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The Severity of Spartan Life and Training
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Greek political and cultural life was centered in the city-state, which was
intensely patriotic and often geographically isolated from its neighbors. One of the
strongest city-states was Sparta, the capital of Laconia.
The laws of Sparta were designed to isolate it from outside influence, to render it
immune from internal corruption, and to protect it from its large, oppressed slave
population. The Spartiates, or citizens, who numbered no more than ten percent of the total
population, had to undergo long vigorous military training. Moreover, the lives of the
citizens were closely controlled by the government.
Sparta's austerity, its civic patriotism, its athletic and military feats, and its
"laconic" manner mad it and object of admiration, especially in the days when corruption
destroyed political life in other city-states. Sparta, for a long time, was able o maintain an
efficient government and an almost undebatable army, but its cultural contributions were
very few.
The following selection is from the writings of Xenophon (431-354 B. C.),d
Athenian historian and soldier, who was a friend and pupil of Socrates.
I recall the astonishment with which I first noted the unique position of Sparta
among the states of Hellas [Greece], the relatively sparse population, and at the same . time
the extraordinary power and prestige of the community. I was puzzled to account for the
fact. It was only when I came to consider the peculiar institutions of the Spartans that my
wonderment ceased. Or, rather, it is transferred to the legislator who gave them those laws,
obedience to which has been the secret of their prosperity. This legislator, Lycurgus, I
admire, and hold him to have been one of wisest of mankind .................................................
Take for example- and its well begin at the beginning- the whole topic of
the...rearing of children. Throughout the rest of the world, the young girl who will one day
become a mother (and I speak of those who may be held to be well brought up) is nurtured
on the plainest food attainable, with the scantiest addition of meat or other condiments;
while as to wine they train them either to total abstinence or to take it highly diluted with
water. And....we, the rest of the Hellenes, is content that our girls should sit quietly and
work wools. That is all we demand of them. But how are we to expect that women
nurtured in this fashion should produce a splendid offspring?
Lycurgus pursued a different path. ...He insisted on the training of the body and
incumbent no less on the female than the male, and in pursuit of the same idea instituted
rival contests in running and feats of strength for women as for men. His belief was that
where both parents were strong, their progeny [children] would be found to be more
vigorous .......................................................................................................................................
I wish now to explain the systems of education in fashion here and elsewhere.
Throughout the rest of Hellas the custom on the part of those who claim to educate their
sons in the best way is as follows. As soon as the children are of an age to understand
what is said to them, they are immediately placed under the charge of paidogogi (or
tutors) who are also attendants, and sent off to the school of some teacher to be taught
grammar [and] music....Besides this they are given shoes to wear which tend to make
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their feet tender, and their bodies are [softened] by various changes of clothing. And as for
food, the only measure recognized is that which is fixed by appetite.
But when we turn to Lycurgus, instead of leaving it to cad] member of the state
privately to appoint a slave to be his son's tutor, he set over the young Spartans a public
guardian ..... with complete authority over them. This guardian was selected from those
who filled the highest magistracies: He had authority to hold musters of the boys and as
their overseer, in case of any misbehavior, to chastise severely. The legislator further
provided the pastor with a body of youths in the prime of life, and bearing whips, to
inflict punishment when necessary with this happy result that in Sparta modesty and
obedience ever go- hand in hand, nor is there lack of either.
Instead of softening their feet with shoe or sandal, his rule was to make them
hardy through going barefoot. This habit...would....he believed, enable them to scale
heights more easily and clamber down precipices with less danger. In fact, with his feet so
trained, the young Spartan would leap and spring and run faster unshod and another shod
in the ordinary way.
Instead of making them effeminate with a variety of clothes, his role was to
habituate them to a single garment the-whole year through, thinking that they so they
would be better prepared to withstand the variations of heat and cold.
