Tag Archives: Peloponessian War

The Fragility of Democracy: Athens and the Thirty Tyrants

Written by Edward Whelan, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Athens is traditionally seen as the birthplace of democracy. However, as we know, democracies are vulnerable to anti-democratic forces, such as populism and authoritarian movements. This was also the case with Athens. For some eight months (404-403 BC) the city was controlled by a pro-Spartan oligarchy known

Written on May 8, 2020 at 6:34 am, by Whelan

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Categories: History

Tags: Athens, Critias, death of socrates, democracy, oligarchy, Peloponessian War, Pnyx, Sicily, socrates, Sparta, Theramenes, Thirty Tyrants, Thrasybulus, tyranny

Reflections on the Brevity of Life

By David Hooker, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Weekly “Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” So said the 17th Century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his magnum opus, Leviathan. It is a stark and negative statement, to be sure. Of course, Hobbes had in mind that the life of ordinary people would go much better under

Written on November 15, 2019 at 6:00 am, by David Hooker

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Categories: Philosophy

Tags: Aristotle, death of socrates, Peloponessian War, pericles, Pericles Funeral Oration, socrates, Thomas Hobbes, Thucydides

Alcibiades: A Lion and a Fox

Written by Brendan Heard, Author of the Decline and Fall of Western Art When I was about twenty five years of age, I read Plutarch’s Lives. I did so because I came across it in a used book shop, and it had a nice leather bound cover, and because it seemed to be a history of the

Written on November 8, 2019 at 9:43 am, by Brendan Heard

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Categories: Leaders

Tags: Alcibiades, Athens, Lysander, Peloponessian War, Plutarch, plutarch's lives, socrates, Sparta

The Darkest Depths of Human Nature: Three Examples From the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian and general, is most famous for his narrative of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). The war was a struggle between Athens and Sparta and led to all-out war between the Greek city states as they sided with one or the other. Thucydides documented not only the military and political decisions

Written on October 4, 2019 at 9:20 am, by Alex Barrientos

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Categories: History, Military History

Tags: Ancient Warfare, Athens, History of the Peloponnesian War, Peloponessian War, Sparta, Thucydides

Isocrates: The Essayist

By Ben Potter In many ways Isocrates is the forgotten man of Classical Greece. As a product of Athens’ Golden Age, he was a contemporary of Plato, Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Aristotle, et al,… just without their fame or everlasting glory. And it’s not that he didn’t deserve it. Indeed, a case can be made that

Written on April 17, 2015 at 9:43 pm, by plato

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Categories: People

Tags: Alexander the Great, Apology, Cicero, Isocrates, Panegyricus, Peloponessian War, Philip II, Philippus, socrates, Sophists