After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, war broke out among his remaining Macedonian generals, referred to as the Diadochi, to determine the successor to the empire (Waterfield, 2011). The conflict spanned the years of 322 to 281 BCE, consisting of four wars fought between different contenders to the throne, each aiming to lay claim to more land than they were given in the partition of Babylon. One such general was Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who had notable success in the Third Diadoch War, commanding an army of his own soldiers and of mercenaries, many of whom came from Greece to fight under Antigonus’ command (Billows, 1997). Mercenaries, often paid to bolster an army during times of warfare, are known to be individualistic opportunists …show more content…
For him to have been this renowned after the war, it would not be a stretch to assume that the majority of the Greeks in Antigonus’ army were at least biased towards Antigonus’ war efforts in the Third Diadoch War, if not loyal to him, and that this could be extended to his Greek mercenaries. Under the belief that a pirate is an individual who raids and thieves violently by sea frequency, valuing individuality and having no bias towards rulers, the Greek mercenaries serving Antigonus during the Third Diadoch War could not have been considered pirates. While they certainly may have performed acts of violence and theft befitting a pirate, they had been performed majorly under the command of Antigonus for the sake of his campaign to succeed Alexander as
Demosthenes and Isocrates came to prominence in fourth century B.C.E. Athens as public speakers and as politicians. Isocrates was a teacher of rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, while Demosthenes was a professional litigator, writing speeches for clients arguing in the courts of law, and occasionally presenting arguments himself. Both men were highly respected citizens and opinion makers throughout the sphere of influence maintained by Athens, though they held opposing views regarding the proper course for Athenian government, warfare between the Greek city-states, and the prospect of invasion from the Persian Empire to the east. While the Greek city-states engaged in fratricidal warfare, Philip of Macedon began consolidation of his political power by essentially offering up his highly trained professional Macedonian army as mercenary soldiers to the various city-states requesting assistance or protection and demanding control as hegemon or monarch of the city-state in return for military aid. Following a declaration of truce, Philip would impose his rule upon the vanquished as well.
The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.
Dating back to 449 B.C., Sparta and Athens always had an alliance, but as time grew that balance slowly began to fall as one felt threatened by another. Before any sight of unsteadiness the Spartans and Athenians had a bound partnership. Beginning after their domination of the Persian war, the two states slowly became aware of one another’s growing power. More time went by, and the Spartans began to grow conscious of the other states, feeling wary and paranoid around them (Fox, 170). No state was particularly to blame for the strain on their peace treaty, nor for the war, it came as the two states developed. Eventually the two states had clashed enough and declared war. Although the Spartans gave the Athenians a chance to back down and temporarily stall war, the two states would never be equal, their allies resented one another far too much. The growing urge for power was bound to take over sooner or later. Finally, after 7 years of uneasy tension, Sparta could wait no longer and declared war against Athens (Fox, 167). Although the Athenians and Spartans lived together in peace for so long, they existed in a fragile balance that was bound to eventually lead to war.
The natural drive to remain alive is exhibited by all living things. It is the very foundation of human nature, and it seems every effort is made to preserve life. However, occasionally an individual will knowingly and confidently walk to their own death. Sacrificial rebellion is a phenomenon well illustrated in the works "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, and "Antigone" by the philosopher and poet Sophocles. Why is it that the characters Harrison and Antigone willing to die for their ideals or values? Self-sacrifice is often the modus operandi of those who wish to cause a productive social upheaval, the idea being that if they can cause enough of a shock to society that it will lead to a substantial change within that society. This
Antigone has defied the king's edict. However, the edict says that her brother, Polynices, cannot be given a proper burial. The reason given for this is that Polynices is a traitor. Antigone's uncle, Creon, the king, makes this edict after many events happen. Antigone says herself that she has experienced "no private shame, no public disgrace, nothing" that cannot be experienced (Antigone, p. 658).
