History of the Peloponnesian War

1. Who are they? Thucydides is considered one of the best Greek historians. His direct and scientific style of documentation and his unbiased approach has greatly influenced modern methods of documenting history. 2. Thucydides lived in Athens but he was exiled for failing to take a city during the Peloponnesian war between Sparta and Athens. After that he stayed near the two in order to document the war. 3. The most famous work of Thucydides is “The History of the Peloponnesian War”. He was also known for his style. He used sources from both sides including speeches. He went into detail with the tactics used by both sides and the terrains upon where the battles took place. He tried to be as accurate as possible. Unlike some other Greeks…

The Sicilian Expedition was the Athenian attempt to conquer Sicily during the Peloponnesian War between the dates of 415-413. Since the war was not going so well, the Athenians decided that they would try a dramatic and aggressive move. The Spartans got food and supplies from Sicily, so the Athenians thought that if they could capture Sicily, they could make the Spartans stop fighting by cutting off their supplies. But this ended not in the favor of the Athenians. The Spartans defeated the…

In his book The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides analyses the causes and events of the Peloponnesian war. He provides the reader with an overview of Greek history leading up to the war and the factors that set apart this war from previous conflicts in the region. For his accounts, Thucydides relies on his own observations, as well as multiple sources that he tries to verify as far as possible. This paper will analyse some of the major themes and ideas presented in Thucydides work.…

Intended as a literary masterpiece about the history of the greatest war ever faced by the Hellenic race, Thucydides’ history on the Peloponnesian War has been noted for its objectivity and theoretical approach since antiquity. Indeed, its impact on Western civilization was anticipated by the author himself, who strove to write an accurate account of the war, free from romance. However, Thucydides’ work is not without its limitations, and historians today are aware of inconsistencies and…

Thrucydides in his “The History of Peloponnesian War” opens up the debate with the quote “ The Strong Do What They Have the Power to do and the Weak Accept What they Have to Accept.” The United States, which clearly has an extensive military and economic strength had the ability to impose their forces on Iraq. Furthermore, Iraq as a weak state had to accept the invasion. The United States had all in their power to invade Iraq. This statement of the strong doing what they have the power to do…

A Path To War: A Critique of “‘Chiefly for Fear, Next for Honour, and Lastly For Profit’: An Analysis of Foreign Policy Motivation in the Peloponnesian War” What caused Athens to clash with Sparta? Democracy, Imperialism, Greed, Patriotism… several of these acted as variables on the road to the Peloponnesian War, but fear was a guiding lantern. Chittick and Freyberg-Inan start by laying out different types of reactions people have to threats in the international environment and pointing out the…

accomplished since the Renaissance. He provided us stepping stones that linked the stone age to the modern era in the areas of science, history and politics. With science he taught us that all sciences are able to be made possible from motion. He explained everything that is needed in order to understand the complex subjects of geometry and physics. His principles about them are still taught in modern classrooms today and his views on moral and political philosophy inspired the governments that…

Plato’s Republic (375 B.C.), the perfect community that he envisions cannot come to fruition because people are either too entrenched in the ways of nomos or in the ways of physis, the natural world and rule of the strong man. The Bacchae completed by Euripides in 406 B.C., has a community completely destroyed by Dionysius showing that Greek tragedy lacks in any sense of justice or even injustice because the destruction of a whole community occurs without reason. The commonality that exists…

Thucydides’ description of the Peloponnesian War, besides being an account of an enormous conflict, also serves as an account of the many views of justice. The Athenians, the imperial force in ancient Greece, often assert that justice plays no role in foreign affairs. This belief, specifically explained at Sparta and Melos, is the Athenian Thesis. Although not all Athenians agree with the Athenian Thesis as proposed at Sparta and Melos, it is still an important theme in the Peloponnesian War.…

The History of Peloponnesian War was written by Thucydides who is reportedly born around 460 BCE and suspected to have died somewhere between 411 and 400 BCE. Thucydides is a known was an Athenian and a General in the Athenian military when the Peloponnesian War began in 431 BCE. Thucydides led men into battle during the Peloponnesian War and in 430 BCE would contract the same plague that would ravaged the Athens during the war. Eventually, Thucydides would recover and was exiled by the Athen…