History of the Peloponnesian War

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider what you know about the ancient Greeks. Why were the ancient Greek city-states constantly fighting against each other?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question relates to the theme of History as a Repeating Cycle. The basic building block of the ancient Greek world was the city-state, or polis. There were hundreds of small Greek city-states that constantly vied with one another for territory, cultural prestige, and political supremacy. Understanding this historical and cultural context can help students access and think about the text on a deeper level. The Khan Academy link below contains a detailed map that may help students visualize the city-states and territories of ancient Greece.

• This article from Khan Academy provides a basic introduction to the development and functioning of the Greek polis.
• This documentary from Timeline explores life in the ancient Greek polis of Sparta.

2. Thucydides wrote his History of the Peloponnesian War in the late fifth century BCE, during the Classical Period of ancient Greek history (479-323 BCE). What was the Classical Period? What are the social, cultural, and political movements associated with this period?

Teaching Suggestion: The Greek Classical Period was marked by significant social, cultural, and political transformations. The period began after an allied Greek effort beat back the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480-479 BCE. The Greeks’ victory over the Persians sparked growth and innovation in literature, technology, and the arts. It was this period that produced the famous Attic dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes; the philosophical works of Plato and Aristotle; the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides; and famous works of art and architecture, such as the Parthenon in Athens. Discussing the Classical Period can help students understand the world of Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War. To deepen understanding of this period, consider breaking students up into small groups to research one of the dramas, philosophical works, histories, or works of art mentioned above. Students might then summarize and discuss their findings with the class or share their research in an informal presentation.

• This History Channel article discusses the Classical Period of ancient Greece.
• This documentary from the Discovery Channel explains the engineering of the Parthenon in Athens.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Thucydides spends a lot of time trying to establish all the causes behind the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, frequently juxtaposing the reasons political leaders gave for the war and the reasons why it was really fought. Think about wars from modern history. Were they fought for the same reasons political leaders claimed they were being fought for? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This Personal Connection Prompt relates to the theme of Nature, Chance, and Human Decision-Making. Some recent wars to compare include the Afghanistan War, the Gulf War, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. This prompt gives students the opportunity to share their knowledge and thoughts on wars during and outside of their lifetime, but some students may be unfamiliar with the reasons behind this history. In this instance, consider having students relate to the concept of conflict on a smaller, more personal scale. For example, students might consider a time when they fought with someone else, a family member or friend. What were they fighting over? How were their underlying motivations different from the surface-level subject "causing" the conflict? A conversation related to these questions may serve as a helpful transition between the personal and the political motivations for war.