a navy.…

    • 1625 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Peloponnesian War featured social and political deterioration. Through power struggles, revolutions, land and sea battles, diplomacy, and rapid cultural change, Thucydides demonstrated his belief that human nature is inherently ambitious and ruthless. In his writing on the revolution in Corcyra, he illustrated the conflict between human law and man’s insatiable desires. He saw the revolution of Corcyra as an example of the general decline of Greece during the Peloponnesian War, characterizing the period as full of political strife and chaos that had dire consequences. Many people died in combat and massacres, buildings and property were destroyed, and Greek society experienced moral decay.…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the rise of Athens, Athenians established democracy, and their city-state was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Although Athens was started by the Mycenaean’s, the foundation was built by four tyrants; Draco, Solon, Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes. The first tyrant Draco ruled with an iron fist and started the “Draco’s code”, and all citizens knew the laws. Draco ended aristocracy so that the rich could not decide what the poor has to do, and could not make laws. The second tyrant Solon extended citizenship for artisans and merchants that were not born in Athens.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays