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Thucydides 1.66-88
The year is 432 BCE. 50 years after the Greeks repulsed the Persians, Athens has established a
hegemonic empire over a large portion of the Greek world, to the disgust of her rivals. In particular,
Corinth is infuriated because the Athenian empire has taken control of two former Corinthian colonies,
Corcyra and Potidaea. The Corinthians and other city-states harmed by Athenian expansion send envoys
to Sparta, demanding that Sparta join them in a war against Athens.
1. According to the Corinthians, why has Sparta erred in not resisting Athens’ sooner? Note in
particular the Corinthian’s statement early in section 1.71: “your ideal of fair dealing is based on
the principle that if you do not injure others, you need not risk your own fortunes in preventing
others from injuring you.”
2. Why do the Corinthians advocate pre-emptive warfare (and what does this suggest about the
nature of ethical warfare to the Greeks)?
3. What do the Corinthians threaten to do if Sparta does not assist them (focus in particular on
1.71.5-6).
4. How do the Athenian envoys justify their empire in sections 1.75 and 1.76? Why, according to
them, did Athens build an empire in the first place? Why do they continue to hold it?
5. In the view of the Athenians’ is their empire ethical? Does it seem that ethics and morality are
particularly important to either the Athenians or the Corinthians in the debate so far?
6. What are Archidamus’ reasons for avoiding or delaying the war? Are his reasons rooted in
ethical or practical considerations? (what about Sthenelaidas’ arguments?)
7. In 1.88, what does Thucydides give as the reason for Sparta’s declaration of war?
[NB: we will discuss 3.35-50 before 2.34-46]
Thucydides 3.35-50
The year is 427 BCE, five years into the Peloponnesian War. Athens has just crushed Mytilene, a former
ally who, with Spartan assistance, attempted to rebel from the Athenian Empire. The Athenian assembly
initially condemns all Mytilenian men to death, and all women and children to slavery. However, the
next day they reconsidered, and debated the fate of the Mytilenians.
1. How does Cleon characterize the Athenian empire? Is this a state based on moral foundations?
2. Why does Cleon believe that Mytilene must be punished so harshly? Focus in particular on
section 3.40.
3. What does Diodotus give as the motivation for his argument in section 3.44? Is the motivation
for his argument fundamentally different from that of Cleon’s?
4. Does Diodotus object to the execution of Mytilene’s men and the enslavement of her women
and children because it is, to borrow a modern term, an atrocity?
Thucydides 2.34-46
One year into the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian orator and democratic reformer Pericles delivers a
funeral oration for those Athenians killed in the first year of combat.
1. How does Pericles characterize Athenian government? How has this form of government made
the city great? How do you think this system of government might have impacted the Athenian
military?
2. According to Pericles, is Athens an open or a closed society? What is its attitude toward the rest
of the Greek world? What impact might this have on the Athenian military?
3. How might speeches such as Pericles’ impact the motivation of the Athenian military? Is
Pericles’ oration fundamentally any different from Tyrtaeus’ poetry on the duties of the citizen
to his state?
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 5-14, 16, 24-25, 27
Writing around 100 CE, Plutarch describes the establishment of Spartan society by the mythical law-giver
Lycurgus.
1. How does the system of government set up by Lycurgus differ from the Athenian system
described by Pericles? How might these differences affect the structure of the Spartan military?
2. What are the key features of Sparta’s educational system, both for children and adults? How
might this system structure the Spartan military?
3. How does is Sparta economically different from Athens? How might these differences shape the
relative trajectories of the Athenian and Spartan militaries?