Self-Control And Courage In The Spartan King ThucydidesHistory

The rulers are the most important and must be brought up with a good moral upbringing. Plato believes that it is necessary to tell the rulers falsehoods in their childhood to have them be gentile to their own people and harmful to their enemies. In order to give them a good moral upbringing Plato states that you need to read them stories about the Gods. But because the ruler can only be subjected to good moral ideas, the evil stories will be overlooked. " Aren't there two kinds of story, one true and the other false?" Socrates states," Yes. And mustn't our men be educated in both, but first in false ones?" Plato thinks that children not be confronted with anything evil until its character is already formed, making the children respect honesty and virtue." The young cant distinguish what is allegorical from what isn't, and the opinions they absorb at that age are hard to erase and apt to become unalternatable. For these reasons, then, we should take the utmost care to insure that the first stories they hear about virtue are the best ones for them to hear."

“Life at Sparta in several ways resembled that of a military camp,” (Powell 2001, 219). Many laws that Lycurgus proposed revolved around the benefit of the Spartan military. These implementations set by Lycurgus do not give any benefit to the democratic changes occurring in society at the time.

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.

The great historian, Herodotus, who is also known as the “father of history,” wrote many books on the Greek culture. Herodotus describes the cultural values of the Greeks in his detailed work, The Histories. Because the book concentrates on the Greek and Persian wars, he also writes about the values of the Persians. In his account of the Greek and Persian wars, Herodotus describes the different values of the Greek culture and the Persian culture in this famous book. From reading this work of Herodotus, it becomes clear that the values which each of these two cultures held, differed greatly.

The portrayal of Socrates, through the book “the trial and death of Socrates” is one that has created a fairly controversial character in Western history. In many ways, Socrates changed the idea of common philosophy in ancient Greece; he transformed their view on philosophy from a study of why the way things are, into a consideration man. Specifically, he analyzed the virtue and health of the human soul. Along side commending Socrates for his strong beliefs, and having the courage to stand by those convictions, Socrates can be commended for many other desirable characteristics. Some of those can include being the first martyr to die for his philosophical beliefs and having the courage to challenge indoctrinated cultural norms is part of

Odysseus embodies courage in that he has the ability to something that maybe considered frightening to another. Odysseus’s boldness comes at full force first when he fights along his men in the Trojan War, then it makes another appearance in the second act when he fights against a man eating Cyclops. Another great display of courage he portrays is when he takes his men into battle he leads them in strong fighting with them and not just standing idly by while each of them are picked off. Odysseus lead his men into battle, fought a Cyclops, and fought in the Trojan War, he was not frightened, but strong against his many ordeals.

Over the course of history there have been several attempts at defining what it means to be the ideal person, and by extension how to create an ideal society. In doing so, several characteristics are generally defined, some of which are courage, moderation and self control. The concept of courage has been fluid in its meaning but has been highly valued across ancient Greece. In this paper I will be observing two societies and the ideals that they hold for generating better people, as well as what values they would want to instil. One city is theoretical, and one real: Kallipolis, Socrates’ economic city, the city that would essentially be the opposite of Athens if it were established, and Sparta.

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.

Undeniably, the ancient Greek society places a heavy emphasis on values and traditions. The two texts of the “Clouds” by Aristophanes and “History of the Peloponnesian war” by Thucydides, although contextually divergent, are actually conceptually convergent. Both texts are built around the central theme of the collapse of conventional values. While the breakdown of traditional values in the “History of the Peloponnesian war” is presented in a more metaphorical and symbolical manner, the downfall of conventional values in the “Clouds” is on a more direct basis. Although both texts essentially convey across the same solemn message that the relinquishment of

The perspective that Thucydides took to write History of the Peloponnesian War gave his work, on a first read, the impression that his opinion was removed to provide an objective analysis of the destruction of the greatness of Athens over the period of the war. He began with a “medical history” of how humanity structured the first societies based on the interplay between fear, interest, and honor. Then, progressed to how war devolved the great Athenian society. Which took Thucydides from revisiting eloquent speeches over strategy to simpler retellings of brash disputes. Thoughtful placement displayed Thucydides’ opinion of Athens’ actions, how he viewed the other city-states’ positions on various issues in the book, and emphasized

At the very beginning I would like to express excitement by “The Peloponnesian War” and its relevance despite 2400 years afterwards. This book is not only relevant for military science, but civil society too. However, this book provides broad and comprehensive details for all levels of military war: strategic, operational, and tactical. I will focus my paper to the military sphere, more particularly, to the evolution of Spartan strategy throughout the War. My intention is to do so through analysis of ends, ways, means, and merge them with related risk. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the changing environment and circumstances influenced and shaped the strategy of

The gymnastic education that Socrates prescribes is not as complicated. He rather merely says that it would be sufficient for their purposes that those being reared to be guardians maintain a healthy diet and follow a simple exercise plan from youth. What is more emphasized by Socrates is that there should be balance in the study of both gymnastics and music, and that these studies should be properly harmonized. Those who neglect gymnastics will tend be soft, but on the other hand, those who likewise neglect music will tend to savagery. As Socrates says, “this ferocity only comes from spirit, which if rightly educated, would give courage, but, if too much intensified, is liable to become hard and brutal.” He continues, “On the other hand the philosopher will have the quality of gentleness. And this also, when too much indulged, will turn to softness, but, if educated rightly will be gentle and moderate.” Thus the traits that make a good guardian are developed and nurtured through a good balance of musical and gymnastic education.

In the Republic of Plato, the philosopher Socrates lays out his notion of the good, and draws the conclusion that virtue must be attained before one can be good. For Socrates there are two kinds of virtue; collective and individual. Collective virtue is virtue as whole, or the virtues of the city. Individual virtue pertains to the individual himself, and concerns the acts that the individual does, and concerns the individual’s soul. For Socrates, the relationship between individual and collective virtue is that they are the same, as the virtues of the collective parallel those of the Individual. This conclusion can be reached as both the city and the soul deal with the four main virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

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.

Socrates attempts to formulate a definition of the word, “moderation,” to investigate how the virtue of moderation comes into play with the human soul. Socrate’s elucidates how moderation is often perceived as “the mastery of certain kinds of pleasures and desires,” and explore how the controller of the weak and strong are both the same person. Consequently Socrates ridicules the word, “self-control.” Just as Thrasymachus argues in Book I that justice is, “the advantage of the stronger,” and whether the people who are actually ruling are those best suited to rule, Plato’s argument also seems to revolve around this concept, as the reader questions whether there is a part of the soul which is naturally suited to rule. To further consider this notion, Socrates discusses how a “master of