The Tragedy of the Athenian Ideal in Thucydides and PlatoJohn T. Hogan’s The Tragedy of the Athenian Ideal in Thucydides and Plato assesses the roles of Pericles, Alcibiades, and Nicias in Athens’ defeat in Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. Comparing Thucydides’ presentation of political leadership with ideas in Plato’s Statesman as well as Laches, Charmides, Meno, Symposium, Republic, Phaedo, Sophist, and Laws, it concludes that Plato and Thucydides reveal Pericles as lacking the political discipline (sophrosune) to plan a successful war against Sparta. Hogan argues that in his presentation of the collapse in the Corcyraean revolution of moral standards in political discourse, Thucydides shows how revolution destroys the morality implied in basic personal and political language. This reveals a general collapse in underlying prudential measurements needed for sound moral judgment. Furthermore, Hogan argues that the Statesman’s outline of the political leader serves as a paradigm for understanding the weaknesses of Pericles, Alcibiades, and Nicias in terms that parallel Thucydides’ direct and implied conclusions, which in Pericles’ case he highlights with dramatic irony. Hogan shows that Pericles failed both to develop a sufficiently robust practice of Athenian democratic rule and to set up a viable system for succession. |
Contents
| vii | |
| xiii | |
| xv | |
| xvii | |
Chapter 1 | 1 |
Chapter 2 | 21 |
Chapter 3 | 67 |
Chapter 4 | 85 |
Chapter 7 | 211 |
Chapter 8 | 223 |
Chapter 9 | 235 |
Chapter 10 | 245 |
Chapter 11 | 261 |
Conclusion | 285 |
Bibliography | 293 |
| 309 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action Alcibiades allies appears arete argues argument Athenian ambassadors Athenian Empire Athenian political Athens Book Camarineans Cambridge citizens claim Classical Cleon Commentary on Thucydides Corcyra Corcyraeans courage debate decline deeds democracy democratic desire Diodotus discussion edited emotional eros Euphemus example fear force Funeral Oration Greek Harmodius and Aristogeiton Hermocrates Historical Commentary History Hornblower human idea ideal Imperialism important justice last speech Laws leader logos means Melian Dialogue Melos moderation Mytilene Mytileneans narrative nature Nicias Nietzsche Oxford Peloponnesian Peloponnesian War Periclean Pericles Phaedo philosophical plague Plato pleonexia polis political discourse praise Protagoras Pylos Republic rhetorical rule seems sense Sicilian Expedition Sicily Socrates Sophist sophrosune Spartans speakers stasis Statesman Syracusans Syracuse Thucydides presents Thucydides says tion translation understanding University Press values virtue words ἂν γὰρ δὲ ἐν ἐς καὶ μὲν μὴ οἱ πρὸς τὰ τε τὴν τῆς τὸ τοῦ τῷ τῶν ὡς