Jack S.

2/19/15

Per. 4

                  Thoughts and Reflections on: When Free Speech Was First Condemned

In Ancient Greece Socrates was put on trial. He was much wiser than his prosecutors and the jury. With his wisdom, he made all of his foes look like fools by out smarting them and ultimately convincing them to give him the punishment he wanted. Socrates put sentenced to death by poisoning. In this trial Athens saw someone speak their own mind to the jury instead of begging to them and kissing up. This was even new to the jury and the prosecutors and it caught them off guard. They were all extremely offended by the hidden insults and complex questions that Socrates was throwing at them because he proved to them that he was smarter than them. By doing this he angered the jury so much that they wanted to put him to death even though that is what he wanted as well. The bottom line is that Socrates was killed for speaking his mind and expressing his opinion, so that is why this article is called, When Free Speech Was First Condemned. This article did not change my opinion on Socrates in any way. It did allow me to realize how wise Socrates truly was by realizing that his death was inevitable and he came to peace with it. If I were the head attorney of the prosecution team I would call Meletus to the stand to be the prime witness. I would do this because Meletus hates Socrates and would go all out to sway the jury in our favor. On the other hand, I would call Plato to the stand because he loves Socrates with all his heart and would go to great lengths to keep Socrates alive. I would call these people to the stand because they are either devoted to killing Socrates or saving him, but either way they will do whatever it takes to get the jury on their side.    

Jack S.

2/18/15

Per 4. 

                                  Thoughts and Reflections on: Socrates The Apology

Socrates will not use, "pitiful appeals" in court because he does not want anyones pity. He says that he will not bring his sons to the trial because it drew unwanted sympathy from the jury. Socrates also stays very calm and composed instead of crying and pleading to the jury. Socrates was very confident in himself and did not want anyones help in this trial. Many punishments are suggested in Socrates trial, but he finds out a way to shoot each one of them down. For example, Meletus suggests imprisonment and Socrates makes a joke by saying if he was put in prison the government was essentially just taking care of him. Socrates does not believe he deserves a punishment, but instead should be rewarded for his work by receiving free food from the Athenians. Socrates also suggests banishment over death, but then contradicts himself by saying that he would still teach even if he was banished. Throughout the passage he is comparing banishment and death and it soon becomes apparent that he would prefer death over banishment. Socrates pressures the jury to give him the death penalty by saying that if they do anything els he will still find a way to teach. Socrates gives all these suggestions because he wants to overwhelm the jury with his knowledge and essentially coax them into giving him what he wants, the death penalty. Socrates finally proves he will not do what he believed is wrong by telling the jury that he will not give in to them and allow them to give him an unfair punishment. He does this because he can not afford to be passive in this situation and he must tell the jury shay he believes in order to get what he wants. Socrates gives a prophecy that states, "I tell you, my executioners, that as soon as I am dead, vengeance shall fall upon you with a punishment far more painful than your killing of me. As soon as I am dead, retribution will come upon you-far more severe, I swear, than the sentence that you have passed upon me." This prophecy is saying that even if the Athenians kill him all of his followers will continue to question the government and live as Socrates did. Socrates believed death is a good thing and he shows this to the jury by saying, "Death is either annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or, as we are told, it is really a change: a migration of the soul from this place to another." According to Socrates the two possible outcomes of death are both appealing to him, so for Socrates death is a good thing.  

Jack S.

2/10/15

Per. 4

                                          Thoughts and Reflections on: Socrates 

Socrates was a philosopher in Ancient Greece who was one of the wisest people our world has ever seen. We know this because he brought many new innovations and ideas to the people of Ancient Greece that would spread throughout the world. For example, the Socratic Method is a series of questions asked not only to draw individual answers but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Socrates was important to society because he brought so many new ideas to the people who looked up to him. Some even said that Socrates brought his philosophies straight from the gods. Socrates did not worship the gods that others did and he introduced new divinities of his own which is one of the reasons he was brought to trial. Others thought that by Socrates introducing new higher powers to worship he was corrupting the youth. Even though Socrates was extremely wise he was not always the most liked person around. When Socrates says, "I am fairly certain that this plain speaking of mine is the cause of my unpopularity" he means that because his philosophies were not extremely extravagant and mostly said that humans do not know as much as they think people did not want to hear them. Many believed Socrates corrupted the youth, but Socrates is baffled led by this accusation. Socrates does not understand how the whole community can blame one man for corrupting all of the youth.  

Jack S.

2/8/14

Per. 4

                        Thoughts and Reflections on: The Peloponnesian War and The Cold War

The Cold War was not like any other war; there were no face to face, guns blazing battles, but it was one of the most significant wars in American history. It was a secret war between America and the Soviet Union. America was a democracy and the Soviet Union was communist. Both parties believed their way of government was better than the other's way of government. The Cold War was so unique because each side was scared of the other. While they tried not to show it, one side would never truly confront the other but rather just try to get as many other counties to believe that the side they were fighting was also their enemy as well. In other words, this war was a race for allies. While the Cold War was very unique, there was one other war quite similar, The Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War was between Athens and Sparta in Ancient Greece. Athens was democratic like America and Sparta was quite similar to the Soviet Union as well. Even though Sparta was an oligarchy and the Soviets were communist, each form of government did not care for giving power or any form of opinion to their people. The two wars were also very similar in the sense that each side was trying to gain more allies than the other. In Thucydides writing he mentions that Athens and Sparta were so equally matched because they were the most powerful city states at the time that one would never truly defeat the other. This is very similar to the Cold War. America and the Soviet Union were both to of the most powerful countries in the world at the time and neither country could ever defeat the other because they were so evenly matched. The Americans and the Soviets could have learned from the Peloponnesian War that fighting another super power only brings destruction and worry to your own country. For example, in the Cold War schools would constantly practice drills for if the Soviets invaded America on any given day. Making people live in constant fear can only be bad for a country. The Cold War was important as a statement to Americas power and resilience, but it was also a mistake. Countless amounts of money was lost during the war and people did lose their lives as well. History can help us avoid making mistakes like this if we actually pay attention to it. Thucydides said that if two super powers go to war nobody will win, but it still happened. It is very important that next time we are placed in a position like we were in the Cold War we approach it with caution, strategy, and use history to help us avoid make mistakes.

