Loyalty and Risk: A Cultural Contrast

Thucydides takes one step beyond Herodotus in his approach to history. As we read his account of the Peloponnesian Wars, we’ll address the following questions:

1. What is the difference between Thucydides’ tragic perspective of the Peloponnesian Wars and the Homerian tragedy?
2. How does Thucydides’ description of Athenian devotion to the polis highlight a fundamental difference between Greeks and Jews?
3. According to Thucydides in his recounting of Pericles’ funeral oration, why should the Greek choose to do the right thing?

Recommended Reading: Thucydides. On Justice, Power, and Human Nature. Translated and edited by Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett Classics, 1993.