He also summarizes in section pericles exhortation to his fellow citizens as they faced the fact of actual invasion. Immediately after the affair at plataea the lacedaemonians sent round word to their. Thucydides classic work is a foundational text in the history of western political thought. He therefore believes that human nature is forever cruel and unjust. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading strategy. The lacedaemonian king archidamus favoured a policy of peace solely and simply from a conviction that his country had everything to gain by putting off the evil day. Thucydides on the causes of the peloponnesian war i my object in this paper is to discuss not so much why the peloponnesian war occurred though i have views on that question, which will become ap parent, but why thucydides wrote as he did about why the war occurred. In a revision of the book thucydides would possibly have worked up the speech of peisander at greater length. Archidamus led the spartan invasions of attica in 431, 430, and 428 and a campaign against plataea in 429. Context and adaptation from archidamus to airpower transforming war. When the messenian helots serfs revolted against their spartan masters following a.
Thucydides history bibliographies cite this for me. His coolness and presence of mind are said to have saved the spartan state from destruction on the occasion of the great earthquake of 464 bc, but this story must be regarded as at least doubtful. Thucydides, an athenian, wrote the history of the war between the. Archidamus, the leader of the expedition, called together the generals of all the states and the principal persons and officers, and exhorted them as follows. As the preeminent athenian historian, thucydides, wrote in his influential history of the peloponnesian war, the growth of the power of athens, and the alarm which this inspired in lacedaemon, made war inevitable.
Indeed, the nearly fifty years of greek history that preceded the outbreak of the peloponnesian war had been marked by the development of athens as a. Create your citations, reference lists and bibliographies automatically using the apa, mla, chicago, or harvard referencing styles. Inheriting war in thucydides 5 as a traditional spartan. But archidamus, the lacedaemonian king, came forward, who had the. Selfcontrol is the chief element in selfrespect, and selfrespect is the chief element in courage. In thucydides history of the peloponnesian war, the author describes and analyzes the conflict which occurred between the citystates of athens and sparta and their respective allies from 431404 bce. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book ii. As soon as he arrived at the camp, and archidamus learnt that the athenians. Chapter summary for thucydides s the history of the peloponnesian war, book 1 chapter 3 summary. The historical context of thucydides funeral oration. Note on the geography of thucydides book i book ii book iii book iv book. Despite the fact that he speaks very briefly in response to king archidamus iis plea for caution, sthenelaides. It was written by thucydides, an athenian historian who also served as an athenian general during the war.
He presents a useful text for students of attic greek and to instructors of thucydides. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book v. For a brief statement on my editorial policy with regards to changes to posts after theyve been first published, see this. Archidamus and pericles during the greek wars essays. N al volume 48 march 1953 the speeches of king archidamus in thucydides the austrian poet and thinker, franz grillparzer, one of the great prophetic minds of the last. The history of the peloponnesian war book 1 chapter 3. I purchased this book because i wanted to delve in thucydides main work but had neither the time nor the need to know every battle indepth. Thucydides and the ancient simplicity uc press ebooks collection. I study international relations and thus know my basics on classic political thought, but welcomed an analytical.
The historical context of thucydides funeral oration moderation. If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, your email address may not be registered, and you may need to create a new wiley online library account. The only advantage which rusten does not provide is a vocabulary list. Thucydides new surveys in the classics cambridge core. Now seeing mycenae was but a small city, or if any other of that age seem but of light regard, let not any man for that cause, on so weak an argument, think that fleet to have been less than the poets have said and fame reported it to be. Thucydides, pericles, and the idea of athens in the.
Toward the end of his work, thucydides demonstrates that flexible thinking about the city exacerbated the athenians civil war. During the three speeches of the section, he sets up a dichotomy with one faction on one side and the other faction on the other. Morris, commentary on thucydides book 1 agamemnon, hom. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, the first. This essay will argue how the speech of archidamus expresses that being unprepared and to charge against the high resourceful athenian population would be unwise, harmful and dangerous. For alcibiades thucydides had the feelings natural to a judge for a criminal. Individual mourners were not to make a spectacle of themselves. Thucydides, an athenian, wrote the history of the war in which the peloponnesians and.
