THUCYDIDES

HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN

WAR
Important questions
 What does a history of an epoch include?
 Is it really possible to write a contemporary history?
 How can we consider a historian’s account credible?
 Besides military prowess, what are other tools that countries
at war employ?
 What skill(s) must war leaders possess?
 What causes wars?
 How are power and war related? (Peloponnesian League –
Athenian power at sea- Delian league)
 How are revolutions regarded (Corcyra)? What moral and
political effects do they impose?
 Are revolutions models to be followed?
Background
 Athens: the foremost cultural center of Greece / an outburst of
creativity in many fields—science, philosophy, literature, and the
arts.
 The Athenian writers of the period: creators of tragic drama,
Aeschylus (d. 456), Sophocles (d. 406), and Euripides (d. 406), the
latter two being Thucydides’ older contemporaries.
 Intellectual scene: growth of rationalism in philosophy and social
thought
 a new interest in man and the nature of justice and the good
emerged in the mid-fifth century: Socrates (469—399)
 The Hippocratic school of medicine flourished in these years-
rejected popular superstitions in favor of a naturalistic attitude
toward the understanding and treatment of disease
Key Terms And Concepts
 Thucydides did not give his work a title or call it a history.
 Inquire in Greek means historein
 This term is a later addition and is used in modern
translations.
 Man first responsible for sustained inquiry is Herodotus –
father of History( wrote accounts describing the manners
and customs, geography of the barbarians- the Persians and
Lydians)
 Politics: a Greek invention: “a system where ordinary men
lacking inherited authority or divine sanction, could openly
debate and decide on vital maters as war and peace, public
finance, or crime and punishment.”
Key Terms And Concepts
 Polis- city-state :
 included its surrounding rural territory and inhabitants
 strove to remain independent and autonomous/ loss of
independence by war imposed a calamity and was seen by its
citizens as a fall into slavery
 System of rule:
 either oligarchies dominated by a well-to-do minority that
monopolized political power and rights
 democracies in which the demos or “people,” the whole body of
adult male citizens, including the poor and propertyless,
possessed supreme power
 A few cities were ruled by tyrants ( men who wielded absolute
power acquired illegitimately)
Thucydides: Objective in writing the
History
 Born around 460 BCE and died around 400 BCE
 Was a young man in his 20s when the war broke out between Sparta
and Athens ( from 431 to 404 BCE with a scarcely honored 7-year peace)
 Was working on his History after the war ended,(one of the very few
who attempted a history of events belonging entirely to their own time)
 Left it unfinished when he died at an unknown date around 400 or
possibly later.
 The first historian to write a political history centered on a war.
 His history has become one of the “classic and canonical works of
Western culture”
 Objective: no clear stated reason / to record history but to provide a
generalization about human behavior (trend in philosophy)
SPECIAL FEATURES
The History, despite being incomplete, is an “achievement as an intellectual work
of art and enduring contribution to western historiography” (Introduction)

 A unity: consistency of viewpoint, values, and interests

 “Exactitude”: method of analyzing and recording history
 Rich in factual particulars on all kinds of subjects: the proper names and
patronymics of individuals , their places of origin, the names of towns and locations
of action, numbers of ships in a fleet or battle, military dispositions, details of
combat and sieges, numbers of troops and of men killed or taken prisoner, and so
on. He likewise supplies a great amount of historical and topographical data and
other information about the different peoples, Greek and barbarian, who became
involved in the war.
 A reflection of human nature and concern with power
 Dramatic elements
 Depiction of the interplay of politics, chance, and necessity in shaping human affairs
and their outcome.
STRUCTURE OF THE HISTORY
Five major parts:
 Part 1-all of the first book-an introduction describing his historical method
and causes of the war and its preliminary incidents.
 Part 2-beginning of the second book to Book V (5.25) -covers the period to
421, the first ten years of the war-concludes with the Fifty Year Peace of 421
between Athens and the Peloponnesians that seemingly terminated the war
 Part 3- Book V from 5.26 to 5.116 -deals with the six-year period from 421 to
415- describes the instabilities and breakdown of the Fifty Year Peace of 421-
the Melian dialogue
 Part 4-Books VI and VII, occupies the years 416–413- describes Athens’s great
Sicilian expedition and its total defeat
 Part 5- the unfinished Book VIII, carries the history to 411- includes the
difficulties and danger created for the Athenians by the Spartans’ permanent
occupation of Decelea in Attica- Sparta’s alliance with the Persians against
Athens- the revolution in Athens that overthrew its democratic government.
Important quotes
“I have not ventured to speak from any chance information, nor according
to any notion of my own; I have described nothing but what I either saw
myself, or learned from others of whom I made the most careful and
particular inquiry. The task was a laborious one, because eye witnesses of
the same occurrences gave different accounts of them, as they
remembered or were interested in the actions of one side or the other. And
very likely the absence of anything mythical [to muthodes] in my narrative
may be disappointing to the ear. But if he who desires to have before his
eyes a true picture of the events which have happened, and of like events
which may be expected to happen, given the human condition, shall
pronounce what I have written to be useful, I shall be satisfied.” (1.22)

