Athenian Leadership in Thucydides "History of the Peloponnesian War"

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Shaw, Carl

Keywords

Classics, Thucydides, Ancient Greece

Area of Concentration

Classics

Abstract

In this thesis, I explore the arc of Athenian leadership in Thucydides� History of the Peloponnesian War. To achieve this goal, I rely on Thucydides� narrative technique of interrelating speech and narrative throughout his work. I examine closely the speeches of the characters themselves, their interaction with Thucydides� narrative, and their interaction with each other. I apply this method to the speeches of the four main Athenian generals in the history: Pericles, Cleon, Nicias, and Alcibiades. My analysis reveals the connection that Thucydides establishes between each of the leaders, and infers the judgments that Thucydides leads us to make through his narrative technique. The result is a complete portrait of Athenian leadership, in which Pericles represents optimal leadership, Cleon represents the beginning of its decline, and Nicias and Alcibiades represent its ultimate, complete failure.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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