Thucydides Essays

Herodotus and Thucydides are both often referred to as the world’s first true historians. They both were truly the first to document history by writing in it a book-like medium. Both innovators in their field, the two men had extremely different writing styles and ways of formulating their information into their respective books. Herodotus and Thucydides are more different than similar when comparing their works. Herodotus and Thucydides are only similar in a couple ways. To begin, like stated

Public versus Private, and the impact to the war Thucydides, the author of The Peloponnesian War, differentiates itself from any of the former literature to not give heroic contents, but to analyze the content of the war between the Hellas. One of the greatest morale that he gives through the analysis is the separation of the public and private interests during a political project: in order to achieve the good of the city, the priorities must be set on the what is best for the many, rather than

that it all started during the Greek ancient times as they first develop the concept of The Art of War through the eyes of the historian Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War. In which, although he was not a political philosopher, he was able to observe what has become the “ins-and-outs” of international relation policy making through the means of war. For Thucydides it was clear that politicians acted in an egoistic manner as they abused of their authoritarian state powers, (please let keep in mind

Thucydides was an athenian historian and strategos in Athenian War. He was born in Alimos, Greece between the years 460 and 455 B.C. and died between the years 411 and 400 B.C. He has contributed in the strategic interaction of states during his era. He is also known as the father of scientific history and political realism (Kemos, 2005). Thucydides became a general in the Athenian army. He led troops in the Peloponnesian war with Sparta in the late 400s BC, but when he lost a battle the democratic

world-renowned Athenian historian and general, Thucydides famed history The Peloponnesian War recounts some of Athens’ and other Greeks’ most telling moments world powers. Thucydides, unlike his predecessor Herodotus, approaches his history with a generally detached and serious tone, yet his opinion does shine through his writing at times. Perhaps, the Athenians’ Sicilian Expedition (415 BCE- 413 BCE) sections in the histories features the most of Thucydides’ opinion on a particular subject sneaking into

Peloponnesian War Thucydides famously describes the devastating epidemic that hit Athens which killed nearly a third of the Athenian population, including the famous general Pericles. The History can be quite a useful source if one wish to know the hardships the Athenians faced when the disease ravaged Athens as it is essentially an eye-witness account since Thucydides himself was infected for a time. But as an objective medical record it would be best to look elsewhere since Thucydides’ terms regarding

Thucydides, The Melian Dialogue, The Peloponnesian War, pp.348-357, First publication 431 BC, originally a Athenian edition Melian dialogue is part of the fifth book of the works of the eminent Greek historian Thucydides entitled '' Peloponnesian War ''. It is a very important historical source of knowledge on the war between Athens and Sparta, which took place in the years 431-404 BC The aforementioned piece is very valuable because it is the foundation of realism as a theory in international relations

While reading the History of the Peloponnesian War, it is not hard to see how so many scholars have attributed the work of Thucydides as swift, deep and attentive to detail; one gets the feeling that you are reading the words of a well rounded and inspiring scholar who is only interested in a realist recording the truth as it unfolds in front of him. (Welch 2003) Thucydides offers a history that will be of use to those who seek, “An exact aid to the past to better aid the future. I have written my

Cameron Moore Professor Bruns World History 11 September 2017 Analysis on Gettysburg Address and Thucydides, Pericles’ Funeral Oration The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and Thucydides, Pericles’ Funeral Oration share striking similarities, even though both documents originate from different time periods. The Gettysburg address talks about the civil war and the importance of keeping the union whole. The funeral oration talks about honoring the dead soldiers and comparing their society to

In Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, it is recounted how the Athenians condemned the people of Melos and put all of the men to death because they refused to become part of the Athenian empire. This in itself shows the self-interest of the Athenians

In Richard Crawley’s translated version of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference” share the similarity of the Athenian representative using rich rhetoric and the differences of perspective of Athens. In both the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference,” the Athenians uses graceful rhetoric in order to disguise its military intentions. Before Pericles acknowledges the dead soldiers and their mourning family

Comparison analysis of Athenian Leaders Pericles and Nicias based on Thucydides’ History. This paper aim is to examine the pattern of the Athenian leaders Pericles and Nicias, which characters are distributed in the Thucydides’ History . Thucydides’ History is evidently chary of expressing the author views about leading individuals. In the first place, it will show that in the book such explicit judgments are few and mostly brief. The author is not content to accept public opinion uncritically

Thucydides is the author of Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War was a direct and indirect conflict between Sparta and Athens that lasted from 460-404 BCE. Thucydides fought for Athens during the Peloponnesian War and was later exiled by Athens. Thucydides was writing about something that he participated in and the Peloponnesian War became the first contemporary history. Thucydides also made use of eyewitness reports from people who were participants in the war. The Peloponnesian War in unbiased

Speeches play an important role in Thucydides’s historical work. The use of rhetoric in them serves to convince various peoples to embark on journeys or build up morale. While one may simply read the rhetoric used in speeches as a device to convince people, a new meaning to the text is elucidated once one examines the underlying types of rhetoric used. The rhetorical nature of the main speeches in Thuydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War convey a message about Athens, yet with different spins

“Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”, said Thucydides, the Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides described the conflict between Athens and Sparta that ended the Golden Age. The war is called Peloponnesian, because it corresponded Sparta’s alliance against Athens and the Delian League. According to historical records, there are enough reasons to say that

Pericles’ Funeral Oration, written by Thucydides, is Pericles’ speech directed at the Athenians intended to persuade and encourage them to continue fighting through the Peloponnesian War. Pericles utilizes composition and division of declarative statements to convince the Athenians to keep faith in the ongoing war. As readers of Pericles’ oration, we can judge simple propositions to be true or false. Through Pericles’ use of simple propositions and conditional statements, the Athenian people are

What were the causes of the Peloponnesian war, and was war inevitable? One of the main causes of war is the disagreement between states on many subjects, and because of this many conflicts between these countries arise, war is something unpredictable, due to how unpredictable it is, it must be studied carefully based on individual circumstances, actions taken by both sides, and the reactions. To prevent war, one must examine the causes of a conflict, they must evaluate the outcome of the conflict

The Melian dialogue is a conversation between the council of Melos and the Athenians. The Melians were a colony of the Lacedaemonians (Sparta), but they did not wish to be the subject to the Athenians. The Athenian Empire was a powerful enemy to be reckoned with, and they had the power to back it up. Before the Athenians came along, the Melians were a neutral colony, but did not wish to participate in any war unless they were being under attacked. The Athenians however, wished to take the Melians

In Plato's Gorgias, it is apparent that Socrates has no desire to be a good statesman as it is defined in the eyes of the Athenians. His calculation is that Athenian rhetoricians place no reliance on facts or truth, nor are these their aim. Instead, they rely on the illusion of knowledge, and this morally weakens both themselves and their audiences. It is clear however, that if he wishes, Socrates is able to match most or all of the other statesmen in Athens, as is clearly indicated by his very eloquent

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics begins by exploring ‘the good’. Book I argues that, unlike other goods, “happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, and is, therefore, the end of actions” (10:1097b20-21). In other words, happiness is the ultimate good. But how does one achieve happiness? Aristotle formulates this in the context of work, since for all things, from artists to horses, “the good and the doing it well seem to be in the work” (10:1097b27-28). Much like the work of a