On method
METHOD
VERY LITTLE DISCLOSED BY AUTHOR ABOUT HIS METHOD
 not typical historian: does not disclose sources (avoids dealing with historical
controversies and differences of opinion)
 No independent evidence to corroborate the facts

YET
 brief hint at method (quote 1.22/ p. 47)
 accuracy and understanding of events without adornment
 checking and double checking
 did not consult documents as much as he did people (what he saw himself
(autopsy) ; oral reports and testimony he obtained from the many witnesses he
questioned)
 invented own system of dating the war (by dividing each war year into ‘winter’
and ‘summer)
 “rational reconstruction and deduction” to fill in gaps in the evidence and to
discern causal sequences.  
Important quotes

“it was hard for me, and for others who reported them to
me, to recollect the exact words. I have therefore put into
the mouth of each speaker the sentiments most proper to
the occasion [ta deonta malista], expressed as I thought
he would be likely to express them, while at the same
time I endeavored, as nearly as I could, to give the
general purport [xumpasa gnome] of what was actually
said [alethos lechthenton].” (1.22)

On speeches
SPEECHES

 Use of speech: to be objective in recording the events/

speeches can capture the moral and political issues
e.g. the debates and disagreements over policy
 more than forty speeches - between a fifth and a
quarter of the work.
 Most famous: the funeral oration or epitaphios that
Pericles delivered in 431 to honor the Athenian dead
killed in the first year of the war
 contains an timeless praise on Athens’s democracy
and civilization.
On Arguments

Identify the perspective of which each of the arguments

below:
1. “We have done nothing extraordinary, nothing contrary to
human nature in accepting an empire when it was offered to
us then refusing to give it up.”
2. “ When one is deprived of one’s liberty one is right in
blaming not so much the man who puts the fetters on as the
one who had power to prevent them, but sis not use it.”
3. “What sort of war, then, are we going to fight? If we can
neither defeat them at sea nor take away from them the
resources on which their navy depends, we shall do
ourselves more harm then good.”
Important quotes
 On argumentation
Book I: three arguments proposed in debating decision to start a war on Athens:
1. The Corinthian Argument: 1.68-71
2. The Athenian Representatives 1.72-78
3. The Spartan king Archidamus 1.80-86

The Corinthian argument:

“ when one is deprived of one’s liberty one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the
fetters on as the one who had power to prevent them, but sis not use it.” (1.68)
“only to use one’s power in the cause of justice, but to make it perfectly plain that one is
resolved not to tolerate aggression.” (1.70)

Reasons:
 “If they aim at something and do not get it, they think that they have been deprived of what
belonged to them already; whereas, if their enterprise is successful, they regard their success as
nothing compared to what they will do next” (1.70)
 “Of them alone it may be said that they possess a thing almost as soon as they have begun to
desire it, so quickly with them does action follow upon decision.” (1.70 
Important quotes
The Athenian Representatives 1.72-78
“ We did not gain this empire by force. It came to us at a time when you were
unwilling to fight on to the end against the Persians.” (1.75)
“…either to govern strongly or to endanger your own security.” (1.76)
“We have done nothing extraordinary, nothing contrary to human nature in
accepting an empire when it was offered to us then refusing to give it up.” (1.76)
“ It has always been a rule that the weak should be subject to the strong.” (1.76)
“Those who really deserve praise are the people who while human enough to
enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are
compelled to do by their situation.” (1.76)
“People , in fact, seem to feel more strongly about their legal wrongs than about
the wrongs inflicted on them by violence” (1.77)
“And when people are entering upon a war they do things the wrong way round.
Action comes first, and it is only when they have already suffered that they
begin to think.” (1.78)
Important quotes
The Spartan King Archidamus 1.80-86
“What sort of war, then, are we going to fight? If we can neither defeat them at sea
nor take away from them the resources on which their navy depends, we shall do
ourselves more harm then good.” (1.80)
“…we should not threaten war too openly, though at the same time we should make it
clear that we are not going to let them have their way.” (1.80)
“If you take something on before you are ready for it, hurry at the beginning will mean
delay at the end… ‘Slow’ and ‘cautious’ can equally be ‘wise’ and ‘sensible’.” (1.84)
“Because of our well ordered life we are both brave in war and wise in council. Brave
because self-control is based upon a sense of honor, and honor is based on courage.
And we are wise because we are not so highly educated as to look down upon our
laws and customs, and are too rigorously trained in self-control to be able to
disobey them.” (1.84)
“…there is not a great difference between the way we think and the way others think,
…it is impossible to calculate accurately events that are determined by chance.”
(1.84)
Causes of War

