Thucydides

Thucydides was a Greek historian who lived around 460 BC. He was the historian who recorded

the history of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century BC.

Thucydides' Life

“Little is known about Thucydides’ life apart from the few biographical references in his

masterwork. His father’s name was Olorus, and his family was from Thrace in northeastern

Greece, where Thucydides owned gold mines that likely financed his historical work. He was

born in the Athenian suburb of Halimos and was in Athens during the plague of c.430 B.C., a

year after the war began. In 424, he was given command of a fleet, but was then exiled for failing

to reach the city of Amphipolis in time to prevent its capture by the Spartans” (History.com

Editors, 2023).

Thucydides Viewpoint and Context

Thucydides is also recognized as a philosopher and one of the founders of realism who has a

traditional view that "the world, like the one he endured, is inherently a cold, harsh, dangerous

place in which power and its acquisition is paramount. In this world, interests diverge and clash,

and cooperation is bound to be impermanent. There is no reliable authority above the fray. No

one can be certain of others' intentions, which can change. This makes for a world of ultimate

solitude. Ruthless self-help and prudent self-restraint are both imperative" (Porter, 2022, para. 4).

We can argue that Thucydides' view of the world is very downbeat, but we will not fully

understand his opinion if we will not look into its context.

In the time of Thucydides, he witnessed the filthy partisanship of the cities. The Delian league

alliance led by Athens may have been successful against its opponents, but not its own

greediness. Its members who could not protect themselves were protected by Athens but at a

cost. They were expected to make a substantial contribution to compensate for the protection

offered by the Athenians. Those who stopped paying and seceded from the Delian League would

taste its military force (Cartwright, 2016). And to show their greatness, they built the Parthenon

not only to dedicate to their god Athena but as a symbol of their power. But we do not say that

Athens alone had an interest because although some members of the Delian League were not up

to the tribute that Athens demanded of them, they remained under it because of their own self-

interest.

Thucydides saw it all, so he said that partisanship is not a permanent thing. Your friend today,

maybe your enemy tomorrow, and your enemy today may be your friend tomorrow, and that

may be due to the same or different interests. He also experienced in his time the suffering

brought by the epidemic that consumed many Athenians. He himself was hit by the epidemic,

and he described its symptoms that made it difficult not only for him but also for others who

were hit by it. Thus the morbidity in his interpretations is not surprising.

My Opinion in the Matter

In that context, I somehow agree with Thucydides. In fact, we can still see our generation is the

same as his generation, where people, although not all of us, are motivated by the desire for

power. That there is a looming conflict between powerful countries that get threatened by each

other’s rise in power. For example, the Thucydides Trap, where Graham Allison believes that
because China continues to rise in power, America is threatened, so war is not far off (Porter,

2022).

As a Christian, I believe that because of our fallen nature, no system of power can be perfect, no

matter how beautiful and ideal it is, no matter how much we thrive, because the one who runs it

himself is imperfect. Our fallen tendency is just there, waiting for an opportunity where we

indulge ourselves to be part of a cruel world. Unlike in the Movie, when you kill the evil villain,

there will be peace—utopia will be achieved. The reality is not like that. Even if you try to

eliminate all the wicked people, greediness, corruption will not end. If you remember during the

flood, God destroyed all the wicked, and Noah's family lived, but when the number of people

increased again, they rebelled against God and fell into sin. It is because of our fallen nature

tendencies. I also can’t help but compare the view of Thucydides' human nature to the concept of

osmosis in biology, where molecules flow from an area with a higher water concentration to a

lower water concentration. In this corrupted world where we live, it is easier to get contaminated

by depravity. As the world's influence is so powerful that it becomes normal to be corrupted,

greedy, and anything wicked you can be. But because I believe in God, that is exactly the reason

why I need the power of Jesus to enable me to go against the flow of evil in this world. And all I

can do is pray that I may not be put in a situation that Thucydides described, “In peace and

prosperity, cities and private individuals alike are better minded because they are not plunged

into the necessity of doing anything against their will; but war is a violent teacher: it gives most

people impulses that are as bad as their situation when it takes away the easy supply of what they

need for daily life” (Thucydides, n.d., cited in Barrientos, 2019, para. 25). As far as we are

concerned, we will fail.

 REFERENCE

Barrientos, A. (2019). The darkest depths of human nature: Three examples from the

Peloponnesian war. Classical Wisdom. https://classicalwisdom.com/military-history/the-

darkest-depths-of-human-nature/

Cartwright, M. (2016). Delian League. World history encyclopedia.

https://www.worldhistory.org/Delian_League/

History.com Editors. (2023). Thucydides. History. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-

greece/thucydides#:~:text=Thucydides'%20Life,- Little%20is

%20known&text=430%20B.C.%2C%20a%20year%20after,its%20capture% 20by%20the

%20Spartans.

Porter, P. (2022). Thucydides was a Realist. Engelsberg ideas.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/in-defence-of-thucydides-the- realist/?

gclid=CjwKCAiAleOeBhBdEiwAfgmXf4hES068Zq06Bmb5W7jLghQhGQQAq

QJjDmIgZipCSFIxC476sHrY9xoCiycQAvD_BwE