Thucydides, Peloponnesian Wars 1.66-78

1.66-87

FIRST CONGRESS AT SPARTA 432 BCE

  • Background of the congress: Corinth has complaints against Athens (regarding Potidaea, Megara, and Corcyra) and brings them to Sparta's attention; Athenians happen to be in the city and ask for a chance to respond to the speeches.
  • You should keep in mind Thucydides' earlier warning that such complaints were not the "real cause" of the war

1.68-71

The Corinthian Emissary

  • What is it that the Corinthians want?
  • Strategy is to characterize the Spartans and the Athenians, including (as we came up with in class. . .)

Sparta

  • Conservative
  • Deliberative but slow to act
  • Neglect warnings
  • Ignorant of foreign affairs
  • Don't finish the job
  • Old fashioned

Athens

  • Innovative
  • Resilient
  • Never quit
  • Aggressive
  • React to situations quickly
  • Don't leave others alone

  • What do you think of this as a strategy? The Corinthians also blame Sparta for Athens' successful aggression and propose that Sparta COULD, if they only WOULD, stop Athens.
  • Pay attention to matter of the acropolis fortification and the long walls. Think of how important the long walls were to Athens in light of its sea-based economy.
  • How do the Corinthians characterize the Athenian empire and domination, as just or unjust?

1.73-78

The Athenian Representatives

  • What is it the Athenians want? What strategy do they use?
  • Take credit for victory over the Persians (cp. the Corinthian speech)
  • Justification of empire: we didn't take it by force; it is nothing contrary to human nature to hold on to it now that we have it
  • We are nonetheless a force to be reckoned with; think twice
  • Accidents happen in a long war; think twice
  • What do you think of the Athenian strategy?

To Ponder

  • How confident are you that we have an accurate report of either of the speeches? Why?
  • What is the most important thing Thucydides accomplishes by including them?
  • In what way are the characterizations and the warning about accidents 'IRONIC"?

1.88

At the end of his narrative of the congress, Thucydides reminds us that the congress did not really advance the plot, because these complaints were not the REAL CAUSE of the war. Thus we come full circle back to 1.23: the real cause of the war was Athens' growth of power and the fear it produced in Sparta.

SOME ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

THE PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS

SPARTA

ATHENS
  1. powerful infantry
  2. self-sufficient, but threatened by Helot revolt
  3. relatively poor
  4. old stable constitution
  5. lived in military preparedness
  6. culturally conservative
  1. mightiest naval fleet
  2. depended on the sea/her harbor for food and timber for ships
  3. wealthy from silver mines, trade, and tribute
  4. radical democracy after years of political upheaval
  5. more leisurely lifestyle for SOME of the population (not for the slaves)
  6. culturally innovative; welcomed new ideas of Sophism

5TH CENTURY INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION

SOPHISM a diverse intellectual movement, but some basic tenets of many Sophists include:

  • rational instead of mythological worldview; gods basically kicked off the stage as explanations (cp. Homer and Thucydides on the Trojan War)
  • taught rhetoric (ability to speak persuasively THE skill to have in Athenian democracy)
  • relativism: man, meaning the individual and his perceptions, the measure of all things
  • PHYSIS AND NOMOS:
    • social conventions, values, religion, etc. are human constructions and not based in objective reality; they are NOMOI (pl of nomos), conventional, and therefore arbitrary and relative.
    • there is such as thing as PHYSIS, nature: human nature. Sophists were divided on whether human nature was essentially wild, violent, and untamed or whether it was primitive and pure. Those who thought human nature was wild regarded social conventions and institutions as NOMOI, relative to be sure, but necessary to enable humans to live in civilized communites.
  • Where have we heard a discussion analogous to this in our class this semester?

 

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