 Hellenic power has peaked in power and greatness

due to the development of navigation and
commerce and through accumulation of
resources, stable community organization.
 after 460, Sparta and Athens were at conflict that
ended in 445 with the agreement of the parties to
a Thirty Year Peace
 The peace treaty continued in effect until it was
broken in 431 by the onset of the Peloponnesian
War.
Athens vs.
 Democratic institution
/Sovereign assembly (ekklesia)
 Social Organization
 all citizens, men (excluding
slaves), had the right to
participate in decision making
 women, the large numbers of
slaves, who were owned both
by private individuals and the
state, and resident foreigners,
of whom there were many in
Athens, were excluded from
the rights of citizenship.
Sparta
 A strict oligarchy.
 Social Organization:
 Citizens: the Spartiates
 Enslaved people, known as
helots
 perioeci or “outdwellers,”
 Women- main function was
to breed soldiers - received
physical training and were
believed to be less subject
to their husbands than any
women in Greece.
Athens Sparta
 Decisions made by majority vote
 the rule of law and equality
before the law (isonomia).
 Polity- political entity:
1. based on ideal of liberty
(eleutheria)
2. the enjoyment of political rights
by the mass of the people
3. individuals being free to live as
they pleased as long as they
were law-abiding.
 the rule of law and equality
before the law (isonomia).
 Decisions made by citizens -Spartiates
 Politiy:
1. constantly vigilant against the danger of a
helot revolt.
2. separated from their mothers at the age
of seven, boys were reared apart for
fourteen years in a system of severe
training designed to make them
disciplined, courageous, and skillful
fighters in war
3. allowed to marry earlier - not free to
establish households until they reached
the age of thirty - continued to be part of a
masculine warrior society not only in their
regular drills and physical exercises, but
through their common messes or eating
clubs, at which they were obliged to dine
daily until they were sixty.
Athenians
 quick, adventurous,
 articulate, imaginative,
inventive, and daring.
Spartans
 highly conservative
 Strict adherence to
their traditions
 slow to act, and
economical in their
speech
Conception of War

“In times of peace and prosperity cities and individuals alike

follow higher standards, because they are not forced into a
situation where they gave to do what they do not want to do.
But war is a stern teacher; it depriving them of the power of
easily satisfying their daily wants, it brings most people’s minds
down to the level of their actual circumstances.” (3.82)
 most testing and extreme experiences human beings and
political communities can undergo
 decisive in determining the destiny of state
 leaders try to direct it with intelligence and foresight but
often fail.
 Profound observation on revolutions: Book 3.82 and 83
Pericles
 A central figure in Thucydides’ Historya
A man of aristocratic birth and outstanding political gifts … he is given three substantial
speeches, the largest number by any individual who appears in the work
 Preeminent leader of the Athenian democracy supporting the democratic regime
 During the 440s he emerged as Athens’s dominant political figure by his hold on the
democratic citizen body.
 Repeatedly reelected strategos, one of the ten generals whose office was the most
important in the city politically as well as militarily, a place he occupied almost
continuously from 443 to the time of his death in 429.
 One of the initiators of Athens’s grandiose public building program, which included the
construction of the Parthenon, the great temple of the city’s divine patron Athena.
 One policy that brought him his popularity with the democracy was the payment of daily
wages to citizens who served on the large Athenian juries.
 A highly cultured man, an intellectual … the friend of some of the foremost artists,
philosophers, and poets of the time.
 Private life: had a relationship with his cultivated mistress and companion Aspasia, with
whom he lived after divorcing his wife and by whom he had a son.
FUNERAL ORATION

