Thucydides

hegemony. Balancing power can be done by building up security in states since security is a function of power, and if all states have great power, none of them can be greatest. The ideology behind Realism stems from several philosophers. First, Thucydides, an Athenian historian, wrote about the balance of power in states through his work on the Peloponnesian War He said that power, if unchecked, will lead to desire for more and more power (Korab-Karpowicz). This is part of the so-called cynicism…

Themistocles was born in Athens in 524 BCE. He was the son of Neocles a middle class Athenian and a non-Athenian concubine mother. He was a citizen of Cleisthenes which in 508 BCE which made all Athenians free men. This contributed to his democratic tendencies. Themistocles lived in Athens for his entire life but often traveled because he was part of the Athenian military. Themistocles most important achievements began when he was elected Archon Eponymous, the chief judicial and civilian…

It's unknown what Hellanicus thought of Herodotus but he did have a different style of research, Thucydides also had a different and more scientific approach then Herodotus. Although never actually mentioning Herodotus it is evident by his contradiction of Herodotus on a number of points that he didn't think much of Herodotus methods; stating that history…

Laches is a 'definition' Dialogue, which aims to give definition of andreia (courage). Socrates and other characters scrutinize a number of possible definitions of courage as part of pursuit to discover that excellence is an introduction to an enquiry into how it might be taught and who will be qualified to teach it. The latter stages are never reached as it is characteristic of Socratic dialogues that the definitions all fail and discussion ends in confusion. At the start of the dialogue there…

During the time of the Peloponnesian War, there was much turmoil in the city states of Greece. The two Greek main powers of the time, Athens and Sparta, were caught in a power struggle to be the main polis in control of the region. The turmoil sprung from the mutual distrust between the army centered Spartans and the naval centered Athenians: neither one wanted to lose to the other (Cartwright). Both powers were reaching to expand their empires in order to have a greater chance at defeating one…

Happiness Can be Achieved Through Many Means “The secret to happiness is freedom . . .And the secret to freedom is courage” (Thucydides). Many memorable people in history, for example Martin Luther King Jr, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and John Hancock took courageous steps towards gaining freedom for the ultimate goal of happiness. Even though the definition of happiness is different for everyone, everyone can still reach their defintion of happiness. For some, happiness can be reached through…

ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive.” (Thucydides). Pericles is saying that Athens is not like other places. We don’t spy on others and hope they mess up so we can childishly tattle tale on them. No, we have the freedom to do what we like without…

Realism is a broad paradigm in which it is a view of international politics that stresses its competitive and conflictual side. Realists often trace their intellectual roots to Thucydides classic account of Peloponnesian war in the fifth century B.C. At their core realists’ theories have a pragmatic approach to international relations describing the world as it is not as it ought to be. Realist believe that power is the currency of international politics. Great powers, the main actors in the…

From the beginning of civilization, power and leadership have played an important role in guiding and uniting populations of people. This power can be used or exerted in various ways by the leadership of the population to either expand one’s territory or even to make laws. The difference and similarities between the ancient forms of power and leadership are dependent on each civilization’s governing style and code of laws. Dating back to one of the first written legal codes, during the time of…

As the first to utilize "history," Herodotus merits Cicero's title, "father of history." no doubt, this child of affluent privileged folks did not have the basic demeanor toward his sources that would be the sign of the later antiquarian. Intriguing tales of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians discovered their way into his pages whether he could confirm them or not, but rather he does at times support and tag certain things as gossip. According to his citations, he more likely than not…