Between 431 and 404 BC a bitter war known as the Peloponnesian War was fought between the two major powers of ancient Greece – Athens and Sparta – and their respective allies. In this lecture, Dr Gillian Shepherd outlines the events of the Peloponnesian War and looks at two figures critical to our understanding of Greek history in the second half of the 5th century BC: Perikles, a leading statesman of Athens; and one of his biggest fans, the 5th century historian Thucydides to whom we are indebted for his account of the intricacies of the Peloponnesian War.

Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Between 431 and 404 BC a bitter war known as the Peloponnesian War was fought between the two major powers of ancient Greece – Athens and Sparta – and their respective allies. In this lecture, Dr Gillian Shepherd outlines the events of the Peloponnesian War and looks at two figures critical to our understanding of Greek history in the second half of the 5th century BC: Perikles, a leading statesman of Athens; and one of his biggest fans, the 5th century historian Thucydides to whom we are indebted for his account of the intricacies of the Peloponnesian War. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

The Peloponnesian War

In this subject students are introduced to the diversity of the ancient Greek achievement, which has exercised a fundamental and continuing influence upon later European literature and culture. The subject commences with a detailed treatment of Homer's Iliad and the myth of the Trojan war. This is one of the dominant myths in the Greek tradition and is narrated in some detail in epic poetry, in drama, and in art and architecture. We explore how myths are 'read' in their historical context, especially in the contexts of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars of the 5th Century BC. A variety of sources are treated to enable students to build up a picture of Greek society as a whole.

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The Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War

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