Thucydides

The Greek World The ancient Greeks laid the foundation for many aspects of today’s Western civilization. In philosophy, they embraced critical thinking and self-examination to answer age-old questions about human existence. The first school for higher education was founded by Plato in Athens. Politically, democracy became a new form of government that placed governmental power in the hands of common citizens. In literature, they wrote poems, plays, historical, and educational documents.…

fundamental concepts that will benefit you for your future career in the business world. Three works in particular that I think you will benefit most from are Hamlet by Shakespeare, Antigone by Sophocles and The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. Three characters in particular that would be of most importance…

for making us be able to read the speech over and over again and read more about Ancient Greece and that person is Thucydides. Thucydides is the author of the book The history of the Peloponnesian war. This book contains a big part of Ancient greece history but also Pericles speech, although cameras and recorders did not exist during that time one can not be entirely sure if Thucydides have written the speech down word for word or if he himself has rewritten the speech. This can cause a weak…

The two most famous City-States of Ancient Greece, Sparta and Athens, have more differences than similarities with each other. These differences were more evident in the educational and political systems. While both cities used popular vote to elect at least part of its representatives, some organizational differences can be easily identified. Basically, the overall priority of these two City-States were different; Sparta was focused in producing warriors, while Athens was a cultural and…

twenty-first century is a strange cocktail of continuity and change. Some aspects of international politics have not changed since Thucydides. There is certain logic of hostility, a dilemma about security that goes with interstate politics. Alliances, balances of power, and choices in policy between war and compromise have remained similar over the millennia" Since Thucydides era; before the existence of many ideas like nations and politics the struggle for survival was for example, fulfill a…

Natalie Stroud and Ashley Muddiman conduct an experiment on the public’s selection of political news, evaluating the influences of satirical and serious news on people’s partisan views. Stroud and Muddiman argue that the tendency for citizens to obtain and select political information agreeing with their predispositions has been widely demonstrated. The experiment examines if exposure to satirical news affects partisan tolerance compared with serious news. The results of the experiment…

Classes on Herodotus and Thucydides have all advanced my understanding of the Greek language and have sparked an interest in learning more about the interaction of the Greek poleis during the archaic period especially. These two classes and my love for the classics drove me to classical…

fallen in which he declared, “We are willing to go into danger with easy minds and natural courage rather than through rigorous training and laws, and that gives us an advantage... In this, as in other things, our city is worthy of admiration” (Thucydides 42). This statement clearly shows his faith in Athenians, and their power to overcome the adversity the Spartans presented. However, the war continued and after heavy losses on the Athenian side, Pericles gave his last speech during the…

BC. Athens lost the battle, which in turn ended the golden age in Greece. When the Persian war ended both Athens and Sparta came to terms and agreed on a Thirty year peace. Athens then became very powerful, thanks to the leadership of Pericles. Thucydides thought that the war broke out due to Sparta being on edge and how fearful they became of Athens power; in 431 BC Sparta declared war on Athens. The great leader Pericles influenced Athens to not back down to Spartans threats of war. The first…

Fear as tool in politics and war If you want to sway the populace then pathos and not logos is the best rhetorical device to use. The demos can know something intellectually and yet never be moved to act upon that information, but engage their emotions and you will find that you can move mountains. One of the most powerful human emotions is that of fear. Fear can immobilize a person but it can also prompt them to fight. Fear is often used in political and/or military speeches because it is…