Jack S.

1/23/15

Per. 4

                          Thoughts and Reflections on: Thucydides View on Humans 

Thucydides was a man who recorded events in Ancient Greece without bias. Thucydides also took the time to research things he wrote about and took accounts from eye witnesses to ensure he only recorded true information. Thucydides had very specific views on certain things including humans themselves. 

During times of war people would lose loved ones, homes, and lives just to name a few. Even though so much life is lost during war, there is an overarching sense of patriotism that inspires life rather than taking it away. Thucydides wrote, "Revenge was more important than self preservation." This means that people were willing to sacrifice themselves to get revenge on another city-state. People also came together as one during war because if specific people fought together it built an unbreakable bond between them. Thucydides showed this by writing, "The members of these parties felt confidence in each other not because of any fellowship in a religious communion, but because they were partners in crime." The spilling of blood brought two people closer together than anything els during war but it also tore others apart. This is why war was such a vicious cycle because once a group of people took life they couldn't stop until their own life was taken away from them. The one goal in most of these peoples lives was to make sure their city-state was flourishing. Thucydides showed this by writing, "Their one standard was the pleasure of their own party at the particular moment." During war, people bought into the idea of that the community always comes before them. War fueled the sense of community in Greece and the reason war even took place was because of the nature of the Greeks. Thucydides wrote, "An idea of moderation was just an attempt disguise one's unmanly character." Thucydides shows through his writing that in times of turmoil and loss if people have some thing to defend that has meaning to them it will bring a sense of community and togetherness.

According to Thucydides, the Plague brought out the true face of the people he was around. For example, Thucydides wrote, "For the catastrophe was so overwhelming that men, not knowing what would happen to them next, became indifferent to every rule of religion or of law." This shows that when people became so scared for their lives during the plague that they lost respect for the authority of religion and law. After this people were too unorganized and crazed to have funerals so there were the bodies of the dead lying out in the streets. Thucydides showed that people become completely overwhelmed and selfish when they fear for their own life by writing, "People now began to openly venture on acts of self-indulgence which before then they would keep dark." This means that people didn't show how selfish they truly were until they felt like they had to fulfill their selfish deeds. Thucydides also mentioned that when people realized that death is inevitable they begin to freely spend money and time on things that are of no use to any one but that are just for recreation. This shows that loss of hope and depression are infectious throughout communities. This also exposes the true lack of hope that humans had during this time period. During the plague people began to think they had nothing to live for and they began to lose respect for themselves as humans. Thucydides shows this by writing, "As for what is called honour, no one showed himself willing to abide by its laws." This tell one that people had lost their sense of honor in themselves and the world around them. At this point, humans were just walking sacks of meat that had no motivation to even live anymore. While some of the population had forgotten about religion and accepted death, the few that turned to religion had it much better. Thucydides wrote, "At this time of distress people recalled old oracles". Oracles were priestesses or people who were considered close to God in Ancient Greece and others used them as beacons of hope. People thought that getting closer to God would put him on your side and protect you. Thucydides wrote, "When they inquired from the God whether they should go to war, they received the reply that, if they fought with all their might, victory would be theirs and God himself would be in their side." This shows that God served as a light at the end of the tunnel for humans during this dark time. Thucydides believed that in times of distress and sadness, the humans that lose sight of honor, law, and religion lose everything and those who can find the small bit of light in a world of darkness can prevail. 

In times of war Thucydides wrote about how people would band together and become one, but in times of sickness where there is nothing left to work for people simply give up. What this tells us about human nature is that if people feel like they have a purpose as an individual it will positively affect the attitude and well being of the whole community.  

Jack S.