 The Greeks attached great significance to the

burial of the dead.
 In Athens, according to Thucydides, custom
provided for a public funeral at the public cost
for those who died in war.
 The ceremonies traditionally ended with an
oration by a man whom the city chose for his
ability and high reputation
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
 Pericles’ speech, the longest and most famous in the History,
 One of the most eloquent of oratorical performances and a lasting expression of the
Athenian civilization
 Constitutes a unique tribute to Athens and its democratic polity.
 Describe how Athens rose to power and the institutions and manner of life by which it became great
to enhances the contrast with Sparta and it’s way of life
 Focused on Athenian democracy as a form of government, in which “we live here as
free men”
 Democratic Athens meant that “the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the
few.”
 the law “secures equal justice to all in their private disputes,”
 recognizes “the claim of excellence,” since apt and distinguished citizens are promoted in the
public service as a reward of merit and none are prevented by poverty from benefiting their
country.
 “[I]n our private intercourse,” he continues, “we are not suspicious of one another,” nor “angry
with our neighbor if he does what he likes,” while in public life “we are prevented from doing
wrong” by respect for authority and the laws of the city written and unwritten (2.35–37).
 P.147 (40)-148 (41)
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
“…you should fix your eyes every day on the greatness of Athens as she really
is, and should fall in love with her. When you realize her greatness. Then
reflect that what made her great was men with a spirit of adventure, men
who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain
standard. If they ever failed in an enterprise, they made up their minds that
at any rate the city should not find their courage lacking to her, and they
gave to her the best contribution that they could.” (2.43/ p. 149)
 Praise those whose death in the war proved
that they were worthy of Athens
 Most poetic passages uttered (2.43/ p.149)
 Consoles the families and survivors of the dead (have more children to fill
the “empty places” (p. 150/ 44)
 Addresses women p. 151/ 46
 Recompensations for the children of the dead
The Revolution at Corcyra
 stasis means civil strife, sedition, or internal war and
 can also be translated as revolution
 Oligarchies Vs Democracies:
 Oligarchies: the rule of the state by the oligoi or few, a
minority almost exclusively the wealthy and well-born
 Democracy : the rule of the state by the demos or people, the
entire body of (male) citizens - common men of little or no
property
 stasis was frequently a conflict between the city’s rich and poor
 In Corcyra it was between Oligarchic allies of Sparta and
democratic allies of Athens
The Revolution at Corcyra
“As the result of these revolutions, there was general deterioration of character
throughout the Greek world. The simple way of looking at things, which is so much
the mark of a noble nature, was regarded as a ridiculous quality and soon ceased to
exist. Society had become divided into two ideologically hostile camps, and each
side viewed the other with suspicion. As for ending this state of affairs, no
guarantee could be given that would be trusted, on oath sworn that people would
fear to break; everyone had come to the conclusion that it was hopeless to expect a
permanent settlement an so, instead of being able to feel confident in others, they
devoted their energies to providing against being injured themselves. As a rule
those who were the least remarkable for intelligence showed the greater powers of
survival. Such people recognized their own deficincies and the superior intelligence
of their opponents…they boldly launched straigh into action; while their oponents,
over confident in the belief that they would see what ws happening in advance, and
not thinking it necessary to seixe by force what they could secure by policy, were
the more easily destroyed because they were off their guard.” (3.83)
The Revolution at Corcyra
 Diagnoses the revolutionary spirit and its total disregard
to humanity and the law
 Effect on language and moral valuation under the
influence of party interests and passions:
 “Reckless daring” was called “loyal
 courage,” “prudent delay” became “the excuse of a
coward,”
 “moderation” was regarded as “the disguise of unmanly
weakness.”
 Motivation for revolution: “the love of power” originating
in “greed and ambition” not reason and humanity
The Revolution at Corcyra
 a paradigm of the nature of revolution
 chapters, 3.82–83, convey the heart of Thucydides’ thought on revolution
“Revolution thus brought many calamities upon the Greek cities such as have been
and always will be while the nature of mankind remains the same, but which are
more or less aggravated and differ in character with every new combination of
circumstances. In peace and prosperity, both states and individuals are actuated by
higher motives, because they do not fall under the dominion of imperious necessities;
but war which takes away the comfortable provision of daily life is a violent teacher,
and tends to assimilate men’s characters to their conditions.”
(3.82)
 human nature as acted upon by the harsh conditions of war as cause of
revolution

