Presentation Transcript

1. War, policyand Perikles Today: the outbreak of war and assessing Perikles Friday: debate on when & under what circumstances war is the best option a discussion assessing Athens, her empire and the sweep of Greek history from 1500-429 BCE
2. The outbreak of war, 432/1:Perikles outlines Athens’ resources (Thuc. 2.13-14, Tracy 62-63) 300 triremes, 6540 talents (+(gold on Athena’s statue & other resources = 9700 talents) 29,000 soldiers, incl. young, old, and metics 1,200 cavalry and 1,600 archers Perikles offers to sacrifice his own property in Attica: why? Archidamus invades Attica,ravages Eleusis and attacks the deme of Acharnai. What is Perikles’ policy? (Thuc. 2.21-22 = Tracy 65-67)
3. Perikles’ Funeral Oration:Kerameikos (“potters’ quarters”) / public cemetery
4. Perikles’ Funeral Oration:Thuc. 2.34-46, Tracy 68-76 Praises the Athenian way of life “our entire city is the education of Hellas” (2.41) Praises the heroic dead, who have achieved kleos, timê, aretê “the whole earth is the tomb of famous men” (2.43) Extols the city and encourages the living to emulate the dead “take them as your models ... [for] happiness comes from freedom and freedom from courage” (2.43) Consoles the living “have children [to bear up under your losses] … be cheered by the kleos of your sons” (2.44) “[for the widows …] great glory will come to you if you live up to your existing natures, and greatest will be hers who is least spoken of among men whether for her excellence or for blame” (2.45) Directly after the Funeral Oration comes …
5. The plague: Spring 430(5th c. kylixby Douris, Oedipus & sphinx)Thuc. 2.47-53 (D&G 13.16) “The temples in which they were living were full of the corpses of people who had died inside them; for, as the disaster weighed so heavily upon them, men, not knowing whether they would continue to live, turned to neglect of sacred and holy things alike … (2.52.3). [T]he plague was in great measure the beginning of lawlessness …. [P]eople began to venture more readily on acts of self-indulgence, which they had previously kept secret …. Neither fear of the gods nor law of men was any restraint, and they considered it the same whether one worshipped the gods or not, since they saw everyone dying equally, and no one expected to live long enough for a trial to take place or to be punished for their offences …” (2.53.1, 4).
6. Responses to the plague Perikles does not alter his γνώμη (gnômê) and continues to attack the Peloponnese King Archidamus / Spartans devastate Attica again, this time near Laurion in the south Athens, despite Perikles’ advice, sues for peace but is rebuffed by Sparta, leading to Perikles’ final speech: Thuc. 2.60-64 = Tracy 81-87
7. Perikles’ final speech(Thuc. 2.60-64 = Tracy 81-87) I don’t deserve your criticisms which are prompted by our suffering from an unpredictable plague which we could not have anticipated “Yet you are angered with me who am … no one’s inferior at knowing what needs to be done and conveying that to others, a man who loves his city and is impervious to bribes” (2.60 = Tracy 83) War is foolish unless … it prevents subservience to another conquest of our enemies is justified We must persevere and sustain our self-confidence which depends on our superiority and our γνώμη Our naval power maintains our empire and our freedom to act “[we] have our [our empire] as a tyranny. To have taken it was, it seems, unjust; to let it go perilous”(2.63 = Tracy 85) The gods granted us our rule over most Hellenes, the memory of which will survive and which we deem to be just Is this a sensible γνώμη and a sufficient justification?
8. Assessing Perikles, part 1: Key domestic & foreign events, 462/1-429/8 BCE worked with Ephialtes against Areopagus, 462/1 may have contributed to Kimon’s ostracism, 462/1 introduced pay for jurors, ca. 461-455 stopped invasion of Attica by bribing Sparta, 455/4 led expedition vs. Sikyon (Corinthian Gulf), 455/4 transferred Delian League funds to Athens citizenship law, 451 elected strategos every year ca. 455-431/0 Congress Decree, 449 oversaw major construction projects, 447-432 suppressed revolt on Euboea, 446; lost Megara to revolt suppressed revolt of Samos with Sophocles, 440/39 fashioned war strategy, 432/1 delivered Funeral Oration, other speeches, 432/1-429/8 prosecuted war with Sparta, 432/1-429/8 seized Aegina from the Peloponnesian League not elected 430/29; reelected 429/8 contracted plague and dies, 429/8
9. Assessing Perikles, part 2:Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 2.65 “For as long as he was at the head of the state during the peace, he pursued a moderate and conservative policy; and in his time its greatness was at its height. When the war broke out, here also he seems to have rightly gauged the power of his country …. “Pericles indeed, by his rank, ability, and known integrity, was enabled to exercise an independent control over the multitude—in short, to lead them instead of being led by them; for as he never sought power by improper means, he was never compelled to flatter them, but, on the contrary, enjoyed so high an estimation that he could afford to anger them by contradiction. Whenever he saw them unseasonably and insolently elated, he would with a word reduce them to alarm; on the other hand, if they fell victims to a panic, he could at once restore them to confidence.”
10. Assessing Perikles, part 3:Thuc. 2.65 on Perikles’ leadership: “In short … “… what was nominally a democracy became in his hands government by the first citizen.” … ἐγίγνετό τε λόγῳ μὲν δημοκρατία, ἔργῳ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνδρὸς ἀρχή. … egignetotelogoi men demokratia, ergoi de hupotouprotouandrosarche.
11. Assessing Perikles, part 4:Plutarch on Perikles’ leadership and skills “Pericles deserves our admiration, then, not only for the sense of justice and the serene temper that he preserved amid the many crises and intense personal hatreds which surrounded him, but also for his greatness of spirit” (Plut. Per. 39) “[He possessed] moderation … uprightness … and [the] ability to endure the follies of [his] peoples and … colleagues in office [and so] rendered the very greatest service to [his] country” (Plut. Per. 2)
12. Assessing Perikles, part 6:What is your assessment of Perikles,?
13. For Friday: when and under what circumstances is war the best option? You are assigned a political stance, either as a polemicist, who pursues war whenever the autonomy, authority & power of your polis is compromised, regardless of the need for war Jesse, Nicky, Alissa, Chris, Amari, Sarah B., Torie diplomat, who pursues war after negotiations and only as a last option Matthew, Ian, Tyler, Lucy, Emily, Alexander, Teddy pacifist, who pursues war under virtually no conditions whatsoever unless your polis is under direct assault Sarah N., Elijah, Katie, Zach, Kathryn, Daniel, Nate, Iliyan Be prepared to argue your position, drawing upon what you have learned this semester to bolster your argument.