Plague of Athens

the history of Thucydides cannot be judged strictly for its historical merit as a primary source for the Peloponnesian War, but must also be judged for the author’s more far-reaching intentions. By considering his attempts to demonstrate repetitions in the history of Hellas, his deliberate placement of the narratives, and his portrayals of the war’s key characters, it is evident that Thucydides sought to compose a text about human nature as much as he sought to write “the war.” In the first chapters of his text, 1.1-23, Thucydides examines the history of Greece in an attempt to demonstrate that the Peloponnesian War was far greater than any prior conflict the Greeks had experienced. He ends the section by explaining the policies of both Athens and Sparta – a natural jumping off point into the main focus of his text – before briefly launching into an explanation of his methodology and purpose for writing. It is at this early juncture where Thucydides sets up the secondary purpose of his work – to educate future generations about human nature and its weaknesses. Thucydides saw his history as “an aid to the understanding of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it.” This statement is reinforced throughout his preceding historical exploration, where Thucydides established the trends in human nature that would later be repeated when he described the war of his own time. There are many instances throughout the entire work of…

before the war. In it, he decreed, that Athens should make no concessions to the Spartans except as provided by the treaty, and that a firm refusal of demands would result in treatment as equals. He drew attention to Sparta’s weaknesses such as limited resources, inexperience…

Darius the Great was tired of Greece from conquering his land. So he decided to attack the city of Athens because he thought that Athens was the source of his problems. Athens asked the Sparta’s for help but they couldn’t help them at the time. Athens faced the Persians alone in the battle of Marathon and defeated them. Years later, Darius son “king Xerex” tried a different technique to attack the Athens by then Sparta’s were able to join the Athens to defeat the Persians. At the beginning…

city-state of Athens became the world’s first democracy. Nonetheless, similarly to others, the Greek Civilization declined after invaded by outsiders; for the Greek case, it was the Kingdom of Macedonia. II. The Emergence of Greek Golden Age 2.1. Art & Literature Ancient Greeks were shaped by religion, thus building massive and breathtaking temples or sculptures…

Even after the war, Athens eventually rebuilt its walls, navy, League and democracy. Athenians would have not rebuilt democracy if they thought it did not work, if so, then it would be a waste of their time to rebuild something that clearly did not seem to bring any good. Looking at the history, Sparta should have lost the war. Athens had the leadership, resources and money to go to war. Their navy was strong and unbeatable. Sparta on the other hand lacked leadership, money and had no navy.…

After heroic roles in the defeat of the Persians (480-479 B.C.), for the next half-century, Athens and Sparta assumed preeminence among the city-states, and their rivalry slowly led to the long-expected showdown. Thucydides, a contemporary historian, believed that the war broke out because of Spartan fear of the rising power of Athens, whose empire and capital increasingly isolated less imaginative and less adventurous rivals. Both were unusually powerful, atypical–and antithetical–Greek states…

quote from Socrates, a philosopher that had lasting effects in Greek history. It began with Peloponnesian Wars, which ended with the desecration of Athens’ main source of pride, their democracy. Ensuing the loss of their government system, Athenians felt intimidated by Socrates and his beliefs, which eventually led to his demise. Athens executed Socrates after the downfall of their democratic system following their defeat in the second Peloponnesian War; despite the fact that Socrates was not…

Athens Built a Wall What happened was when the war had begun Athens had horrible land forces but great naval forces. It was the other way around for Sparta they had great land forces but horrible naval forces. This wall had still allowed the Athenian people to get supplies from the ships that came into the harbor. There was also a negative thing about this wall is when there had been a plague which had killed many people including their leader Pericles. Attack on Syracuse What happened…

The ending of the first year in the Peloponnesian War sparked one of ancient Greece’s greatest works, Pericles’s funeral oration. It was written in tribute to the deceased soldiers as encouragement for their families; however, the underlying message is more politically-centered as well as praises for Athens. While he had decent military tactics, he was opinionated, which shows through in his famous speech. Based on Pericles’s opinions about use of wealth, class equality, and gender distinction…

order to bring great blessings upon themselves they paid honours to the gods. These honours were paid in the form of sacrifices, offerings like works of art, money and other valuables to the gods’ sanctuaries, and festivals of songs, dances, prayers, and processions. For the first eight days of every month, Athens honoured the gods through a festival; on the third day Athena’s birthday was celebrated, Artemis’ birthday being celebrated on the sixth day, and her brother Apollo being honoured the…