The 's Diagnosis Of Athenian Statesman And Writer

Solon and his reforms are excellent examples of how Athens developed the road to democracy, and how the benefits of these reforms make Solon superior to Lycurgus as a ruler. Solon, a man of middle ground, was urged forward by the people to rule over them and to settle differences between the rich and the poor. “Solon, on the other hand, could not go to such extremes in his constitution, since he was a man of modest fortune and had been chosen by the people. Yet he made full use of his power, relying on the good will of the

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.

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,

In the Aftermath of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, Pericles, Athens’ general and statesmen, delivered a powerfully comforting eulogy to the polis of Athens, assuring the people that their city state is in good hands, and easing the pain of all the families and relatives of the deceased. He uses several rhetorical devices throughout his speech to gain a positive emotional appeal by his audience and makes assertions in the attempt to enhance and transform the perception of him by the audience.

As a defender of civic virtue, the significance of obligation and authority of one’s representative government epitomizes the magnitude of respect that Socrates had for Athenian Jurisprudence, irrespective of the fact that he was prosecuted against. In the accounts of the Apology and Crito, there exists a plethora of evidence that demonstrate Socrates’s adherence of institutionalized authority. His loyalty of the Athenian State derives from his notion that the obligation to surrender to the law manifests a just society. One may ask, “how is it possible for a persecuted man to continue to profess allegiance to a polity that sought his trial and execution”? Though many would not have the capacity to sustain such integrity, Socrates had his reasons in

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.

One of the basic themes of the book is that the thought and the art of classical Athens is full of meaning for people of later generations. It is the full of meaning for nations, cultures and societies beset by broad-scale and profound social and political change and the accompanying confusion and fear produced in the minds and souls of human beings.

The shaky past of Athens, after the loss of the war against the Spartans and the overthrow of the democracy they loved and fought for caused suspicion in Socrates who had association to Critas, a bloodthirsty tyrant in an oligarchy called the “Thirty Tyrants” From a harmless town character Socrates influence on the youth of Athens was being questioned.

Athens is a major Greek city-state in European history. It was a great center of cultural and intellectual development, and thus home to philosophers. Socrates and Pericles, two of these philosophers, had polarizing opinions about the city-state and its citizens. While Pericles chooses to praise the Athenian citizen, Socrates criticizes Athens’ people. Pericles gave his opinion at a funeral during the first battles of the Peloponnesian War, while Socrates gave his during the trial that ultimately led to his death. The Athenian city-state has become a model for today’s systems of government and a hearth for western philosophy, so Pericles’ opinion seems to be the one that is more accurate.

According to him, Athenians care about wealth. They are greedy, stealing and inciting violence. The leaders do nothing to control the crime- they influence it with their own unjust pursuits with no regard to justice or anything sacred. Solon laments about the downfall of man’s potential for creativity, wisdom, and love as the city descends into slavery, war, and evil. If he could change that, he would by teaching ethics, respect to others, and obedience to the law. Tyrtaeus of Sparta is not primarily concerned about this. Rather, he is concerned about obtaining honor, though Solon would approve of some ways Tyrtaeus describes. Whether it is by fighting or dying for one’s country, working for one’s family, caring for others, having courage, youth, experience, and

These ostentatious demonstrations recall Solon’s poetic censure of the “unjust” accumulation of wealth, and of arrogant rulers. Croesus’s arrogance is further reflected in his sole question to Solon, “who is the happiest man you have ever seen?” (14), which he expects Solon to answer with a simple “you”. Much to his surprise, Solon gives a complex reply that concludes “man is entirely a creature of chance”, and that neither wealth, power, nor immediate pleasure define happiness, rejecting Croesus’s idea that his influence and military success make him happy. In keeping with his arrogance, Croesus’s wholly dismisses the advice, Solon is a “fool” (16), however, “after Solon’s departure, nemesis fell upon Croesus. (16)” The juxtaposition of Solon leaving and the arrival of nemesis is intentional, it underscores the connection between Croesus ignoring Solon and the arrival of negative outcomes, but the speed of Croesus’s transition from success to failure supports Solon’s earlier point, the importance of “chance” in human

In this manner, Athens’ unsympathetic mindset for the plight of smaller entities can be found to derive from Athens’ own social structure. In Athenian society, a just act is ideally differentiated as such by the society itself. On a global scale, this can be interpreted to mean that a city-state is held accountable for its actions by others, and the morality of a state’s atrocities are inherent to if it has the power to accomplish them. Pericles states this on the individual level during the Funeral Oration, where he claims that “power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people,” and that “what counts is (...) ability which [one] possesses” (Thuc 2.37). In this oration, Pericles is drawing the conclusion that, because an aspect seems to be present in the successful Athenian society, the same virtue holds on a state-wide scale.

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.

In the Greek society, there was enough wine and spirits for Socrates and his buddies to philosophize on the world around them, beginning the conversation of what is just and not. Ideas transform throughout the conversations of Socrates, Adeimantus, and Glaucon in the Republic forming what justice is in the opinion of Socrates. This opinion, the city in speech, is challenged by Adeimantus and Glaucon but Socrates eloquently responds to their challenges. Socrates’ answers with his city of speech are effective against the challenges of Adeimantus and Glaucon because every human has a soul with decency that is almost impossible to deny.

‘The Republic’ is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning about the order of justice, the order and character of just men and just city/states. The Republic is considered as the best known work of Plato and is considered one of the world’s most influential works of politics, history and philosophy. In this Socratic dialogue, Socrates discusses about the notions of justice and whether the just man is very happy when compared with his unjust, Athenian and foreign counterparts. Socrates considers the various facets of the existing regimes and proposes a series of hypothetical cities that are entirely different from his considerations. Such heated discussions result in the culmination of discussing kallipolis, a hypothetical city-state that was ruled by a philosopher king. In this paper, we are going to consider Socrates arguments about democracy by examining whether the concept of democracy always remains inconsistent with philosophical goals.