Thucydides The Peloponnesian War:
WHO SAID IT?
D. B. Levine. April 5, 2021
- “… but by trusting in the favor from the gods, and in the help of men as represented by the Lacedaemonians, we will try to save ourselves. We ask of you that we be friends, enemies of neither side, and that you leave our territory after the conclusion of whatever treaty both parties find suitable.” [5.112]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “In my opinion,… we should consider if would be well to undertake a war that does not concern us with little deliberation, after listening to foreigners.. … do not risk what is at hand for what is uncertain and off in the future,; but I will show you is that your haste is inopportune, and that what you are striving for is not easily secured. I tell you that you are leaving many enemies here even while spoiling to sail over there and bring back more.” [6.9-10]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “The Hellenes, who had previously expected our city to be exhausted by warfare, believed it to be even greater than its real power because of the splendor of my representation at Olympia, where I entered seven chariots, more than any individual ever had before, and won the prize and also finished second and fourth, and I arranged everything else as my victory warranted…” [6.16]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades
- “I myself, surpassing not a single one of you in vigor (alas, you see the state I am reduced to by my illness) and giving the impression, I am sure, of being second to on one in good fortune, yes, even I am not caught up in the same danger as the lowliest. And yet I have spent my life in many devout actions towards the gods and many just and irreproachable ones towards men. In consequence, my hopes for the future are confident ones, despite all, and our disasters certainly do not alarm me as tour worth.” [7.77]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “And it will seem monstrous for the Lacedaemonians to destroy Plataia, whose name your father recorded on the tripod at Delphi for its bravery while you will erase it in its entirety from Hellenic civilization for the sake o the Thebans… We Plaiaians, ardent for Hellas beyond our power, have been thrust aside by all, deserted and unprotected; none of our former allies will help, and, Lacedaemonians, we fear that you, our only hope, may not be relied on.” [3.57]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “Many times before now, I have felt that a democracy is incapable of ruling others, and more than ever during your present change of heart over the Mytileneans… You do not understand that in any concession you make through pity, your weakening brings danger to you and no gratitude from your allies, since you do not bear in mind that you hold your empire as a tyranny.” [3.37]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “Know that Athens has the greatest renown among all men because of not yielding to misfortune but expending the most lives and labor and has acquired certainly the greatest power known up to this time, of which it will be forever remembered by posterity,… that we as Hellenes ruled over the most Hellenes, sustained the greatest wars against them both in combination and separately, and lived in a city that was in all ways the best provided for and greatest.” [2.64]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “For in giving their lives in common cause, they individually gained imperishable praise and the most distinctive tomb, not the one where they are buried but the one where on every occasion for word and deed their glory is left after them eternally. The whole earth is the tomb of famous men, and not only inscriptions set up in their own country mark it, but even in foreign lands an unwritten memorial, present not in monument but in mind, abides within each man.” [2.43]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “If they move against our country on land, we will sail against theirs… That is the greatness of sea power; and consider: if we were islanders, who would be more unassailable? As it is, … we must let go of the land and its houses and stand guard over the sea and the city, and not let rage over the former drive us to fight against the much greater numbers of the Peloponnesians,.. nor lament over houses and land…” [1.143]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades
- “Lacedaemonians, by this time I have experienced many wars myself… Any of you making prudent calculations about the operation we are now considering would find that it would not be on any limited scale…Where should we put our trust when we rush in unprepared? In our ships? We are inferior, and if we train ourselves and match their preparation, it will take time. In other funds? We are at a still greater disadvantage there, and have neither money in a treasury nor readiness to pay it out of private sources…” [1.80]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
- “It is up to you, Lacedaemonians, whether any of this gets done quickly and energetically… and I do not expect any of you to think the less of me if I, once considered a patriot, vigorously attack my own city… and furthermore, my patriotism does not apply where I am wronged, but where I was secure in exercising my rights; nor do I think of myself as attacking a homeland that still exists, but as recovering one that does not… You must not shrink from campaigning in both Sicily and Attica… and destroy any power Athens has or hopes to have…” [6.92]
Spartan King Archidamos. Athenian General Pericles.
Athenian Demagogue Kleon. People of Melos.
People of Plataia. Athenian General Nikias.
Athenian General Alcibiades.
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