Thucydides Essay

Shams 1

Jack S.

Mrs. Mitchell

Ancients World History Period 4

4 February 2015

                                          Human Nature is the Worst Nature

In Ancient Greece a man named Thucydides would record events in a non biased way Thucydides wrote about many events but two very insightful events he wrote about were "The Plague" and "The Civil War at Corcyra". In these pieces we see Thucydides shes his own perspective on human nature in times of struggle. Societies and humans themselves begin to break down and become dysfunctional. For example, we see lawlessness, loss of religion, and loss of hope and incentive to live. One major point one can take away from his writing is that Thucydides demonstrates through his writing that in times of struggle humans are not as admirable as one would think.

In Thucydides writing he exhibits that when communities being to struggle people disregard the law. Thucydides writes, "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" (Thucydides, page 155, section 52, lines 10-12). This shows that people did not care for law anymore. People were so overwhelmed with the sadness and negativity around them that they did not care for rules any longer.  Thucydides believes that the plague brought a new sad and unruly way of life. He writes, "In other respects also Athens owed to the plague a state of unprecedented lawlessness" (Thucydides, page 155, section 53, line 1) The plague brought a negative new way of living. This new way of life has no laws which motivated people to act however they pleased. With how deadly the plague was, people were dying very rapidly and did not expect to live long whatsoever. Because of this people did many illegal things because they would not live long enough to be brought to trial. Thucydides writes, "As for offenses against human law, no one expected to live long enough to be brought to trial and punished" (Thucydides, page 155, section 53, lines 17-18). This quote shows that people were so sure that they were going to die in the near future that they would commit crimes because they were not worried about being brought to trial in time to be punished. When people are constantly struggling and they begin to not care about restraints such as the law, their natural human nature of greed and selfishness are exposed.

Thucydides makes it apparent in his writing that with a loss of law also came a loss of religion. With so many people already dead the living did not take the time to burry them. Thucydides shows that people did not take the time to bury the dead and did not mourn for them or pray for their well being in the after life (Thucydides, page 155, section 52, lines 12-20). People became so scared with the idea of them dying in the coming months that they now began to disregard things that they used to take very seriously and just focus on themselves. Religion would hold people down and Thucydides shows this by writing, "No fear of God or law of man had a restraining influence" (Thucydides, page 155, section 53, line 14). The use of the word "God" represents religion in this quote and helps support the idea that people were not afraid to break the rules of the law or religion. While the importance of religious virtues faded, the importance of religious places faded as well. Thucydides writes, "Men were dragged from the temples or butchered on the very altars" (Thucydides, page 241, section 81, lines 26-27). People had completely lost respect for holy places such as temples and altars and began to use them for the most unholy purposes. For example, men would slaughter others inside of the temples or on the altars themselves. As certain things such as law become less important to people religion did as well. Both law and religion are used as ways to control people and when they lose their power to control people they become useless and unimportant. When people realize this, true unrespectful human nature begins to show. 

With so much sadness and loss in Ancient Greece during this time of everyday struggle people began to lose incentive to live or even treat themselves properly. We see Thucydides voice this when he writes, "As for what is called honour, no one showed himself willing to abide by its laws" (Thucydides, page 155, section 53, lines 9-10). Thucydides is saying that the plague  was so destructive to people mentally and physically that no one had enough incentive in their life to even respect themselves anymore. Thucydides shows in his writing that when people found out they had the plague they fell into an attitude of utter hopelessness (Thucydides, page 154, section 51, lines 12-14). When people discovered they have the plague it would not only take a large physical toll but also quite a big mental one as well. The plague was such a terrible burden that was placed upon the people of Greece that words could not even describe it. Thucydides shows this by writing, "Words indeed fail one when one tries to give a general picture of this disease" (Thucydides, page 153, section 50, line 1). This quote describes the complete and utter power of the plague by showing that people did not even feel the need to describe their suffering, but would rather just give up. As humans are surrounded by more and more negativity and loss they begin to not care for anyone or anything including themselves. 

Throughout "The Plague" and "The Civil War at Corcyra" Thucydides demonstrates that in times of struggle humans are not as admirable as one would think. True human nature is not as beautiful as one might think and it can only be exposed by very few things and one of those things is everyday struggle. Struggle can expose things such as lawlessness, loss of religion, and loss of incentive to live. None of these aspects are admirable or positive which leads one to realize that human nature is not completely flawless. These three particular facets lead to much bigger things such as revolt or a countless loss of lives which is seen throughout today's world. For example, in the 60's the people of Iran overthrew the Shaw. It was complete and total chaos because there was absolutely no law. People were killed in the streets and exiled every day. The people of Iran wanted a new leader not only for political reasons, but also for religious reasons. Ayatollah Khomeini was brought to power and implemented a completely new government and religion. All of this was started with the breakdown of law and loss of religion. 

Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kY0ixG94cHE

Shams 5

Works Cited 

Thucydides, , Rex Warner, and M I. Finley. History of the Peloponnesian War. Harmondsworth, Eng: Penguin Books, 1972. Print. 

Lawlessness- http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01174/naidu_1174981f.jpg

Religion- http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01174/naidu_1174981f.jpg

Loss of incentive to live- http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01174/naidu_1174981f.jpg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kY0ixG94cHE