Again, as regards to food, according to his regulation the perfect, or head of the
flock, most see that his messmates gathered to the club meal, with such moderate food as to
avoid that heaviness which is engendered by repletion [having one's fill], and yet not to
remain altogether unacquainted with the pains of penurious [poor] living. His belief was
that by such training in boyhood they would be better able when on occasion demanded to
continue toiling on an empty stomach. They would be all the fitter, if the word of
command were given, to remain on the stretch for a long time without extra dieting. The
craving for luxuries would be less, the readiness to take and victual set before them
greater, and in the general the regime would be found more healthy ......................................
Furthermore, and in his desire firmly to implant modesty in them he imposed a
. special rule, In the streets they were to keep their hands within the folds of the cloak; they
were to walk in silence and without turning their heads to gaze, but rather to keep their eyes
[fixed] upon the ground before them. And hereby it would seem to be proved conclusively
that even in the matter of quiet bearing and sobriety the masculine type may claim greater
strength than that which we attribute to the nature of women. At any rate, you might sooner
expect a stone image to find a voice than one of those Spartan youths; to divert the eyes of
some bronze statue were less difficult .........................................................................................
It would be hard to discover a healthier or more completely developed human
being, physically speaking, than the Spartan. Their gymnastic training in fact, makes
demands alike on the legs, arms, and neck equally.
There are other points in which this legislator's views run counter to those commonly
accepted. Thus: in other states the individual citizen is master over his own children,
servants, and belongings generally; but Lycurgus, whose aim was to secure to all citizens a
considerable share in one another's goods without mutual injury, enacted that each one
should have an equal power over his neighbor's children as over his own. The principle is
this. When a man knows that this, that, and the other person are fathers of children subject
to his own authority, he must perforce deal by them even as he desires his own children to
be dealt by. And if a boy chance to have received a whipping not
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from his own father but some other, and goes and complains to his own father, it would be
thought wrong oh the part of that father if he did not inflict a second whipping on his son. A
striking proof, in its way, how completely they trust each other not to impose dishonorable
commands upon their children....
They are yet other customs in-Sparta which Lycurgus instituted in opposition to those
of the rest of Hellas, the following among them. We all know that in the generality of states
everyone devotes his full energy to the business of making money: one man as a tiller of the
soil, another as a mariner, a third as a merchant, while other depend on various arts to earn a
living. But at Sparta, Lycrugus forbade his freeborn citizens to have anything whatsoever to
do with the concerns of moneymaking. As freemen, he enjoined upon them to regard as their
concern exclusively those activities upon which the foundations of civic liberty are based.
And indeed, one may well ask, for what reason should wealth be regarded as a matter
for serious pursuit in a community where, partly by a system of equal contributions-to the
necessaries of life, and partly by a system of equal contributions to the necessaries of life, and
partly by the maintenance of a common standard of living, thelawgiver placed so effectual a
check upon a desire for riches for the sake of luxury? What inducement, for instance, would
there be to make money, even for the sake of wearing apparel, in a state where personal
adamant is held to lie not in the costliness of the clothes they wear, but in the healthy
condition of the body to be clothed.
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T h e P e r s i a n a n d Greek World
In our quest to trace democratic ideas and ideals through the a g e s , we will begin
with Pericles....
THE GREATNESS OF ATHENS
Athens stood out among the Greek city-states
because of its highly developed democratic
system of government. In 431 B . c. Pericles
outlined why Athens was so special in a funeral
oration for Athenians killed in a war with Sparta.
This oration was recorded by the historian
Thucydides in his massive study of the struggle
for supremacy among the Greek city-states, The
Peloponnesian War. As you read the excerpt,
note Pericles' ideals of the Athenian way of l i f e .
Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others
"than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours
the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a
democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal
justice to all in their private differences; if to social
standing, advancement in public life falls to
reputation for capacity, class considerations not
being allowed to interfere with men; nor again does
poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the
state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. There, far
from exercising a jealous surveillance (close watch)
over each other, we do not feel called upon to be
angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes, or
even to indulge in those injurious (harmful) looks
which cannot fail to be offensive, although they
inflict no positive penalty [actual harm). But all this
ease in our private relations does not make us
lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief
safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and
the l a ws particularly such as regard the protection
of the injured, whether they are actually on the
statute book, or belong to that code which, although
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e READING 3
unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowl edged disgrace.
