POL S 203 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Siege Of Melos, Rex Warner, Robert Gilpin
6 Aug 2018
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Thucydides, "the melian dialogue," a history of the peloponnesian war (431-404 bc), trans. The strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept . Also, he said that the standard of justice depends on the equality of power . It would set the example that athens would attack even neutral states. Athens says that you, by giving in, would save yourselves from disaster; we, by not destroying you, would be able to profit from you . If we were on friendly terms with you, our subjects would regard that as a sign of weakness in us, whereas your hatred is evidence of our power . Essentially, if they let such a little island state stay neutral, they would be saying anyone could stay neutral and have the power to not side with them. The athenians mostly waited and learned from their previous mistakes. They seemed much more calculated than the spartans.
