The Peloponnesian Wars Book Review by Nicky

The Peloponnesian Wars
A review of Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War".
# 128979 | 1,579 words | 7 sources | MLA | 2010 | US
Published on Aug 19, 2010 in History (Greek and Roman)


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Description:

The paper looks at Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War" and how it details the Peloponnesian war between Greece and Sparta. The paper explains why "History of the Peloponnesian War" is relatively accurate and relates that it is one of the earliest histories of a complete regional war that totally remapped the region.

From the Paper:

"The most significant problem about writing on a war that took place two and a half millennia ago, is that written records are never truly accurate, that history distorts events, causes, players, and, perhaps most significantly, the truth. Ancient history is even harder to nail down in terms of truth given the lack of effective long-term record keeping. This leads us to a situation in which, quite often, the facts are lost and all that remains of the truth is myth and legend. This is most certainly true of most ancient conflicts and is particularly true of the Peloponnesian war between Greece and Sparta that began in 431 B.C, ended twenty-seven years later, and resulted in the complete reshaping of the Greek world. Overly simplified, the war was brought by Sparta (at the head of the Peloponnesian League) in an effort to regain control over trade-routes, resources, and to stem the growing Athenian power over the region. But, as with all conflicts, the problems between Sparta and Athens were likely to be much more complicated than what would be supposed. Over the course of the war, the balance of power shifted from Greece to Sparta, which became the most powerful of the Greek states. In the process, traditional forms of controlled combat devolved into acts of massive barbarism in the city-state vs. city-state war resulting in the razing of entire cities. In the end, the golden age of Greece with Athens at the center of the world was over."

Sample of Sources Used:

  • Flower, Michael A. "Simonides, Ephorus, and Herodotus on The Battle of Thermopylae." The Classical Quarterly 48.2 (1998): 365(1).
  • Hanson, Victor Davis. "The War to Begin All Wars." New Criterion 21.8 (2003): 74(7).
  • Kleinhaus, Emil A. "Piety, Universality and History: Leo Strauss on Thucydides." Humanitas 14.1 (2001): 68(29).
  • Korab-Karpowicz, W Julian. "How International Relations Theorists can Benefit by Reading Thucydides." The Monist 89.2 (2006): 232(13).
  • Monsoon, S. Sara and Michael Loriaux. "The Illusion of Power and the Disruption of Moral Norms: Thucydides' Critique of Perclean Policy." American Political Science Review 92.2 (1998): 285(13).

Cite this Book Review:

APA Format

The Peloponnesian Wars (2010, August 19) Retrieved December 08, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/book-review/the-peloponnesian-wars-128979/

MLA Format

"The Peloponnesian Wars" 19 August 2010. Web. 08 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/book-review/the-peloponnesian-wars-128979/>

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