ANCH 043. Thucydides on War, Plague, and Democracy

Thucydides’ History is much more than a report on the causes and progress of the fifth-century BCE “Peloponnesian War’ between Athens and Sparta. It is a fundamental text that has been repeatedly debated, appropriated, and re-interpreted by different ideological camps, most recently in times of turmoil caused in this country by the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Thucydides concretely addresses our present uncertainties about the ideals of democracy, the nature of international justice, the value of public debate, the guilt (but also self-criticism) of imperialism, and the vulnerability of a developed and self-confident super power in the face of unexpected natural disaster. This course will give you access to the incredible intellectual value of Thucydides’ analysis of issues that are crucially important for our own society.
Social Sciences.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Classics
Department website: http:www.swarthmore.edu/classics

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