The Power Of Athens In John R Hale's Lords Of The Sea

The Peloponnesian war lasted from 431 to 404 B.C. and was profoundly influenced by two Athenian men, Pericles and Alcibiades. Though Pericles and Alcibiades were related by blood they were quite different. Pericles was a diplomat, he approached matters with a level head and tried to find a solution that did not end in bloodshed. Alcibiades was less stable, he either fought, manipulated, or ran when confronted with a problem. Both men spoke eloquently enough to move almost the entire city of Athens, using their words to bend people to their will.  What was different between them was what their will was, one cared about the city and its wellbeing, the other cared about his own wellbeing.

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 Restoration of the Athenian Empire” Our walls are crumbling and our fleet is minute. We here in Athens are unable to collect tribute from other city-states and are often in threat of being attacked. Our fleet is defenseless and weak. The Democratic fraction, propose that we spend our time and hard earned money on the rebuilding of our walls and fleet. That way Athens can dangerously collect tributes from other Greek city-states. The Democrats also would like to commence in hazardous military voyages with our insubstantial navy. Hoping the result brings forth great rewards.

The open Athenian democracy stood in stark contrast to the strict oligarchy of Sparta. A political, philosophical and cultural center, Athens' power and prosperity depended on its command of its great maritime empire, which was centered on the Aegean Sea. Its navy grew along with the alliance.

A reading of Thucydides’, Pericles’ Funeral Oration and The Melian Dialogue uncovers both contrasting and comparable viewpoints on Athenian politics, power, aims of war, and empire. Thucydides presents two differing characteristics of Athens, one as the civilizer in Pericles’ funeral oration and the other as an tyrant in the Melian dialogue. In the funeral oration delivered by Pericles during the first year of the war, the Athenian leader emphasizes the idealized personal image of the Athenians in regard to their constitution and good character. Pericles goes on to praise the Athenian democratic institution of Athens that contributes to their cities greatness; in Pericles’s own words, “The Athenian administration favors the many instead of few… they afford equal justice to all of their differences” (112, 2.37). This quote emphasizes the good character of the Athens’ to coax and encourage the Athenians to preserve and better their great empire into the future. On the other hand, in the Melian dialogue, this notion of justice and equality is irrelevant; one, because Athens compared to Melos, is the stronger of the two and thus, is more powerful. Further, Athens, will continue to acquire absolute power and build its empire by conquering Melos and whomever else stands in its way. Through Pericles’ funeral oration and the Melian dialogue, the following conclusions/themes will demonstrate both the changing and somewhat stable nature of Athenian policy with regards to empire,

During the fifth century bc, Athens had war with Persians, the result of this war had make establishment of democracy to Geek. Acropolis of Athens is an important

Athens was the starting point of the new age in government and took some time for the full effect to take place. In the military, if one were of age, they had to fight, whether for themselves and/or to protect their land. The Greeks also left behind a legacy. Democracy itself was the Greeks’ big achievement, one that still exists today. Their military strictness also exists in today’s armies and military forces, in the form of training and discipline. After all this, the Greeks may have been one of the hardest civilizations in terms of their people, but they will always have a huge influence in the history and formation of the world to what it is

Most Greek city states were ruled by a small elite group, also known as an aristocratic oligarchy (cite text book). Pericles explains that the Athens government is a democracy because the administration is in the hands of many and not just a few people. This will cause the government to have equal justices exist for all people. This is confirmed by Pericles stating, “When a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as a reward of merit”. This means that a citizen has to earn their privileges, they don’t just get things because of who they are in society. Athens not only takes pride in their government, but is also very proud of their military. Athens considers their military training to be better that their enemies in many ways. The people never try to hide anything from enemies or prevent them from seeing or learning anything that might benefit them. While their enemies are undergoing difficult exercises to make them brave, the people of Athens live the easy life. Although they live the easy life, the people of Athens are equally ready to face the challenges which their enemies face. The people of Athens would rather meet danger with a light heart and not intense training like their neighbors. They also want to do this with courage not enforce by law, but instead gain by habit. When the Lacedaemonians come into Athenian territory they bring their whole confederacy,

There is a reason Athens is taught about in history books, as there is a reason Sophocles’ Antigone is still read to this day. One of those reasons in both cases is the prominent use of violence, how it is justified, and for what reason it is used. Instances of violence in both writings are carried out using force, which is justified to secure the city or empire if that security cannot be reached through peaceful means. The security of the empire is what is best for the citizens of that particular city or empire, and their rulers will go to great lengths to achieve that goal. Both authors agree that sympathy is viewed as weakness when doled out by a powerful person, and if situations

While Ancient Greek tragedies are purely fictional, their themes are based on prevalent issues in society at the time. Historians often attribute the Second Peloponnesian War to the arrogance of Athens--to the Athenian belief that they were invulnerable. In early fifth-century B.C., otherwise known as the Golden Age, Athens was the leading city-state

The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.

A second aspect that led to failure was the illogical and hastiness of the Athenians decisions. The Athenians were quite attracted to the idea because they had "long wanted to establish a base on Sicily" in the hope that they would "increase there power...Peleponnesians would not be able to resist" . In truth, from this example one can see that the Athenians were basing there decisions on their epithumeticon, and their main focus was on the rewards.

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.

On the other hand, athens was a democracy which meant ruled by the people. In athens they usd a thing called lot voting. Which is basically voting. In the passage “ athens and sparta” it states “ Each would take a charge for a month, and ten generals were automatically elected due to experience.” Likewise, different people would get a chance to make a change or to do something they believed was helping athens.

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.