Thucydides' Melian Dialogue: "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must"

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Caveat auditor!. Listener beware! This episode is NOT about the Middle Ages, although it does touch upon medieval massacres toward the end. Rather, it focuses on a text I taught for years at the U.S. Naval Academy, the “Melian dialogue” in Thucydides’ "History of the Peloponnesian War".  If you are not interested in Classical Greek warfare, Thucydides, or political theory, you may want to give this a pass.  Otherwise, please join Ellen and me as we explore one of the most traumatic events in the history of Classical Greece, the Athenian destruction of the island city-state of Melos in the year 416 BCE, and how Thucydides’ treatment of that event has resonated down to our day.

The "Melian Dialogue," translated by Richard Crawley, read by Peter Dann for LibriVox (https://dn710207.ca.archive.org/0/items/historyofthepeloponnesianwar2_2603_librivox/historyofthepeloponnesianwar_17_thucydides_128kb.mp3)

This episode also includes audio snippets from

Euripides, "The Trojan Women," trans. Gilbert Murray: Poseidon's speech, recited by Martin Geeson, posted by Audiobook Heaven (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW0AnHCvDGM)

Kenneth Branagh's 1989 film version of William Shakespeare's "Henry V" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyEnDwmtrZc)

Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com