Individuals in Thucydides
Alcibiades, the Affair of the Herms, and the Sicilian
Expedition of 415 BCE
Alcibiades (ca. 450-404 BCE)
 Raised in household of Pericles; Pupil and friend of Socrates
 Leader of extreme democrats (ca. 420 BCE)
 Receives command (with Nicias and Lamachus) of Sicilian expedition (415
BCE)
 Recalled for allegations of sacrilege (Herms)
 Defects to Sparta (advises Spartans to send able general to Sicily and to
occupy Decelea)
 Causes Athenian subjects in Ionia to revolt (412 BCE), but falls out of favor
with Spartans and flees to Persian satrap Tissaphernes
 Tries to win Persian support and stage oligarchic coup at Athens
 Appointed general by Athenian fleet at Samos, directs successful operations
in Ionia and Hellespont (Cyzicus in 410 BCE)
 Returns to Athens (407 BCE) to extraordinary command, but withdraws
after his general suffers naval defeat at Notium (406 BCE)
 Spartans and Thirty Tyrants at Athens have him murdered in Phrygia in
404 BCE
Extension of Athenian Naval Power to the West
(Sicilian Expedition of 415 BCE)
Greece and Sicily
Athenian Military Actions Represented as
Defensive Precautions
 Local Sicilian Dispute between Selinuntines and
Egestaeans
 Syracuse supports Selinuntines
 Egestaeans appeal to Athenians: “They put forward a
number of arguments, but the main one was that if
Syracuse, after driving out the people of Leontini, were
allowed to escape scot-free, and to go on destroying the
remaining allies of Athens, until she acquired complete
control of Sicily, the danger would then have to be faced
that at some time or other the Syracusans…would come
with a large force…in the work of utterly destroying the
power of Athens.” (Thuc. 6.6; cf. 6.18 [Alcibiades])
Athenians Duped by Egestaeans
 “At the time when the first ambassadors from Athens had come to
look into the question of the money, the Egestaeans had deceived
them by the following plan. They took the Athenians to the temple
of Aphrodite at Eryx and showed them the treasure laid up there in
offerings--bowls, goblets, censers, and much else, which, being
silver, looked imposing to the eyes though the value in money was
comparatively small. They also entertained the ships’ crews in their
private houses, and did this by collecting together all the cups of
gold and silver in Egesta itself, borrowing others from the
neighboring cities, Phoenician and Greek, and then letting each host
produce them at the banquets as though they were his own
property. All used pretty much the same articles and everywhere
there was a great abundance of them, so that the Athenians from the
ships were astonished at it and, when they got back to Athens, told
everyone of the vast quantities of valuable objects which they had
seen.” Thuc. 6.46; cf. 6.8; 6.22 (Nicias)
Athenian Assembly as Plato’s “Huge, Strong Beast”
(Republic 493 a-c)?: Rejection of Nicias’ Plea for
Moderation and Caution
 “The Athenians…far from losing their appetite for the voyage because
of the difficulties in preparing for it, became more enthusiastic about it
than ever….There was a passion for the enterprise which affected
everyone alike. The older men thought that they would either conquer
the places against which they were sailing or, in any case, with such a
large force, could come to no harm; the young had a longing for sights
and experiences of distant places, and were confident that they would
return safely; the general masses and the average soldier himself saw
the prospect of getting pay for the time being and of adding to the
empire so as to secure paid employment in the future. The result of this
excessive enthusiasm of the majority was that the few who actually
were opposed to the expedition were afraid of being thought
unpatriotic if they voted against it, and therefore kept quiet.” Thuc.
6.24; see generally Thuc. 6.8-32
Thucydides on Athens’ Real Motives
 “[T]hey aimed at conquering the whole of Sicily, though
they wanted at the same time to make it look as though
they were sending help to their own kinsmen and to their
newly acquired allies there.” Thuc. 6.6
An Evil Omen: Mutilation of the Herms
 “While these preparations were going on [preparations for the
Sicilian expedition] it was found that in one night nearly all the stone
Hermae in the city of Athens had had their extremities cut off. These
are a national institution, the well-known square-cut figures, of
which there are great numbers both in the porches of private houses
and in the temples. No one knew who had done this, but large
rewards were offered by the state in order to find out who the
criminals were, and there was also a decree passed guaranteeing
immunity to anyone, citizen, alien, or slave, who knew of any other
sacrilegious act that had taken place and would come forward with
information about it. The whole affair, indeed, was taken very
seriously, as it was regarded as an omen for the expedition, and at
the same time as evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy to
overthrow the democracy.” Thuc. 6.27
Carving of a Herm
Siege of Syracuse and Sicilian Disaster
 415 BCE: Launching of Expedition; mutilation of
Herms; recall of Alcibiades
 414 BCE: Siege of Syracuse; Spartan commander
Gylippus arrives in Sicily
 413 BCE: Second Athenian expedition to Sicily; Great
Battle in the Syracusan harbor (September 9);
Athenian Defeat
Individuals in Thucydides: Alcibiades
“[H]e was very much in the public eye, and his enthusiasm
for horse-breeding and other extravagances went beyond
what his fortune could supply. This, in fact, later on had
much to do with the downfall of the city of Athens. For
most people became frightened at a quality in him which
was beyond the normal and showed itself both in the
lawlessness of his private life and habits and in the spirit in
which he acted on all occasions….Although in a public
capacity his conduct of the war was excellent, his way of
life made him objectionable to everyone as a person.”
Thuc. 6.15
Image and Reality: Compare Pericles’
Funeral Oration (Thuc. 2.37)
“We do not get into a state with our next-door neighbor
if he enjoys himself in his own way, nor do we give him
the kind of black looks which, though they do no real
harm, still do hurt people’s feelings. We are free and
tolerant in our private lives; but in public affairs we keep
to the law.”
Alcibiades in Aristophanes’ Frogs
“It is not very wise for city-states
To rear a lion’s whelp within their gates:
But should they do so, they will find it pays,
To learn to tolerate its little ways.”
Cornford and Thucydides Mythhistoricus
 Launching of Expedition (Thuc. 6.31-32)
 Ill Omen of Herms (Thuc. 6.27)
 Athenian ate (folly) and nemesis (retribution)? (Thuc.
7.18)
 Tragic Conclusion: “[T]his…did not make the burden
seem easier to bear…when they remembered the
splendor and pride of their setting out and saw how
mean and abject was the conclusion.” (Thuc. 7.75)