Study questions for Thucydides Readings 6-7:

6] Corcyra: Remember the situation on Corcyra (from the end of reading 1)? The democrats had allied with Athens, the nobles had called upon Corinth and the Spartan alliance. This division on party lines ultimately divided much of the Greek world.

Many readers see Thucydides describing this great convulsion as though it were disease infecting an organism. Find passages that support or tend to disprove that reading.

Summarize the 'Inversion of moral terms'. Does this have modern parallels?

 

7] Melos: Outline the main arguments on each side.

What do the Melians have to rely on for their defense?

How do the Athenians respond to each point?

What is the driving motivation that the Athenians invoke to justify their aggression?