Thucydides

(1957:1)” (Dunne, Schmidt, 2014, p.100). Realism preaches the security of all societies locally and globally. Prior to the implementation of realism in global politics, in the time of Sparta and Athens, man was not for peace but power. According to Thucydides politics was motivated by the desire for more power according to Dunne and Schmidt the behavior of the state was understood to be a “self-seeking egoist and was a reflection of the characteristics of human beings”…

War and Morality: Thucydides and Herodotus Jaylin Swan As I read both excerpts of Thucydides and Herodotus, I could tell that they had conflicting ideas about the question, “Is war good or bad?”. When I first thought on the topic, I was leaning more to the good side, but I re-read my notes and both excerpts and realized that I agreed with Thucydides’s argument; war is actually bad. Not only for the two nations that are fighting in the book, but for all nations and the…

and Ancient Athens were antithetical, with Thebes having an absolute dictatorship and Athens having a pure, direct democracy. Nevertheless, both of these forms of government ultimately failed, as Sophocles demonstrates in his play, Antigone, and Thucydides demonstrates in his book, History of the Peloponnesian War. Together, these two works teach modern society that neither a pure democracy nor a pure dictatorship can be a successful political system due to inherent fatal flaws in each system.…

What Freedom Means to Me Thucydides once stated, "The secret to happiness is freedom. The secret to freedom is courage." Thucydides was an Athenian historian, political philosopher, and he was a general in 411 BC. He is known as the father of political realism. I like this quote in particular, because it gives a simple explanation of freedom. Many brave people have risked their lives for our freedom and continue to do so today. Deborah Sampson was a woman who dressed…

Secondary Source Analysis “Thucydides and Spartan Strategy in the Archidamian War” was written by Thomas Kelly. It is a section of The American Historical Review and was published by Oxford University Press in 1982. Thomas Kelly claims in his thesis of this article that the Spartans are the dominant power. He asserts, “The Athenian army, however, was no match for the Spartan army, which for more than a century had been recognized as the most efficient fighting force in Greece.” Throughout the…

The purpose of ancient Greek History during the time of Herodotus and Thucydides was a period of developing methods for the study of the past, documentation of wars, and creating historical and entertaining stories for the people. It was the time of initial inquiry of developing an understanding of the beginning of the story as well as the methods to gain this information. Roman historians of Polybius, Titus Livius Patavinus, Publius Tacitus, benefited from the previous establishment of…

Not only does Thucydides have incomplete information about these events, but Thucydides’ prior knowledge of Nicias’s failure colors the way he reconstructs Nicias’s ineffective arguments against war. Nicias attempts to dissuade the assembly from a war it has already approved by discussing the lack of a compelling reason to aid the Egesteans, the challenge of conquering and ruling Sicily, and the fragile truce with Sparta. Because Nicias’s appeals are ultimately unsuccessful, Thucydides uses this…

philosophical mind Thucydides, I believe there to be a strong sense of strong doubt and ridicule from their beloved man of many trades. It comes off fairly obvious that the father of scientific history would cast such doubt on a poem like this. Thucydides’ ideas, regarding history, human nature, politics, are polar opposite to those stated in the poem. Regarding history, Thucydides is considered the founder of scientific history. In History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides kicks off with…

The speeches in Thucydides are critical to the narrative of his History as they provide another perspective on the general context and reveal both the characters of the key protagonists and their intentions. The Sicilian books demonstrate their particular importance where they become a powerful influence on the outcome of the war, notably the two speeches of Alcibiades. Thucydides himself explains: ’of the various speeches made either when war was imminent or in the course of the war itself, it…

tendencies have been an immense threat to civilizations since the beginning of time. Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian, shares many of these same ideologies on human nature when discussing the History of the Peloponnesian War. These concepts are also discussed throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh, which are a series of Babylonian stories written on clay tablets regarding a demi-god, named Gilgamesh. Thucydides can connect to and appreciate the story of The Epic of Gilgamesh, through his similar…