Monday, September 29, 2014
Fear among the Athenians
Throughout this book, I have noticed a theme of fear. In book 1, it is states that "in action [we] fall short in the presence of fear"(Bk. §121). It is made clear that men cannot fight with fear, as it will negatively impact their fighting skills, causing them to lose their battles. This fear is seen once again in book 2 when the Athenians blame Perikles for their losing the war at that given time. They agreed with him to participate in the war, but along with the plague, the Athenians are losing many of their people in the war. They are angry with this outcome, and therefore place the blame on Perikles. However, they proceed to elect Perikles as general and "considered him the most valuable man for the needs of the whole city" (Bk. 2 §65). I believe the Athenians did this out of fear, as they knew they could not handle the war without a leader, and sought Perikles to be the most fit. They continued to say that "when they were unreasonably afraid, he restored them to confidence" (Bk. 2 §65). The Athenians could only calm their fear through Perikles, therefore, they needed him to be their leader in such a time of trepidation. Without a leader, the Athenians would not know what to do in order to win the war, as their fear would keep them from attempting their own actions.
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I agree with the theme of fear appearing multiple times in the book because I also think the Athenians wanted to make peace with Sparta out of fear of losing more people from the plague. You also see fear with the Mytilenians, which we didn't talk about in class today, but they revolt against the Athenian Empire. They wish to ally themselves with Lesbos, but in the end they surrender to Athens, when a blockade is placed. Out of fear of losing their honor, the Mytilenians surrender. Many decisions the people made are out of fear because the Greeks placed a great deal of value on having honor and glory.
ReplyDeleteI think that as the war continues and the Athenians become more powerful, they become less fearful and more confident - almost to the point where they are overconfident about their abilities. Like when it comes to them dealing with the Melians, they aren't worried at all about the possibility of the Spartans coming to the Melian's aid. They also don't fear the possibility of other neutral states becoming hostile, because they claim that those are only little states that they could easily defeat. They believe that they are so powerful at this point that they have nothing to fear anymore. It gets to the point where they don't even fear the gods taking another side, because they are convinced that because they have become so powerful the gods would automatically side with them. I think the Athenians' fear in the beginning actually helped them in the beginning of the war, as they would take more time to think logically and strategically about their moves, and because of that they were able to advance in the war. But I think that it was their overconfidence in the end that leads to their ultimate devastation.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this because I have noticed that the Athenians need someone to look up to. They seem very strong but the need a lot of speeches of persuasion to keep moving. The Athenian are considered a democracy but this is very contridictive when they need a leader to give them motivation and confidence. The are great at covering up this hidden fear but like you said, because Perikles was so confidence, the Athenians as a whole seem confident.
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