Greek depth study sources summary Flashcards
When was Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution written?
In the 320s BC
Aristotle AC on how the Delian league tribute supported Athens? And when was the first assessment of tribute?
“more than twenty thousand men were supported from the tribute, the taxes, and the allies”
first assessment 478/7BC
Aristotle AC on why Pericles devised juror pay?
to counteract Cimon’s generosity regarding his private property which he left open to anyone
Aristotle AC on how Athens changed after Pericles death?
“after his death it became much worse”
(it being the constitution)
“Cleon, it seems, more than anyone else corrupted the people by his wild impulses”
Aristotle AC on Cleon
How does Aristotle AC describe Cleon’s speeches?
he would shout, swear and make speeches “with his clothes hitched up” whilst others spoke in an orderly manner
“the masses generally come to hate those who have led them on to do anything wrong, particularly if they have deceived them”
Aristotle AC on democracy
Aristotle AC on Nicias and Thucydides as leaders
nearly everyone agrees they “were public-spirited and behaved like fathers towards the whole city”
“Pericles took away some of the powers of the Areopagus, and above all turned the city in the direction of naval power”
Aristotle AC on Pericles
When was Pericles’ funeral speech given?
winter 431
At what event was Pericles’ funeral speech given?
the annual “public funeral for those who had been the first to die in the war”
at which “a man chosen by the city… makes an appropriate speech”
Key points about fundamental democracy shown in Pericles’ funeral speech?
“power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people”
“everyone is equal before the law”
“no one… is kept in political obscurity because of poverty”
“we are free and tolerant in our private lives; but in public affairs we keep to the law”
“we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all”
Pericles in Thuc funeral speech
“we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits”
Pericles funeral speech
“the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated”
Pericles funeral speech
- can be linked to what happens w Mytilene in 427
“I declare that our city is an education to Greece”
P fun speech
“mighty indeed are the marks and monuments of our empire which we have left”
Pericles funeral speech - link to building programme
the deaths of these men “shows us the meaning of manliness in its first revelation and in its final proof”
Pericles in funeral speech says that the meaning of manliness is sacrifice for the community
“those of you who are the right age must bear up and take comfort in the thought of having more children”
Pericles’ funeral speech
“the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you”
Pericles funeral speech on “the duties of women”
initial decision regarding Mytilene according to Thucydides?
“to put to death… the entire adult male population of Mytilene, and to make slaves of the women and children”
“there was a sudden change of feeling and people began to think how cruel and how unprecedented such a decision was”
The second day of the Mytilene debate
“it was he who had been responsible for passing the original motion for putting the Mytilenians to death”
Cleon according to Thucydides
Thucydides on Cleon?
“he was remarkable among the Athenians for the violence of his character, and at this time (427) he exercised far the greatest influence over the people”
“What you do not realize is that your empire is a tyranny exercised over subjects who do not like it and who are always plotting against you; you will not make them obey you by injuring your own interests in order to do them a favour; your leadership depends on superior strength and not on any goodwill of theirs”
Cleon on why the decision regarding Mytilene should not be reversed
Cleon on why they should act quickly regarding Mytilene?
“the best punishment and the one most fitted to the crime is when reprisals follow immediately”
Who opposes Cleon on the matter of the Mytilene debate?
Diodotus
Diodotus main point?
“if we are sensible people, we shall see that the question is not so much whether they are guilty as whether we are making the right decision for ourselves”
“this is not a law-court, where we have to consider what is fit and just; it is a political assembly, and the question is how Mytilene can be most useful to Athens
Diodotus on Mytilene
“if Cleon’s method is adopted, can you not see that every city will not only make much more careful preparations for revolt, but will also hold out against siege to the very end, since to surrender early or late means just the same thing”
Diodotus on Mytilene
“if you destroy the democratic party at Mytilene, who never took any hand in the revolt and who… voluntarily gave the city up to you, you will… be guilty of killing those who have helped you, and, … will be doing exactly what the reactionary classes want most”
Diodotus on why the punishment would be unfair and problematic for future
“at the show of hands the votes were nearly equal”
The Mytilene debate - it isn’t a clear example of the Athenians being lenient or changing their minds because it was only just a majority decision
Gorgias Encomium of Helen summarised (date, subject)
written in around 425-400BC
Gorgias argues that if Helen was persuaded by either fate, force, language or love she is blameless.
It is a set speech designed to display the power of rhetoric.
“All who have and do persuade people of things do so by moulding
a false argument”
Gorgias Encomium of Helen
Who compares the power of speech on the mind to the power of drugs on the body?