Does that imply that future revolutions would hold similar

outcomes?
 The Melian Dialogue
The Melian Dialogue

 famous as a dramatic presentation of

conflicting principles and ideas
 a masterly portrait of the rationale and
methods of Athenian imperialism: great
powers are guided by their own interests,
unaffected by considerations of justice
Background
 Melos: An Aegean island colonized by settlers from Sparta
centuries earlier
 Melos was neutral in the Archidamian War. Because it refused to
join the Athenian alliance, Athens attacked it in 426, but failed to
subdue it.
 Determined to conquer the defiant islanders, in the summer of
416 Athens sent an expedition against Melos.
 Once the Athenians landed on the island, they offered to
negotiate, hoping that Melos would surrender to superior force
without a fight.
 The Melians were willing to talk, but permit the Athenian
representatives to address a select number of the city’s elite
rather than the entire citizen body.
Form and structure of the Negotiations

 a verbal duel: a direct exchange of views by the spokesmen of

the two sides
 Negotiation terms were unfair because they were dictated by
the Athenians :
 Athenian conditions: instead of each of the parties delivering
set speeches, the Melians should reply to the Athenian
statements whenever they disapproved them.
 Melian Objection :(5.86/ p.401).
 Athenian response 1 : decline to continue the discussion unless
the Melians’ purpose was to face reality and save their city.
 Melians: acquiesce that the argument should go forward on
that basis (5.88)
Justice and Morality vs. Power and
Pragmatism
 Athenian considerations:
“…you should try to get what is possible for you to get, taking
into consideration… (that) the standard of justice depends on
the equality of power… and that in fact the strong do what
they have the power to do and the weak accept what they
have to accept” (5.89)
 Not Justice nor Morality but self interest and pragmatism
 The Athenians consider the Melian appeal to justice and
morality as “a great mass of words that nobody would
believe” (5. 89)
 they make no effort to prove that right is on their side, and
are concerned exclusively with the pragmatism of power.
 The Arguments
MELIANS
1. even if justice is set aside,
it is still in the Athenians’
interest to respect the
principles of justice for
should Athens falls, it will
stand greatly in need of
such a principle.
2. How can it be just that we
become your slaves
ATHENIANS
1. - not worried that their
empire may fall
- “Not frightened of being
conqured by … Sparta”(5.91)
- it is for the interests of us
both that you should not be
destroyed
2. Coming under Athenian
dominion is the only way
Spartans can preserve
themselves.
 The Arguments
MELIANS
ATHENIANS

3. be Athens’s 3. Melos’s friendship more harmful than its

enmity/ the subjects of their empire
friends while still
weakness if Athens should fail to subdue
remaining neutral the Melians/ “your hatred is evidence of
4. it would be base our power” (5.95)
not to defend their 4. - an absurd opinion in light of Athenian
superior power
freedom against
- no disgrace to yield to overwhelming
enslavement force
5. Hope to “stand - the question for you is not honor but
upright” if we prudence.
5. you are deluded by relying on luck or
decide to fight
hope if they decide to resist.
 The Arguments

MELIANS
ATHENIANS
6. “Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men
6. righteous case versus
lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of
unrighteous nature to rule whatever one can. This law was not a law we
made ourselves, nor where we the first to act upon it . . . we
know that you or anybody else with the same power as ours,
would be acting precisely in the same way.” (5.105).
7. hope for the favor of 7. You are foolish to expect help from the Spartans:
the gods or for aid o in their dealings with others, the Spartans always
from their kinsmen equate honor with what is agreeable and of interest
the Spartans. to them
o “…if one follows one’s self interest one wants to be
safe, whereas the path of honor and justice involves
one in danger.” (5.107)
o even if they should send help, Athens has never once
retired from a siege for fear of attack by another
enemy .
Consequences

 Athenians initiating a siege extending into the

winter.
 No help came from the Spartans, and the
Melians were forced to surrender.
 The Athenians, Thucydides writes, “put to death
all the men of military age whom they took, and
sold the women and children as slaves. Melos
itself they took over for themselves, sending out
later a colony of 500 men.” (5.116).
MORAL FOCUS OF THE DIALOGUE

Did the Athenians identify might with right holding that

justice is merely a convention and does not really exist?
 This was not the view Thucydides attributes to the Athenians.
 An appeal to justice is beside the point in this particular case because
justice applies only between equals.
 Athenians accepted it as obvious that the weak must submit to the
strong, a principle that is in harmony with human nature and experience
and with the practice of the gods.
 Motivation: - No appeal to justice but fear for their empire.
- danger that their allies might revolt if they show weakness, and so they
are determined to demonstrate that the Melians must pay highly for
their defiance.