Cleon

John Quincy Adams believed the art of oratory was the highest form of power a citizen could possess in a republic. At the end of his inaugural lecture, Adams lectured to his students the importance of studying ancient rhetoric and the lessons that could be learned from it. Adams believed the study of ancient rhetoric would prepare students to consecrate their abilities to the cause of truth, freedom, and humanity. In this paper, I will defend Adam’s position by presenting parallels between his ideology

affected the decision of the Athenian leaders. It was originally planned by Cleon to put the Mytilenians to death immediately (Thucydides, 212). However, an assembly was called in order to decide the fate of Mytilene, due to a sudden change of feeling and the acknowledgement of such a cruel act. Cleon, who stood by his original orders, spoke in front of an assembly in order to convince them to follow through with his plan. Cleon, throughout his speech, denounces the ideals of sophism and focused his

reputation and incorruptibility (Thucydides 2.65), but he also speaks of Cleon, who is said to have made decisions that were not in the best interest of Athenians. After the Athenians had trapped Spartan hoplites at Pylos, Cleon, the leading politician in Athens in 425 B.C. rallied the population to deny a peace treaty offered by the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War (4.27). When public opinion started turning against Cleon, he was chosen by the Athenians to be one of the inspectors of the messengers

Here the First Dog, representative of Cleon, is accusing Laches not of having “siciliating” (embezzling) cheese (money) but of not having given the first dog his fair share. “How can anyone claim to be serving your interests if I, the Dog, am not given my fair share?” says the first dog. Aristophanes uses the character of the dog to highlight the corruption of Cleon and how he has his fingers in all of the proverbial pies. He also uses the parabasis

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens

Throughout Socrates’ defense speech in Plato’s Apology of Socrates, he argues that any man of worth thinks of the justice of his actions. Justice, or the lack of it, plays a role both in Apology of Socrates and in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. In both texts, justice and power do not go together all the time, with instances of the men in power not considering the justice of their actions. In the Apology of Socrates, Socrates stands trial for crimes of corrupting the youth and not

Greek mythologies arise from various cultural aspects of the Greek society; however, the role of the divinities in human affairs is particularly accentuated in most, if not all, Greek mythologies. Nevertheless, each author displays the role of divinities and supernatural differently, as Homer in The Odyssey and The Iliad displays direct interaction between the supernatural divinities and the mortals. On the other hand, Sophocles’ Antigone lessens such interactions and emphasizes the human role, while

fighting on land than water. Unfortunately, a plague struck in 430 B.C.E. which took the life of Pericles the following year. In addition, thousands of Athenians succumbed to the disease which greatly diminished their population. After Pericles died, Cleon was elected to lead in the fight against Sparta. In 425 B.C.E., Cleon’s troops had created a blockade at Pylos which resulted in Spartan’s

It’s not very often that you stumble upon a gem of the past. Society has become so tech-savvy that they refuse to acknowledge any old media of the past. If it’s tape or is absent of any CGI, it’s seemingly not worth our time. This is why the film “The Warriors” came as such a surprise to me. I have never been so intrigued with something older than myself. The movie begins with masses of New York gangs congregating together to listen to Cyrus, a powerful gang leader. Cyrus’ speech was intended to

Ancient Greece had many different wars that are remembered and have influenced the world today. Ancient Greece had many different wars (Chisholm, Miles and Reid 29). Many kings in Ancient Greece were smart and clever. King Odysseus, one of the Greek kings, had his men build a giant wooden horse, which was thought to be a gift from a Greek god. The giant wooden horse allowed the Greeks to win the war. “The Spartan king, Archidamus, knew that Athens with its mighty fleet could not be defeated at sea