Further, we provide plenty of means for the mind
to refresh itself from business. We celebrate games
and sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance
of our private establishments forms a daily source
of pleasure and helps to banish the spleen [angry
ll-will]; while the magnitude [size] of our city
draws the produce of the world into our harbour, so
that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are
as familiar a luxury as those of his own.
If we turn to our military policy there also we differ from our antagonists ;, We throw open our city to
the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing,
although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally
profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and
policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while
education, where our rivals from their very cradles
by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at
Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just
as ready to encounter every legitimate danger...
And yet if with habits not of labour but of ease, and
courage not of art but of nature, we are still willing
to encounter danger, we have the double advantage
of escaping the experience of hardships in anticipation and of facing them in the hour of need as fearlessly as those who are never free of them.
Nor are these the only points in which our city is
worthy of admiration. We cultivate refinement
without extravagance and knowledge without
effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than
for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not
in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle
against it. Our public men have, besides politics,
their private affairs to attend to, and our ordinary
citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of
industry, are still fair judges of public matters.. .
WO R LD HI S TO R Y : C O N TIN U I TY A N D CHANGE
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For Athens alone of her contemporaries is
found when tested t o be great er than her
reputation... Rather, the admiration of the
present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we
have not left our power without witness, but have
shown it by mighty proofs. . . . We have forced
every sea and land to be the highway of our
daring, and everywhere,
…....
whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us.
From “Funeral Oration of Pericis” by Thucydides, from
The Speeches of Thucydides by H. F. Harding. copyright
1973 by H. F. Harding. Reprinted by permission of
Coronado Press Inc, a division of Pro Print Incoporated
1. As you read Pericles, identify those terms a n d / o r ideas which refl e ct
d e m o c r a c y or the i d e a l s of a democratic life and list them below:
2. Aside from p a r t i c i p a t i o n in g o v e r n m e n t , what o t h e r i d e a l s and
a c t i v i t i e s do A t h e n i a n s v a l u e ?
3 . What evidence can you think of in your text and/or your k n o w l e d g e
which s u p p o r t s P e r i c l e s ' claim t h a t “ [ A t h e n s be] g r e a t e r t h a n her
reputation.,."
4. Can you think of examples in which our own democratic society may be
s i m i l a r a n d / o r d i f f e r e n t t h a n P e r i c l e s ' Athens? Be spe ci fi c.
THE TRIAL OF SOCRATES
In 399 B.C., three prominent Athenians accused the philosopher Socrates of being an
"evildoer,” a "corrupter" of youth, a “curious person," and a blasphemer, or a person
who speaks disrespectfully of religious beliefs. To these Athenians, Socrates’s real crime
was his attack on conventional ideas and ways of life, and they sought to rid the citystate of what they considered to be a bad influence. At his trial, Socrates was found
guilty. He spoke to the court in defense of his actions but was condemned to death. As
you read the following selection from his defense--preserved in the writings of his
disciple Plato---think about Socrates's main argument against his punishment.
I am not grieved, 0 men of Athens, at the vote of
condemnation. I expected it ................................ ......
And so [you] propose death as the penalty. And what
shall I propose on my part, 0 men of Athens? Clearly that
which its my due. And what is my due? What ought I to
have done to me, or to pay—a man who has never had the
wit to keep quiet during his whole life; but has been
careless of what the many care for—wealth, and family
interests, and military offices, and speaking in the
assemblies, and magistracies, and plots, and parties.
Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to be a
politician and live, l did not go where I could do no good
to you or to myself; but where I could do privately the
greatest good . . . to everyone of you, [there] I went, and
sought to persuade every man among you that he must
look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he
looks to his private i n t e r e s t s . . . . What shall be done to
such a one? Doubtless some good thing, 0 men of Athens,
if he has his reward...