1/13/15

Per. 4

                          Thoughts and Reglections on: The Funeral Oration by Thucydides 

Athens was known for achieving many great things in their time. Some of Athens greatest achievements are still seen in the world today. One's mind might jump directly to achievements such as inventions, but Athens also had many moral and philosophical achievements. For example, the Athenians were extremely grateful to their ancestors and the wisdom they passed down. Athenian ancestors are praised for being the building blocks of all that Athens had achieved. It's rare to see a culture be so grateful for their ancestors. This shows that the Athenians were capable of thinking about people besides themselves which helps keep them humble and not become too obsessed with themselves. The Athenians also tired to keep their community involved in most decisions to keep them happy and make them feel like they have a say in what happens to their city. Keeping the citizens happy is crucial to staying in power as long as possible. As history demonstrated through the dynastic cycle dynastic cycle, when people get upset or bored with the government they have they begin to rebel. With the Athenians keeping their citizens happy and involve they maximize the amount of time and the overall amount of power they can have. Another reason Athens was so great is because the citizens followed the people in power and supported them because they included them and made them feel involved.   Doing this created a generally better environment in Athens which made everything work much smoother and efficiently. Athens was so great because for how hard working they were as a city, they had a healthy balance between recreation and duty. In Sparta boys were sent to the most rigorous military training camps at the age of 12. In Athens people were free to as they pleased which kept them happy. Allowing the youth to do whatever they wanted gave them the ability to pursue activities like the arts and politics. By doing this, Athens cemented themselves as one of the most sophisticated cities in the world. Giving people the choice of what they wanted to do made Athens even better. Unlike Sparta, Athens appreciated more things than just war. Athenians were much more worldly and diverse in their thinking which propelled their city to new heights. One of the biggest reasons Athens was such a great place is because they were friendly to others. Doing this created mutual friendships between Athens and other parts of the world. A city with more allies is much better and appealing than a city with many foes. Athens was such a tightly knit community and each Athenian had the others back. The Athenians were so loyal to one  another that they felt safe and were willing to help one another which make their community happier and more solid. This is important because if citizens do not feel like they are part of the community then their is potential that they could get others who feel the same way and rebel. Happiness was infectious in Athens and the Athenian citizens were extremely happy with their day to day life.  

Jack S.

1/13/15

Per. 4 

                                                                   Thucydides

Thucydides was a historian in Ancient Greece that was done with people incorrectly recording history. Historians would record events in very biased ways to make one group of people look better than another. Historians would also record events without taking the time to do more research on the event to see if it was even true. Thucydides only recorded events that he saw in person and he would converse with other eye witnesses to make sure his information was correct and collect more information. Thucydides did not write history for any general public, but he saw the importance of the events that were happen and wrote history for the many generations to come.  

Digital Scrapbook Entry #6

                                                 Digital Scrapbook Entry- China

Jack S.

1/7/14

Per. 4 

                                                          The Dynastic Cycle

In ancient China, dynasties were families of rulers who would run the country for a certain period of time. The Shang, the Zhou, the Qin, and the Han were the four major dynasties that ruled ancient China. With the rise of every dynasty another would fall. Each dynasty followed a cycle which was like its life cycle. This was called the Dynastic Cycle. When a new dynasty would begin they would bring peace, rebuild infrastructure, and give land to peasants. When the new dynasty began to wear old they would do things like tax people too much, stop protecting its people, let infrastructure decay, and treat people unfairly. After this happened this dynasty had lost power and control of China and a new dynasty would take over and the cycle would repeat.

In our world today, we see many different governments failing to please there people which ends in a revolution or a civil war. The goal of these conflicts is to rid the old government of that country and bring in a new one. For example, the people of Libya over threw Muammar Gaddafi who had ruled for many years and began to let the country crumble. People did not feel protected or cared about which drove them to over throw the current government at the time and bring in new leadership. 

The dynastic cycle is the course of how leadership and government rise and fall in China, and it still occurs in the world today. The main idea of the dynastic cycle is that each dynasty or form of government will lose control of their people at some point in time. Once the leadership of a country has lost the faith and trust of their people they have lost everything. The dynastic cycle has been tweaked throughout history, but still has the main idea that every dynasty or government will fall.  

 

Jack S

1/5/15

Per. 4

                     Thoughts and Reflections on: The Human Story- Sparta and Athens 

Sparta and Athens were two of the most storied cities in history. There are television shows, movies, and books about them. These two powerful cities were rivals in the same country which made things very interesting. While they were both very powerful and important they did have some differences. For example, Sparta was three times bigger than Athens, Sparta's upperclass was ruled completely by warriors and landowners, and Spartans were known as warriors throughout Greece. Sparta had a harsh and warrior like mentality with a Totalitarian government. On the other hand, Athens was much more of a community, they consulted with all citizens when making certain decisions, and citizens were allowed to vote on their leader. While Sparta was ruled with a harsh military caste government, Athens had much more democratic government. Both of the cities thrived they just decided to do things differently. In Athens we see a mature democratic government work extremely well and efficiently. This was a huge point in history because in today's world democracy is the government style many contribute use including the United States. Sparta had one of the most advanced armies and military tactics to date. In fact, the U.S. Military uses defense tactics that the Spartans used in combat. These are just a few of the advancements the Greeks made that left a lasting impression on the world.