Thucydides vs Plato
Compare and contrast Thucydides’ and Socrates’ analyses of the fate of Athenian democracy in war, of why the Athenians went to war, and of how and why they failed.
The Peloponnesian War was the turning point in Athenian hegemony in Ancient Greece. It was fought in 431 B.C. between the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. According to Thucydides, Athens’ imposing hegemonic status and its overwhelming quest for more power made the Peloponnesian War and Athens’s eventual fall from power inevitable. Despite the Athenians having a far more superior navy and being considerably wealthier, they were defeated and made subjects of Sparta. In this paper, I will discuss Thucydides’ and Socrates’ reasons for why Athens lost the war and then I will present my own theory. Thucydides was a Greek historian who served as a general during the Peloponnesian war. He is often thought of as the father of political realism and one of the first historians to implement strict standards for evidence gathering and analysis. He is also noted for not succumbing to religious biases and beliefs when recounting the history of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides starts by talking about the history of the Athenian and Spartan relationship. Most notably he discusses how Athens became so powerful that war with Sparta was unavoidable. He also talks about his method of collecting evidence and recounting history. Thucydides says that while it is impossible to remember everything exactly as it happened, he recounted the events to the best of his ability. He was present at every event he wrote about or had reliable eyewitnesses present. Reading into Book 1 of the History, we quickly get the impression of what the rest of the world thinks of Athens. Representatives from Corinth describe the Athenians as being “incapable of either living a quiet life themselves or of allowing anyone else to do so”. Athenians are never happy with what they have. They are greedy
The Peloponnesian War was the turning point in Athenian hegemony in Ancient Greece. It was fought in 431 B.C. between the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. According to Thucydides, Athens’ imposing hegemonic status and its overwhelming quest for more power made the Peloponnesian War and Athens’s eventual fall from power inevitable. Despite the Athenians having a far more superior navy and being considerably wealthier, they were defeated and made subjects of Sparta. In this paper, I will discuss Thucydides’ and Socrates’ reasons for why Athens lost the war and then I will present my own theory. Thucydides was a Greek historian who served as a general during the Peloponnesian war. He is often thought of as the father of political realism and one of the first historians to implement strict standards for evidence gathering and analysis. He is also noted for not succumbing to religious biases and beliefs when recounting the history of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides starts by talking about the history of the Athenian and Spartan relationship. Most notably he discusses how Athens became so powerful that war with Sparta was unavoidable. He also talks about his method of collecting evidence and recounting history. Thucydides says that while it is impossible to remember everything exactly as it happened, he recounted the events to the best of his ability. He was present at every event he wrote about or had reliable eyewitnesses present. Reading into Book 1 of the History, we quickly get the impression of what the rest of the world thinks of Athens. Representatives from Corinth describe the Athenians as being “incapable of either living a quiet life themselves or of allowing anyone else to do so”. Athenians are never happy with what they have. They are greedy