Gorgias in Encomium of Helen
Xenophon Poroi on metics?
“I can hardly conceive of a more splendid source of revenue”
Xenophon Poroi on slaves?
suggests the state own a body of public slaves - 3 per citizen
Who does Plutarch say taught Pericles and was most responsible for his “majestic bearing”
Anaxagoras (the first sophist to come to Athens in 460BC_
“the two men’s rival ambitions and… struggle for power…. caused the one side to be named the party of the many and the other of the few”
Plutarch Pericles on Pericles rivalry with Thucydides
“Pericles therefore chose this moment to hand over the reins of power to the people to a greater extent than ever before and deliberately shaped his policy to please them”
Plutarch Pericles on Pericles trying to stop the aristocrats gaining too much power
What was one measure of Pericles (according to Plutarch) to increase the naval power and wealth of the Athenians internally?
Sending out “sixty triremes to cruise each year, in which many of the citizens served with pay for eight months and learned and practised seamanship at the same time”
“Pericles answer to the people was that the Athenians were not obliged to give the allies any account of how their money was spent, provided that they carried on the war for them and kept the Persians away”
Plutarch on Pericles’ response to the people who said that moving the treasury would be seen by the allies as aggressive
Plutarch on Pericles’ introducing the building programme?
“he boldly laid before the people proposals for immense public works and plans for buildings, which would involve many different arts and industries and require long periods to complete”
“as imposing in their sheer size as they were inimitable in the grace of their outlines”
Plutarch Pericles on the buildings on the Acropolis
What was Pericles’ response, according to Plutarch to the aristocratic party accusing him of spending too much on the building programme?
He told the people that if he had spent too much then it shouldn’t be taken from the public fund but his own. They protested - apparently either because they wanted a share of the glory or they admired the gesture.
What does Plutarch compare Pericles too, in his role in the city?
A physician
“Pericles, who gave help to many poorer citizens”
Plutarch
Plutarch on Pericles at Aspasia’s trial
“contrived to beg off Aspasia by bursting into floods of tears during her trial”
As a result of which law of Pericles does Plutarch say “nearly five thousand people were convicted and sold into slavery”
the law that one must have both Athenian parents to be a citizen
“he lost his sister and most of his relatives and friends” including all his legitimate sons
Plutarch on Pericles during the plague
Who says Nicias lacked the virtuous qualities of Pericles but used wealth to win the people’s favour?
Plutarch
” the feud between Nicias and Alcibiades grew so bitter that it was decided to resort to an ostracism”
“the contest was between the younger generation who desired war, and the older who were for peace”
Plutarch on the Nicias’ relationship w Alcibiades and the split of opinions amongst the people - also shown in Thucydides when they debate going to Sicily
Plutarch on the ostracism of Hyperbolus instead of N or A?
They worked together to have the ostracism on him but the people felt “the ostracism should have been degraded by being applied to so utterly unworthy a creature”
“he counted above all else on his charm as a speaker to give him a hold over the people”
Plutarch on Alcibiades
“the greatest orator Athens ever knew”
Plutarch on Alcibiades
“Alcibiades lived a life of prodigious luxury, drunkenness, debauchery and insolence”
Plutarch on Alcibiades
“all this suggests how difficult public opinion found it to judge Alcibiades, because of the extreme inconsistency of his character”
Plutarch on public opinion of Alcibiades
Summary of the accusations against Alcibiades, according to Plutarch?
that he had disfigured sacred images and parodied the mysteries of Eleusis “On one of their drunken revels”
The case is postponed until “the campaign is finished” which Alcibiades protests, seeing the malice of such a decision
“he succeeded in winning over Catana, but he achieved nothing more, as soon after this he was recalled”
Alcibiades’ initial success in Sicily and recall according to Plutarch
“the evidence given by the informers contained no solid or established facts”
Plutarch on Alcibiades’ trial. More serious religious charges had been added on by the time he was recalled/
Alcibiades’ return to Athens, according to Plutarch
In around 409/8BC Alcibiades returned, and he led the procession of the mysteries to Eleusis in 407 which had previously had to change to a sea route due to the fortification of Decelea. This illicited mixed responses and he soon left on campaign again
“the sway which he held over the humbler and poorer classes was so potent that they were filled with an extraordinary passion for him to rule them as a dictator”
Plutarch on Alcibiades after he returned to Athens
When did Alcibiades “abandoned the Spartan cause”
After the Athenians were defeated in Sicily and after this he became “the highest place” in Tissaphernes’ favour, then he abandoned the Spartans in favour of badmouthing them to Tissaphernes
