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CLCV 205: Introduction to Ancient Greek History

Lecture 19 - The Peloponnesian War, Part II. In this lecture, Professor Kagan focuses on the causes of the Peloponnesian War and the possible motivations for Thucydides' book, The History of the Peloponnesian War. Concerning the first point, Professor Kagan parts ways with Thucydides and argues that the war was not inevitable and that the Athenians under Pericles followed a policy of deterrence, which was aimed at peace. Similarly, he points out that there were a number of Spartans who did not want war as well. Therefore, according to this line of reasoning, war broke out due to a number of factors that were avoidable. Concerning the second point, Professor Kagan argues that Thucydides was a revisionist historian. In other words, Thucydides was writing not as a disinterested historian, but as a historian with a point to make, namely, that the war was inevitable and that Athens was only a democracy in name under Pericles. Finally, Professor Kagan acknowledges that his two points are debatable. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 19 - The Peloponnesian War, Part II

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Lead Up to the War: Corcyra and Potidaea
[00:12:17] 2. Lead Up to the War: The Megarian Decree
[00:20:08] 3. The Spartan Assembly Votes and the Course of War Is Set
[00:36:33] 4. The Start of the War
[00:50:02] 5. Thucydides as Revisionist Historian

References
Lecture 19 - The Peloponnesian War, Part II
Instructor: Professor Donald Kagan. Peloponnesian War II [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - The Dark Ages
Lecture 03 - The Dark Ages (cont.)
Lecture 04 - The Rise of the Polis
Lecture 05 - The Rise of the Polis (cont.)
Lecture 06 - The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny
Lecture 07 - The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny (cont.)
Lecture 08 - Sparta
Lecture 09 - Sparta (cont.)
Lecture 10 - The Rise of Athens
Lecture 11 - The Rise of Athens (cont.)
Lecture 12 - The Persian Wars
Lecture 13 - The Athenian Empire
Lecture 14 - The Athenian Empire (cont.)
Lecture 15 - Athenian Democracy
Lecture 16 - Athenian Democracy (cont.)
Lecture 17 - The Peloponnesian War, Part I
Lecture 18 - The Peloponnesian War, Part I (cont.)
Lecture 19 - The Peloponnesian War, Part II
Lecture 20 - The Peloponnesian War, Part II (cont.)
Lecture 21 - The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece
Lecture 22 - The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece (cont.)
Lecture 23 - Twilight of the Polis
Lecture 24 - Twilight of the Polis (cont.) and Conclusion