Perhaps you think that I am braving you in what I am
saying now.... But this is not so. I speak rather because I
am convinced that I never intentionally wronged
a n y o n e . . . . and, as I am convinced that I never wronged
another, I will assuredly not wrong myself. I will not say
of myself that I deserve any evil, not propose any penalty.
Why should 1? Because I am afraid of the penalty of death
which [is proposed)? When I do not know whether death is
a good or an evil, why should I propose a penalty which
would certainly be an evil? Shall I say imprisonment? And
why should I
in prison, and be (a) s l a v e . . . ? Or shall the penalty be a
live fine, and imprisonment until the fine is paid? There is
the same objection. I should have to lie in prison, for
money I have none, and cannot pay. And if I say exile .. . I
must indeed be blinded by the love of life, if I am so
irrational as to expect that when you, who are my own
citizens, cannot endure my discourses and arguments, .
others are likely to endure them. No indeed, men of
Athens, that is not very likely.. .
Someone will say: Yes, Socrates, but cannot hold your
tongue, and then you may go into a foreign, city, and no
one will interfere with you? Now I have great difficulty in
making you understand my answer to this. For if I tell you
that to do as you say would be a disobedience to God, and
therefore that I cannot hold my tongue, you will not
believe that I am serious; and if I say again that daily to
discourse about virtue, and of those other things about
which you hear me examining myself and others, is the
greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is no
life for a human being, you are still less likely to believe
me. Yet I say what is t r u e . . . . Also, I have never been
accustomed to think that I deserve to suffer any harm. Had
I money I might have estimated the offense at what I was
able to pay, and not have been much the worse. But I have
none, and therefore I must ask you to proportion the fine to
my means. Well, perhaps I could afford a mina [a unit of
money), and therefore I propose that penalty.
From Benjamin Jowert trans., The Diologues of Plato,
4th rd. (Oxford: At the Clarendon P r e s s , 1 953).
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
L . Why did Socrates oppose exile as a punishment?
2 . According to Socrates, what is the greatest good of man? Why?
3 . What was the (main point of Socrates's argument against his condemnation?
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P LATO
The Allegory of the Cave
And now," I said,' "let me show in a figure how
far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.
Behold! Human beings living in an underground
den, which has a mouth open towards the light and
reaching all along the den; here they have been
from their childhood, and have their legs and necks
chained so that they cannot move, and can only see
before them, being prevented by the chains from
turning round their heads. Above and behind them
a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire
and the prisoners there is a raised way; -and you
will see, if you look, a low wall built along the
way, like the screen which marionette players have
in front of them; over which they show the
puppets."
"I see."
"And do you see," I said, "men passing along the
wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and
figures of animals made of wood and stone and
various materials, which appear over the wall?
Some of them are talking, others silent."
"You have shown me a strange image, and they
are strange prisoners."
"Like ourselves," I replied; "and they see only
their own shadows, or the shadows of one another,
which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the
cave?"
"True," he said; "how could they see anything
but the shadows if they were never allowed to
move their h e a d s ? "
"And of the objects which are being carried in
like manner they would only see the shadows?"
"Yes," he said.
"And if they were able to converse with tine
another, would they not suppose that they were
naming what was actually before them?"
"Very true."
"And suppose further that the prison had an echo
which came from the other side, would they not be
sure to fancy when one of the passersby spoke that
the voice which they heard came from the passing
shadow?"
"No question," he replied.
' The speaker is socrates
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"'To them,” I said "the truth would be literally noth ing but The shadows of the images."
"That is certain."
"And now look again, and sec what will naturally fol low if the prisoners are released and disabused of
their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and com pelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck
round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he
will be unable to sec the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive
someone saying to him that what he saw before was an illusion, but char now, when he is approaching
nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more r eal existence, he has a clearer vision—what will be his
reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring
him to name them,—will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he for merly saw
are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?"
"Far truer. "
"And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a , pain in his eyes which will
make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can se e, and which he will conceive to
be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?"'