This essay will show that archidamus did a better job of net assessmen. Along with a pep talk delivered to his troops by archidamus, thucydides asserts that the spartan king was heavily criticized for his delaying. The speeches of king archidamus in thucydides jstor. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war benjamin jowett, ed. As regards the language of the speeches, thucydides plainly avows that it is chiefly or wholly his own. What does thucydides say about the early practice of piracy. Archidamus quiet dignity and oldfashioned poise, his balance of mind and. Archidamus was one of the kings of sparta in the years preceding the peloponnesian war.
His two sons became the spartan rulers agis ii and agesilaus ii. His first step was to send melesippus, 1 the son of diacritus, a spartan, to athens in the hope that the athenians might after all give way, when they saw their enemies actually on the march. The same thucydides of athens continued the history, following the order of. Thucydides quotes author of history of the peloponnesian war. When the whole army was assembled, archidamus, the king of the lacedaemonians, and the leader of the expedition, called together the generals of the different states and their chief officers and most distinguished men, and 25 spoke as follows. The dramatic truth, so far as it goes, is in the matter, not in the form. Commentary is helpful, if in the form of end notes, and fairly thorough. The history of the peloponnesian war, by thucydides 431 bc. Do not fancy that a war with the athenians will be without danger. Archidamus and pericles during the greek wars essays pericles of athens and archidamus of sparta devised net assessments that both believed would provide strategies that would bring victory and peace for their respective states. Providing a thorough critique and analysis of thucydides neglected book 8, taylor shows that thucydides praises political compromise centered around the traditional city in attica.
Book 2, chapter 6 begins thucydides s coverage of the war proper, which commenced in 431 bce with a conflict between thebes and plataea and with a spartan invasion of attica, the region of athens, led by king archidamus ii. The landmark thucydides includes a vast array of superbly designed and presented maps, brief informative appendices by outstanding classical scholars on subjects of special relevance to the text, explanatory marginal notes on each page, an index of unprecedented subtlety, and numerous other useful features. Context and adaptation from archidamus to airpower transforming war kindle edition by bailey, richard, forsyth, james. The history of the peloponnesian war book 2 chapter 6. A member of the eurypontid house one of the two royal families of sparta, he succeeded to the throne of his grandfather, leotychides. How close they are to the presumed originals what pericles and the others actually said, or even if they are close at. How useful is the speech of king archidamus in thucydides. The actual narrative of the peloponnesian war starts in book 2. In the debate at sparta, thucydides is clearly trying to show how different the spartans and the athenians are from each other. The spartan king archidamus urges caution before a declaration of war. Having thus spoken, archidamus dismissed the assembly.
In the opinion of the ancients he had managed to compose a work that for technical virtuosity, moral point, and emotional impact rivalled the greatest monuments of poetry and prose. From thucydides, translated into english, to which is prefixed an essay on inscriptions and a note on the geography of thucydides, by benjamin jowett. Archidamus, the spartan king, leads a lacedaemonian force into attica. The first 10 years of the conflict are known as the archidamian war. The first to speak was one of the citys two kings, archidamus, who gave his name to the first 10 years of the war from 431 to the peace of nicias in 421. Beginning in book one, thucydides utilizes speeches of the spartan king, archidamus, and his allies the corinthians, to first establish spartas conservative nature. Thucydides called his account of two decades of war between athens and sparta a possssion for all time, and indeed it is the first and still most famous work in the western historical tradition. And so ended the second year in the peloponnesian war of which thucydides wrote the history.
It is usually assumed among scholars that thucydides speeches are not verbatim transcripts, although some readers believe that short bits or especially vivid phrases such as pericles athens is the school of greece might be literal quotations. Thucydides states that his history is meant to last for all time given that human nature being what it is history will, at some time or other in much the same way, be repeated in the future thucydides, 1. In book 1, chapter 3 thucydides methodically enhances and creates variations on the structure and major themes of book 1. In the speech of archidamus, thucydides expresses what the king conveyed to the attendees in the congress of sparta. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Sthenelaidass appeal has struck many as irrational and emotional. Character profile for archidamus from the winters tale. In the following summer the peloponnesians and their allies under the command of archidamus 142 the son of zeuxidamus, the lacedaemonian king, instead of invading 143 attica, made an expedition against plataea. Throughout antiquity, thucydides was considered the greatest historian and the one most worthy of emulation. For more on archidamus, read thucydides famous account of the peloponnesian congress in 432 bc. Professor rusten nearly equals clyde pharr in his presentation of book ii. Thucydides gives pericles two speeches in this book, the famed funeral oration in sections 3546 and a final speech rallying the athenians to stay the course in sections 6064.
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