Terms:

Republic

Political order whose head of state is not a monarch, and in modern times is usually a president. Supreme power lies in a body of citizens.

Democracy

Government by the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives. Unit with government, common people are the primary source of power. Majority rules. Respect for individuals. Greeks had something of a democracy.

Oligarchy

Rule by the few, the elite. Ruled by political families whose children are brought up to be the next generation of rulers.

Herodotus vs. Thucydides

Herodotus talks a lot about the gods as the causes of events. What role does fate play as an explanatory force? Here we see gods being believed in by the men in the story, but not included by Thucydides.

He tried to analyze from the particular events of the war to the deeper universal lessons that can apply to other times.

Why is it great?

It’s the beginning of history in the west.
It’s good analysis: contrasts people and events. He’s thoughtful. He’s centered on the task.
He seems to be pretty objective.

Alcibiades: example of the power of rhetoric, using it for personal gain, not committed to his side.

Parallels to our country: value on rhetoric, use of rhetoric to distance a politician from personal responsibility.

Heroicism: what it meant to be a hero then: we’ve raped more of your women than you have of ours. Now we have heroicism defined in light of the cross. There was bravery then, courage, but there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it is empty.