"True," he said.
"And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast un til
he is forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he ap proaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now
called realities."
"Not all in a moment," he said.
"He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, the
reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the
moon and the stars and the heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun
by day?" .
"Certainly.”
"Last of all he will be able to see the s u n , and not mere reflections of him in the water, but .he will see
him in his own proper place, and not in a n o t h e r ; and he will contemplate him as he is."
"Certainly."
"He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian
of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things wh ich he and his fellows have
been accustomed to behold?" "Clearly," he said, "he would first see the sun and then reason about him."
"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow prisoners, do
you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?"
."Certainly, he would."
"And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to
observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, a nd which followed after, and
which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think
that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with
Homer, ‘Better to be the poor servant of a poor master' and to en dure anything, rather than think as they do
and live after their manner?"
"Yes," he said, "I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live
in this Miserable manner."
"Imagine once more," I said, "such a one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old
situation;' would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?" '
"To be sure," he said.
"And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuri ng the shadows with the prisoners who_
had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady
(and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable), would
he not be ridiculous?
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Men would say of him that up he went and , down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to
think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the
offender, and they would put him to death. "
"No question," he said.
"This entire allegory," I said, "you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument; the prison
house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the
journey , upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to. my poor belief, which, at
your desire, I have expressed—whether rightly or wrongly, Cod knows. But, whether true or false, my opinion is
that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when
seen, is also inferred to be the univer sal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of
light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the
power upon which he who would act rationally either in public or private life must have his eye fixed."
"I agree," he said, "as far as I aim able to understand you."
"Moreover," I said, "you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to
descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hasten ing into the upper world where they desire to dwell;
which desire of-theirs is very natural, if our allegory maybe trusted."
"Yes, very natural."
"And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine contemplations to the evil state of man,
misbehaving himself in a ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has become accustomed
to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled to fight in courts of law, or in other places, about the images or the
shadows of images of justice, and is endeavoring to meet the conceptions of those who have never 'yet seen
absolute justice?"
"Anything but surprising, " he replied.
"Anyone who has common sense will remember that he bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and `arise from two
causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of
the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees anyone whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready
to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and is unable to see because
unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one
happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes
from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who 'returns from above out of
the light into the den,"
"That," he said, ''is a very just distinction."_
"But then, if I am right, certain professors of educa tion must be wrong when they say that they can put a
knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes."
"They 'undoubtedly say this," he replied:
"Whereas our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye
was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the Instrument of knowledge can only by the
movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the
sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in ocher words, of the good."
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
1.
If the manmade objects carried along the wall designate objects that we perceive in our experience with the world,
what, then, do the shadows signify?
2. Why does Plato stress the difficulty that the prisoners have in looking at the light of the sun?
3. Why do prisoners receive their returning colleague as they do? What does this tell us of the position of
the philosopher in society?
4. In what ways does this allegory attack contemporary Creek education!
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World History
Ancient Greece
"The Greeks"
Part 1
1. Why do you think the aristocrats ruled Greece for so long?
2. Explain the reasons why Cleisthenes changed the government from aristocracy to
democracy.
3. How was Pisistratus' rule revolutionary?
4. How did Pisistratus' son fail?
5. Pebbles? What is the historical significance of pebbles?
6. How is Greek democracy different from ours?
7. Can you compare the government tumult in Athens to any other civilization we
have studied? If not a government we have studied then a present day example
that is analogous to the situation in Athens.
"The Greeks"
Part 2
1. How does Socrates differ from other men?
2. Who measured the height of the Egyptian pyramids and how?
3.
How does Socrates argue that he is beautiful?
4.
What is happening to Athens at this time?
5.
'What was the greatest threat Athens faced? What was its impact?
6.
When and how did Athens suffer from the greatest defeat in all ancient history?
7.
When did Athens finally surrender? What were the consequences?
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8.
For what charges was Socrates arrested? Why was he seen as a threat to the
society?
