Recording from second half of Book 2
After a “spring break” due to the business and academic calendar, we have picked up our Thucydides again and ran a call last night on the second half of Book 2.
Download the mp3 file here to listen to the call: Download T-06-06-Book2.mp3
Here’s highlights from the discussion:
— 0 – 10 minutes
skip the first 10 minutes or so (as we wait for everyone to join us we discuss how to pronounce Thucydides name in Greek, the 150 year old database of Roman graffiti, etc.)
— 10 minutes – 12 minutes
– review of what we discussed for the
first half of book 2 (up to about page 131)
— 12 minutes – 25 minutes
– Why were all these small battles going on?
– Seemed to have shifting fronts as opposed to an
organized front?
– The siege of Plataea
– The role of women in Thucydides
— 24 minutes – 28:30 minutes
– History of warfare and the causes of war
– Discussion of new genetic analysis and
a recent scientific book that argues that
humans have become decreasingly warlike
— 28:30 – 36:00
– Naval battle between Athens and Sparta
(photos of triremes on p. 140)
– Speeches of the two opposing naval commanders
— 36:00 –
– Misc. questions – why Athens exiled or fined generals
that lost/fell out of favor?
– Why did the Spartans “butcher” neutrals they captured at sea?
(p. 129)
– Final discussion about the American Civil War, Vietname,
Iraq and the Neocons use of Thucydides.
Thanks,
Phil