The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) was a conflict between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta that resulted in the end of the Golden Age of Athens. The events of the war were catalogued by the ancient historian Thucydides in The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides’ writings showed the ancient Greek belief that there is a parallel between the city-state and the character of its citizens; in order for the city-state to be successful, its citizens must be virtuous. Thucydides did not believe that the true cause of the Peloponnesian War were the immediate policies of the Athenian Empire against the city-states in the Peloponnesian League but rather the fundamental differences in the character of the two city-states
Who doesn’t love a happy ending? Where the guy gets the girl, the nice guy defeats the villain, and everything in the world is how it should be. Having a happily ever after makes the audience have instant satisfaction, in the end all the chaos and drama within the story gets resolved. There is no disappointment from the audience because the story is settled; everything works out in the end. The readers tend to find hope and peace within the successful conclusion. This encouragement grants them an escape into a world of fiction and allows them to believe that happiness awaits at the end of insurmountable trials. The epic hero is a common tool that is used in this “feel-good” literature. This character depicts a noble and honest protagonist,
Throughout the Ancient Greek world, there have been many wars and standoffs. However, there has been only one which changed the course of Greek history forever; the Peloponnesian War. Caused by the growing tension between Athens and Sparta, it came and left, leaving only destruction in its wake. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War caused the downfall of Greece, and the end of the Classical Age.
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone saw her action of burying her brother as a just one. It may not have been just in the eyes of Creon and the people of Thebes, but she was not concerned with the laws that mortals had made. Antigone saw the divine laws of the gods to be much more important than those of mortals. She felt that if she died while upholding the laws of the gods, that her afterlife would be better than if she had not. Our lives on this earth are so short, that to see a good afterlife over the horizon will make people go against the laws of humans.
In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone and Ismene’s straining relationship is held together by a thin thread. Antigone’s father exiles himself then dies. Her brothers’ become the kings; Polyneices deceives them and joins the offenders. Etocles and Polynieces fight and they both die. Creon becomes king and gives Etocles a warrior burial while Polynieces was left for the buzzards. Antigone asks Ismene to help her, Ismene says no, so Antigone does it herself. Creon sentences Antigone to death, she kills herself and Haemon (Creon’s son/Antigone’s fiancé) kills himself. Creon’s wife kills herself receiving the news from the messenger, leaving Creon and Ismene alone. Antigone loves her sister but what type of relationship is there between Antigone and Ismene?
In this essay, I am going to anaylise the Peloponnesian War. I will look at what appears to have caused the war, how it developed, and what the outcome of it was. As Thucydides is virtually the only surviving primary source of this event, I will also discuss the man and his method.
Politics is an extremely divisive topic, and the opposing sides rarely can see things from the other’s point of view. In Antigone, Sophocles perfectly creates a scenario where both characters in a conflict are right in their own way but refuse to see it from the other’s point of view. Ismene, Antigone’s sister, is the living embodiment of this conflict. Ismene, being pulled in both the direction of helping Antigone (religion) and obeying Creon (law), illuminates the foolishness of acting rashly without fully considering both sides and views.
Deportations have caused many problems, deportations have given police more power towards anyone but especially immigrants. Police brutality is so common in the U.S. now “police have abused this power by racially profiling individuals who appear foreign and making pretextual arrests" (Marshall) if by any chance you might seem foreign to a police officer you run the risk of getting your profile checked just because of skin color or the way you look which is unjust. Immigrants run a risk too because in some states if an immigrant commits a traffic violation they could face deportation “By effectively empowering local police to trigger the deportation of an immigrant for nothing more than a minor traffic offense" (Marshall). Why should someone be deported because of a minor traffic offense? If committing a traffic offense is considered a crime many people would be in jail, because no one is a perfect driver, everyone commits traffic violations it's just something that happens but immigrants are paying a bigger price.
Beginning in 492 B.C., a series of wars erupted, appropriately entitled the Persian Wars, which lasted around thirteen years. Because of the constant battles between the Persians, led by Xerxes, and Greece, both civilization started growing weaker and weaker. When the wars ended, the Greeks were successful at defeating the Persians. However, being in a weakened state caused the Greek city- states (mainly Athens against Sparta) to fight amongst themselves in order to have more influence over the rest of the city-states. This type of war was termed the Peloponnesian War and continued from 431B.C. to 404 B.C. (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece) and