9.
What was the significance of water in the trial?
10. What does Socrates think is the best way to live?
11. Why did Socrates really die?
12. What did Athens become after Socrates? In other words, what was his legacy?
13. In what ways did the Ancient Greeks influence our world today?
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History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides
Thucydides was an .Athenian general who fought in the Peloponnesian War. The
Athenians exiled him following a particularly costly defeat. Thucydides spent the next 20
years of his life researching and writing his History of the Peloponnesian War. The
following excerpt describes an event that took place in 416 inc.
on the island of Melos. Located in the Aegean, Melos wanted to remain neutral in the
fighting. However, the Athenians refused, demanding that Melos become part of their
empire. _ Thucydides' description of the dialogue that- took place between the Athenian
and Melian envoys provides a classic statement. of the conflict between right and might.
The next summer the Athenians made an expedition against the isle of Melos.
The Melians are a colony of Lacedaemon [Sparta] that would not submit to the
Athenians like the other islanders, and at first remained neutral and took no part in
the struggle, but afterwards, upon the Athenians using violence and plundering
their -territory, assumed an attitude of open hostility. The Athenian generals
encamped in . thei r territory with their army, and before doing. any harm to their
land sent envoys to negotiate. These the Melians did not bring before the people,
but told them to state the object of their mission to the magistrates and the co uncil;
the Athenian envoys then said:
Athenians. "We will not make a long and unconvincing speech, full of fine
phrases, to prove that our victory over Persia justifies' our. empire, or that we are
now attacking you because you have wronged us, and we ask you not to expect to
convince us by saying that you have not injured us, or that, though a colony of
Lacedaemon, you did not join her. Let each of us say what we really think and
reach a practical agreement. You know and we know, as practical men, that th e
question of justice arises only between parties equal in strength, and that the strong
do what they can, and the weak submit ... we wish you to become our subjects
with the least trouble to ourselves, and we would like you to serve in our interests
as well as your own."
Medians. "It may be your interest to be our masters: how can it be ours to be
your slaves?"
Athenians. "By submitting you would avoid a terrible fate, and we should gain
by not destroying you."
Medians. "Would you not agree to an arrangement under which we should keep
out of the war, and be your friends instead of your enemies, but neutral?"
Athenians. "No: your hostility injures us less than your friendship. That, to our
subjects, is an illustration of our weakness, while . your hatred exhibits our power."
Medians. "Is this the construction which your subjects put on it? Do they not
distinguish between states in which you have no concern, and peoples who are
most of them your colonies, and some conquered rebels?"
Athenians. "They think that one nation has as good rights as another, but that
some survive because they are strong and we are afraid to attack them. So, apart
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from the addition to our empire, your subjection would give us security: the fact
that you are islanders (and weaker than others) makes it the more important that
you should not get the better of the mistress of the sea."
Melians. "But do you see no safety in our neutrality? ... Will you not make
enemies of all neutral Powers when they see your conduct and reflect that some
day you will attack them? Will not your action strengthen your existing
opponents, and induce those who would otherwise never be your enemies to become
so against their will?"
Athenians. "No. The mainland states, secure in their freedom, will be slow to take
defensive measures against us, and we do not consider them so formidable as
independent island powers like yourselves, or subjects already smarting under our
yoke. These are most likely to take a thoughtless step and bring themselves and us
into obvious danger."
Melians. "Surely then, if you are ready to risk so much to maintain your empire,
and the enslaved peoples so much to escape from it, it would be criminal cowardice
in us, who are still free; not to take any and every measure before submitting to
slavery?"
Athenians. "No, if you reflect calmly: for this is not a competition in heroism
between equals, where your honor is at stake, but a question of self-preservation to
save you from a struggle with a far stronger Power."
Melians. "Still, we know that in war fortune is more impartial than the disproportion
in numbers might lead one to expect. If we submit at once, our position is desperate; if
we fight, there is still a hope that we shall stand secure.”
