Thucydides vs Plato Thucydides and Plato had contrasting ways in their approach on the good life. Thucydides displays empirical thinking in his studies of human nature and behavior during the Peloponnesian War and Plato displays normative thinking in his books and dialogs in particular "The Republic" Plato views a good life on the ideals that a person has reached happiness. When a person is in a state where they have no desires because they have all love in their life. He believed this
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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
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Thucydides Versus Plato: Differing Views of the Good Life What is the true nature of the Good Life? Is it living life with concern for only oneself despite the possible consequences of one’s action on others? Or might it involve self-sacrifice in effort to do what one feels is right or just? Is it descriptive‚ or perhaps prescriptive? Two prominent Greeks‚ Thucydides and Plato‚ began providing answers to these questions over 25 centuries ago as they analyzed and wrote critically about life’s
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THE CONCEPT OF IMITATION IN PLATO AND ARISTOTLE Abstract Plato and Aristotle argue that artist (Demiurge) and poet imitate nature‚ thus‚ a work of art is a reflection of nature. However‚ they have different views on the functions of imitation in art and literature. Plato believes in the existence of the ideal world‚ where exists a real form of every object found in nature. A work of art –which reflects nature is twice far from the reality it represents. Aristotle‚ on the other hand‚ does not
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Andy Smith HCC-101 September 22‚ 2011 Writing assignment #1: Summarize and analyze Pericles’ speech‚ as recounted by Thucydides. In Thucydides‚ “The Funeral Oration of Pericles”‚ I will analyze and summarize the excerpts used within our primary source course packet to comment upon the core questions of being human‚ having purpose‚ the natural world and the just society that was created by the great civilization of Athens. The oration that Pericles delivers at the funeral for the fallen
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“Thucydides: Method of Historical Inquiry” Thucydides‚ one of the great historians‚ recorded several years of war between Sparta and Athens. “History of the Peloponnesian War‚” in which he was the writer‚ used different methods of investigating and writing his history. He combined several sources into one fascinating voice that is his own. Thucydides methods included balance‚ accuracy and objectivity‚ and how he reached his findings that makes it an historical classification. One method would
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The Classical Greek Political Thought deeply focused on structuralizing the political institutions and perfected the allocation of functions among them. Whereas‚ Thucydides and Aristotle are two distinct personas who dedicated time to craft what is for them the relative best and grasping the truth for the early city-states. Providing a comparison between two identities requires a thorough research with regard to philosophy in life‚ technique in constructing arguments‚ and their contributions to the
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Exam 3‚ response to question 2 ‚ Aristophanes and Thucydides. Briahna Miner 3704138 December 13th 2011 Aristophanes and Thucydides both wrote during the Peloponnesian War‚ the former wrote comic plays and the latter wrote a more serious account of what was happening. Although they were authors of two very different forms of literature they had the common tie of being critical of democracy and blamed it’s downfalls for the Athenian loss of the war. They looked at the same facts about the same events
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A Comparison of Herodotus and Thucydides The Persian and Peloponnesian wars were both significant conflicts that tested independence. Documenting these wars was obviously hard at this point of civilization‚ but two men did‚ and are now known as the great writers of their time. When analyzing the writings of Herodotus and Thucydides‚ the authors must be compared and contrasted. Though it is almost impossible to know the complete accuracy of their accounts‚ analyzing the writing style will give
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Throughout the centuries‚ the ancient historians Herodotus and Thucydides have remained dominant figures in terms of historical writing and documentation. Both men wrote about significant wars‚ though they did so in very different‚ yet somehow similar‚ styles. Both authors wanted to maintain methodological order‚ but order was vastly misconstrued between the historians. Therefore‚ it is vital for researchers to compare-and-contrast the two author’s approaches to history to emulate the style of such
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