Common Sense Of Courage In The King Archidamus Of Sparta

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.

Action from necessity is a constantly recurring theme in Thucydides’ The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. A sentiment used to explain the growth of the Athenian Empire which some Athenians espoused to an assembly at Sparta best quantifies necessity, “. . . we were necessarily compelled at first to advance the hegemony to where it is—especially by fear, and then by honor, and later by benefit.” (Selected Passages 1.75.3). This claim, referred to as the Athenian Thesis, is used to advance the two following implications: all states act with the motivations of fear, honor and interest and no one can condemn a state for doing so. The Athenian Thesis influences the way many of the Athenian elite structure their patterns of reasoning in both noticeable and subtle ways.

This conveys that Athens is confident enough in their security to allow people to enter their city because they believe that they are the most powerful nation of all. However, this is inaccurate because Athens and Sparta were equal in power at the beginning of the war. Thucydides presents courage when he quotes from Pericles that Athens is powerful because they have a natural courage in comparison to a state induced courage like Sparta. However, Thucydides presentation of courage is inaccurate because by talking about the greatness, security, and courage of Athens Pericles is forcing a state induced courage on the Athenian people by giving them no reason to question the outcome of the war. Thucydides presentation of courage and security in Pericles speech was accurate to the citizens of Athens because they are given no other reasons to contradict Pericles claim. Also, the presentation of security and courage is used to make Athens seem greater and more powerful than they actually were to future nations.

It was at this point in the debates that Sparta's King Archidamus revealed his wisdom in both politics and war fighting. Noting Athens' naval

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. Sparta apparently didn’t agree with this statement. Sparta had many weaknesses compared to strengths. To begin with they lacked education in many ways, they had slavery and killed many slaves that could have retaliated ,and their children were very abused and taken from their families at young age to go to training camp for the Army.

His cowardly act will definitely tarnish his name and left humiliation to his offspring and to the next generation of Greeks. Thus, honor would not allow him and his allies to take a step back and peacefully solve the conflicts because the highest honor can only be gained through heroism in battles.

It is remarkable how timeless the Speech of Archidamus is. One could easily imagine the Spartan King were speaking to a modern occupied territory, itching for a revolt. King Archidamus urges the Spartans to head caution when entering war with Athens. He has “seen too many wars” [pg 25, 80] The battles he has witnessed in his lifetime have swayed him of any naive fascination with war. He has learned that violence begets violence, so one should only enter a battle they are prepared to win. Archidamus explains that Athens is stronger in terms of wealth, military might and political power. If the Spartans take the offensive route under these circumstances, they will surely loose both in combat and in terms of public relations. [pg 26, 81] Furthermore, Archidamus explains later that Athens had agreed to mediation, making any fight that Sparta were to start an unlawful preemptive attack. [pg 28, 85] The King assures his people he is not blind to their suffering, he just envisions better ways of ending it. [pg 26, 82] One of these methods would be to create partnerships with other nations who would lend armed forces and capital to the cause. To be done in tandem with confederation would be the accumulation of Sparta’s assets. Archidamus predicts that under these circumstances, Athens could be motivated to surrender. Under the very different circumstances from which he is speaking, the King pushes to avoid war at all costs citing that “complaints can be resolved, whether they are

In 431 B.C., even before the Peloponnesian War, Athens’ strength compared to other Greek polises was evident. Athens had islands, a powerful, a well-trained navy, and one, if not the best, general at the time: Pericles. Pericles says in his speech that, “war is inevitable,” but in fact the war was preventable (72). Even with all of the military strengths and assets that Athenians had afforded to them, they chose to be merciful to the Peloponnesians who were in no shape to go to war. They did not have the experience, money, manpower, or means to participate in a lengthy war and Pericles makes the citizens aware of this (70). Pericles is both modest and humble for choosing to point out these facts which in turn helps the Athenians see the potential

Being brave requires massive strength of mind, body, and spirit. It is being prepared to face adversity. It allows people to face their greatest enemies without fear. Out of all of the characteristics that Odysseus portrays, bravery stands out above all. There are many cases in which this shows up in The Odyssey by Homer. Specific examples that represent Odysseus's bravery are the battle of Cicones, the events at the cyclops cave, and the events with the lotus eaters.

The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.

An example of courage in the good soldiers is on page 115 lines 34-44.Where they don’t know witch daughter was injured in the bombing and it was’t not us troops who hurt her they didn’t know if they could help her.

The soldier’s lives should be remembered but not their deaths. The speech reminds Athenians what their ancestors have died for and mournful citizens should be proud they died defending the freedom of their country Athens. The oration also reminds Athenians of their greatness because of the fact that Athenian warriors have more to fight for. Athenian warriors are fighting not only for their country but also for their family, friends and other communities in the city. These warriors have more to lose because they are fighting for everyone in the city. During this time possessions were incredibly significant. Wars were usually about gaining land and having as much land as possible. Soldiers were not afraid of dying during combat and chose the most “honorable” course of action by fighting boldly and courageously. In this way, Athens was able to accomplish an enormous army and standard of living, without the harsh everyday training found in city-states.

When Sparta gave its ultimatum to Athens, Pericles was more than happy to oblige and go to war. He embodies Athenian arrogance and overzealousness. Pericles speaks to the Athenian assembly convincing them to go to war because according to him, they cannot lose. Pericles explains how Sparta doesn’t have the same financial advantages that Athens does and how Athens has a far superior navy. According to Pericles, the best strategy is to use that to Athens’ advantage, leaving Attica exposed by only attacking and defending the sea were they have an advantage. Pericles finishes of by saying that Athens possesses all of Sparta’s strengths and none of its weaknesses, and Athens must fight so that future generations will have an Athens that is as good as ever.

In the 1939 movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion is on a quest for the wizard to give him courage. He is afraid of everything and anything. However, in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle believes that courage is possible for all individuals. To gain courage one must have the inner qualities that will guide the courageous. The most important part of these qualities is to come to terms with death itself. Also, there are views of courage that are falsely perceived because they appear to be parallel with one another; nevertheless they are still very different.

“But we trust that the gods may grant us fortune as good as yours, since we are just men fighting against unjust, and that what we want in power will be made up by the alliance of the Lacedaemonians” (Thucydides 270). The Melians should have acted sensibly instead of being naïve and submit to the imperial power seeing that the odds were against them. The Athenians give them a choice, but they decided to act irrational and respond emotively. “They underestimated Athens’ military power, judging the issue by the clouded eye of volition rather than calculations based on security and followed the human tendency to back their desires with uncritical hope and use of sovereign reason only to reject what they find unpalatable” (Bosworth 36).