Athenians. “you are weak, your future hangs on a turn of the scales; avoid the
mistake most men make, who might save themselves by human means, and then,
when visible hopes desert them, in their extremity turn to the invisible—prophecies
and oracles and all those things which delude men with hopes, to their destruction."
Melians. “We too, you can be sure, realize the difficulty of struggling against your
power and against For, tune if she is not impartial. Still we trust that Heaven will not
allow us to be worsted by Fortune, for in this quarrel we are right and you are
wrong."
Athenians. "As for divine favor, we think that we can count on it as 'much as you,
for neither our claims nor our actions are inconsistent with what men believe about
Heaven or desire for themselves. We believe that Heaven, and we know that men, by
a natural law, always rule where they are stronger. We did not make that law nor
were we the first to act on it; we found it existing, and it will exist forever, after we
are gone; and we know that you and anyone else as strong as we are would do as we
do…. The greatest of cities makes you a fair offer, to keep your own land and
become her tributary ally: there is no dishonor in that.
The choice between war and safety is given you; do not obstinately take the worse
alternative. The most successful people are those who stand up to their equals, behave
properly to their superiors, and treat their inferiors fairly. Think it over when we
withdraw, and reflect once and again that you have only one country, and that its
prosperity or ruin depends on one decision."
The Athenians now withdraw from the conference: and the Melians, left to them selves, came to a decision corresponding with what they had maintained in their
discussion, and answered,'iOur resolution, Athenians, is unaltered. We will not in a
moment deprive of freedom a city that has existed for seven hundred years; we put
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our trust in the fortune by which the gods have preserved it until now, and in the help
of men, that is, of the Lacedaemonians; and so we will try and save ourselves.
Meanwhile we invite you to allow us to be friends to you and foes to neither party,
and to retire from our country after making such a treaty as shall seem fit to us both."
Such was the answer of the Melians. The Athenians broke up the conference saying,
"To judge from your decision, you are unique in regarding the future as more certain
than the present and in allowing your wishes to convert the unseen into reality; and
as you have staked most on, and trusted most in, the Lacedaemonians, your.
fortune, and your hopes, so will you be most completely deceived. The Athenian
envoys now returned to the army; and as the Melians showed no signs of yielding
the generals at once began hostilities.
Summer was now over ... and the siege was now pressed vigorously; there was
some treachery in the town, and the Melians surrendered at discretion to the
Athenians, who put to death all the grown men whom they took, and sold the
women and children for slaves; subsequently they sent out five 'hundred settlers
and colonized the island.
Comprehension
1. According to the Athenian envoys, when do questions of justice arise?
2. Why did the Athenians reject the Melians' offer to remain neutral?
3. What arguments did the Athenians use to convince the Melians that
submitting would not be cowardly
4. According to the Athenian envoys, what are the characteristics of
successful people?
5. (a) What decision did the Melians finally make? (b) What reasons did they
give for making this decision?
6. How did the Athenians treat the defeated Melians?
Critical Thinking
5.
One of Thucydides' goals was to describe human nature accurately.
According to the Athenians, what principle of natural law were they
following? Do you feel that this is an accurate statement of human nature?
Explain your answer.... 6. Reread the excerpt from Pericles' funeral oration on page 119. How does
Pericles' concept of justice differ from the concept of justice expressed by
the Athenian envoys at Melos?
Creative Writing Pretend that you are a resident of Melos attending a public meeting
on how to respond to the Athenians. Your assignment is to write a brief speech
Category
GOVERNMENT
What type?
Describe significant people and
institutions.
List the benefits and disadvantages.
SOCIETY:
How were the children educated?
Describe the art and culture
What rights did the Citizens have?
How were women treated?
MILITARY:
List the strengths and weaknesses.
How were they trained?
What were some of their military
victories and defeats?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
Who did they trade with?
Who were their allies and enemies?
How did they use their allies?
Name their alliance groups?
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CLASSES:
What % of people were citizens?
How was wealth viewed by each
city-state?
Describe the social structure.
ATHENS
SPARTA