Were The Melians Resisting Athens Right To Fight?

In Athens’ quest for a great empire, they planned to dominate their lesser foes, add to their empire, and show their strength; these pursuits brought them to the city of Melos. Melos was a small island in the Aegean Sea and a colony of Sparta, but they where a neutral state; they were not allied with either side. They had not been involved in the Peloponnesian war as of yet, and did not plan on getting involved. Then, Athens came, demanding surrender and tribute, but Melos chose to resist, rather than submit. Athens believed that because they had might on their side, that they also had the right to conquer weaker city-states (“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”). The Melians were right to resist Athens because if
not, slavery was certain, furthermore, they were right because they still had hope for victory if they fought.
The Melians were right to fight because they knew that if they submitted to Athens they would be enslaved.
When Athens voyaged to Melos, they made no effort to hide their purpose; they were there to conquer Melos, and they expected complete surrender. With a large fleet of the Athenian navy surrounding their city, Melos knew that if they surrendered a life of slavery and dishonor was ahead of them. “To the fairness of quietly instructing each other as you propose there is nothing to object; but your military preparations are too far advanced to agree with what you say, as we see you are come to be judges in your own cause, and that all we can reasonably expect from this negotiation is war, if we prove to have right on our side and refuse to submit, and in the contrary case, slavery.” Enslavement to Athens would not just affect the present Melians it would affect generation after generation, their people could be under Athenian rule for hundreds of years. Melos had been an independent state for over seven hundred years they were not going to give up that freedom without a fight. “Our resolution, Athenians, is the same as it was at first. We will not in a moment deprive of freedom a city that has been inhabited these seven hundred years.” Melos made the right decision in resisting Athens, to resist Athens, was to resist the bonds of
slavery.
The second reason is that they had hope in their gods and in their allies to protect them, and hope is as good as any a reason to resist.
Melos knew there would be a fight if they resisted, but they had no way of knowing the terrible outcome of their resistance. So, they held hope that they might somehow win. “…We put our trust in the fortune by which the gods have preserved it until now, and in the help of men, that is, of the Lacedaemonians; and so we will try and save ourselves.” Melos was aware of Athens mighty fleet surrounding their shores, but they also had allies close by, and they held hope that they would come to their aid. They also tried to make peace with Athens to avoid war and hostility; they did everything in their power to protect their people. “But we know that the fortune of war is sometimes more impartial than the disproportion of numbers might lead one to suppose; to submit is to give ourselves over to despair, while action still preserves for us a hope that we may stand erect.” Melos was right to fight because they still might have had a chance for
success.
I do agree with the Melians choice to resist. With a hope of overcoming their attackers, and a chance of freedom, the Melians, made the best decision they could to protect their people. The Bible often speaks of resisting evil, and that is what the Melians were doing. The Melians, as they said, were just men fighting against unjust. Not unlike Glaucon’s example in The Republic, Athens may have been seen by others as a just, freedom fighting democracy, but in reality, Athens was an unjust, power-hungry empire.