Peloponnesian War Excerpts Essay

QEP Writing Assignment
When reading the two excerpts from Thucydides it is clear that his book, The History of the Peloponnesian War, was written to memorialize Athenian history. Although it is considered to be the first textbook it was still written by an Athenian so analysis of the excerpts are still required. But while analyzing the two excerpts will provide information about the reliability of the document, it will also provide insight to answer the question “What is the author trying to say about his native city of Athens?”
Beginning with Pericles’ Funeral orientation the level one analysis is as follows. It was written by Thucydides in 431 BC. The excerpt is taken from book two of The History of the Peloponnesian War. In this excerpt Thucydides has made a record of the speech that Pericles gave near the end of the war in the first year. To summarize the excerpt Pericles is chosen by the city to deliver a eulogy for the

war’s casualties from the first year. He is considered to exceed the others in wisdom and dignity. In his speech he talks about the strength of Athens and its greatness while skipping over the weaknesses that it has also. He emphasized the unique government that Athens has forged which other cities later copy. Some characteristics that are used to explain Athens superiority are trust, courage, duty, and involvement. He also talks many times about how Athenians are people who follow laws and that makes them great. Pericles also remarks that we all die at some point but what matters more is what we do while we are alive. He tells of how the ancestors of the Athenians achieved immortality through their will to flee only from dishonor and to confront danger. Through this summary it can be seen that Pericles holds Athens above the other cities. So by telling us the story of Pericles, Thucydides is trying to show how the passionate the people of Athens were and what their philosophy for life was. But even though we get an answer from this excerpt level two analysis shows that it is a little biased.
Level two analysis shows that the intended audience of Pericles speech is the Athenians at the funeral of the fallen warriors.

But the audience of Thucydides is future readers. The purpose of writing this chapter was to show the greatness of Athens as viewed by Pericles. Although the speech shown in this excerpt shows a little bias, the important thing to note is that Thucydides is only an observer and his views are not seen so the document itself is reliable even if the excerpt is biased toward the greatness of Athens.
The second source is the excerpt of the Melian Dialogue. It was also written by Thucydides and is also from his book The History of the Peloponnesian War written in 431 BC. It is a description of the way that Athens acted hostile towards the island of Melos. It describes the negotiations that took place between Athens and Melos. This document shows a different side of Athens. It can be seen as more hostile and unfriendly. The commanders sent to negotiate were told to get the island under control by any means

necessary.
Overall the two excerpts seem to be reliable even though Thucydides who fought in the war wrote them, they still show both sides of Athens. Thucydides is trying to show the reader that although Athens is a great city and accomplished wonders they still became corrupted in a way by trying to conquer and govern other islands by any means instead of peacefully backing away when Melos refuses. So in the end he shows that his city is not perfect despite all that it accomplished.