Transcript The Father of History - Norwell Public Schools

Greek historians and
the Peloponnesian
War
The Father of History
Herodotus of
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus is now modern day
Bodrum
http://www.livius.org/hehg/herodotus/logoi.html
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This site talks about the book Herodotus
wrote The Histories.
Herodotus
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That Herodotus was able to write tells us that his
parents could afford a teacher and were well to do.
Herodotus must have been a rich man, possibly a
member of the old aristocracy.
We may speculate that he fought as a heavy
armored infantryman (a hoplite), like all Greek men
of his class and age. This would explain why his
descriptions of battles are always from a soldier's
point of view and sometimes confused. He was a
soldier, not a general.
Thucydides
Book written by Thucydides.
You can still purchase his
book today.
Thucydides from Athens
Peloponnesian War
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Thucydides, an Athenian aristocrat, was a
young man when the war began. He
eventually became a general for Athens.
However after a battle defeat Thucydides
was exiled from Athens for the rest of the
war. Despite being exiled he had a keen
interest in the events happening in Athens.
Thucydides continued to follow the war.
History of the Peloponnesian
War
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Thucydides authored The History of the
Peloponnesian War. He gathered information
from many sources. But in the retelling he
shaped the information to emphasize his
version of the truth. His views are present
throughout his work. However he did present
events as being caused by the actions and
motives of men.
Athens and Sparta and their
respective allies.
Causes for the Peloponnesian
War
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After the defeat of the Persians in 480 BC,
the Greek city-states formed an alliance.
They did this to protect themselves from
other invaders. Their goal was also to protect
the trade routes in the Aegean Sea.
To pay for this protection each city state gave
money to the alliance. The funds were kept
on the island of Delos, hence they called the
alliance the Delian League
Causes of the Peloponnesian
War
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Because the Athenian navy was protecting the
islands, Athens became the strongest member of
the league.
It was felt that the Athenians treated other members
of the league unfairly.
At the same time the city-states on the
Peloponnesian penninsula had their own alliance
called the Pelloponnesian League
It seemed to some that without any fighting the
Athenians made the Delian League the Athenian
Empire. This concerned the members of the
pelopponnsian League
Peloponnesian War
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Lasted from 431 BC
until 404 BC.
Athens vs. Sparta
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Athens was a naval power.
Athens controlled the Aegean Sea
Corinth was a city-state aligned with Sparta.
Corinth believed their food supply from Sicily
to be in jeopardy.
Corinth appealed to Sparta to take up arms.
Spartan warriors
Athenian warriors
•The Peloponnesian army lead by Lysander,
captured or destroyed almost the entire
Athens navy.
•With the grain supply now cut Lysander could
proceed to Athens itself to blockade it from the
sea while the Spartan army under King
Pausanius held the land side.
•After six months of starvation and no
prospect for relief, Athens surrendered on
generous terms offered by Sparta.
•Corinth and Thebes protested, demanding
total destruction, but Sparta did not want to
create too great a power vacuum.
•The city walls and those connecting Athens to
Piraeus were torn down and the empire
dissolved.
The walls that eventually were
removed.
Peloponnesian War
The War began April 4,
431 BC.
The War ended April 25,
404 BC.
The end