Herodotus: The Power Of Polycrates

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.

One can be judged by their actions, but what truly shapes a person is their personality. Odysseus is an over-confident and ill-tempered man. On the cyclops's island, Odysseus's boasting nearly proves costly. A modest and heroic person would have had his men in mind, rather than himself, and left the island. Also, Odysseus revealing his true identity to the cyclops could very well have resulted in the death of his men. After Odysseus's boasting, Polyphemus prays to his father, "Let him lose all companions, and return / under strange sail to bitter days at home" (Homer 9. (537-8). This prophecy, of course, becomes a reality. Another sign of Odysseus's over-confidence shows while he is explaining himself to King Alcinous. In some of his first words to the king, Odysseus again boasts of his accomplishments. "Men hold me / formidable for guile in peace and war: / this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim" (Homer 9. (127-8). Another very important fact is Odysseus's position on monogamy. Odysseus believes he's above monogamy, as he stays with many goddesses during his journeys while Penelope stays faithful at home. A hero is not a boasting, over-confident person, but someone who does their actions for no reward.

The Battle of Thermopylae, which Herodotus recorded in his writing The Histories, was one of the most arduous and notable battles of western history. Herodotus was an extremely significant historian who lived during the 5th century B.C. In this primary source writing, he portrays how Xerxes was superstitious and tyrannical, how the battle informs you about the Spartan culture, how the values of Greek promoted society, and he displayed how significant the Persian invasion was on Greek development, for example, their political and intellectual expansion. The Persian King Xerxes

During Odysseus’ wanderings, a change comes over him. A change that is motivated by the immense suffering he brings both on himself and on those around him through his prideful actions. Beginning with the prideful raid on the city of the Cicones and culminating with Odysseus taunting the newly-blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus’ pride heaps more and more suffering upon himself and often kills those around him. Because of this increase in suffering, Odysseus changes. He becomes more humble, more tactful, less of a barbarian and more of a planner; this change can been seen primarily through his diplomatic actions in Phaeacia and his cunning use of Athena’s disguise during his time of testing in his own home.

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and

Herodotus' writes his Histories for Greeks. Specifically for Greeks living in Herodotus' own time. The statement of purpose which begins the work seems to contradict this hypothesis. Herodotus claims to wish to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements…" [Herodotus, 1.0]. The underlying assumption here is that the author is preserving these events and achievements for future generations and perhaps even future civilizations. The text however does not does not follow these guidelines. Herodotus assumes that his reader will have certain amount of common knowledge.

Finally i will have to tell you who is this man you are falsely accusing today. Even though we all, men of Athens, hates Socrates’s way of seeing and doing things and the way he embarrassed our greatest men of Athens in public. But the past had proven to us that he is a good wise man that rarely been mistaken in term of what was good for Athens. Moreover, one event that we cant forget is the trail of the 8 Generals where he oppose the exception of the 8 men. Even though he was threaten to take the same fate as theirs. Athenian thought he was crazy back then and ordered to execute the 6 Generals they have at hand and the same fate awaits for those who fled. However, few years later Athens needed as much strong men as they can get so they dropped

Polybius, a Greek commander who spent years on military campaigns with Roman armies in the second century B.C.E. (Hunt, Al., 2012, 160) Polybius venerated the Roman camp but it was army discipline that authentically fascinated him. It was rigorous to the point of inhumanity. Polybius believed the ideal Centurion was instilled with the Core Values of the Arête, the Greek value of competitive individual excellence. This commitment or drive imbues a zealousness of self-sacrifice, accolade, obligation, and a commitment to culminate ones ' life in the accommodation rather than peregrinate home in disgrace. Utilizing this philosophy a committed army, led by Centurions who Rome wanted “not so much to be bold and eager to take risks, but rather to be capable of leadership and steady and solid in character, nor do they want them to initiate attacks and precipitate battle”. (Vegetius, F. 2011, 176) It was prosperous in incrementing Rome 's elevate in a troglodytic time into a more Western Civilization.

Charles could see Erik giving up as sharply as he felt it, the small spark that he’d come to label in his own mind as ‘life force’ dwindling to an ember and extinguishing. He was stepping forward before he could stop himself, blooding rushing in his ears against time as he spoke. “Dēsístite!“

“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here gives the results of his researches, so that the events of human history may not fade with time and the notable achievements both of Greeks and of foreigners may not lack their due fame; and, among other things, to show why these peoples came to make war on one another.” Herodotus is considered one of the founders of historiography. It had long been argued that Herodotus was important for his military histories of Ancient Greece, but although his works focused on military and war he put specific emphasis on detailed factors that related more to the cultural aspects of Greek history.

In “The Handbook”, Epictetus provides a way of life a stoic should follow to be a good member of the society, which is a life detached from things one cannot change and focused instead on things that can be improved. For instance, he asked people to care none about the way others would judge them as he quoted “If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: "He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these."” Through this quote, Epictetus wanted all stoics to know all their faults better than anyone else can say about them. Hence, the person would not be disturbed by the way the society view him or her as well as would be able to control and fix

It takes a lot of courage to stand up and defend an action or idea that is forbidden by society. This is what Antigone does in Sophocles' story Antigone. She clearly disobeys King Creon's order that no person should bury Antigone's brother, Polynices, which is punishable by penalty of death. In this case, is Antigone's decision the correct one? Her actions affect many of her other countrymen negatively because they cause problems within the royal family, disagreement among the people and directly relate to the death of three people including her own.

Sophocles’ play, Antigone, is centered around the conflict of whether Polynices should be buried or exposed to the elements for the wild dogs and vultures to tear apart his body. The play opens at the end of Polynices’ attempted invasion, which made him a traitor of Thebes, and it is revealed that both Polynices and Eteocles had fallen. The new king of Thebes, Creon, decrees that Eteocles will be buried with honored, but Polynices will be left unburied and exposed to the elements. Antigone tells Ismene, her sister, that

The true essence of human nature is seen during times of great hardships as can be seen comparing Pericles' Funeral Oration and the plague in Thucydides', The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides accounts for many different aspects of justice, power, and human nature through his text. The order, the style of his writing, choice of words, and relations of what he believes actually happened, allows the reader to make different inferences about the message he's trying to convey. The juxtaposition of the two stories portrays many different characteristics to investigate and analyze.

Herodotus marked a new way of recording and interpreting history: conducting research. He recorded what he saw, heard, and experienced as he traveled around places like the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and as far up as Babylon. He went on expeditions and encountered much of his information through in person exchange, an accomplishment surely to be considered great. Martin believes Herodotus explored an extensive amount of history and peoples and showcased a spectrum of topics like “war, politics, religion, commerce, geography, climate, ethnography, and individual human motivations” (Martin 7). In his writings called The Histories, Herodotus begins with The Story of Croesus and