Free «How Difficulties Faced by Hellenic Greece Shaped Their Humanities» Essay Paper

Hellenic Greece underwent numerous difficulties that had outstanding effects on the state itself. These impacts determined various aspects of Greece’s humanities. Greece fought the Persian war which it won. However, it lost the preceding war that is the Peloponnesian war.

Victory over the Persians Greece gave them confidence to fight the Peloponnesian war. This was a battle against other city states that resisted imperialism from the Greeks. Other city states merged forces with Sparta thus defeating Greece. This history was detailed vividly by a Greek called Thucydides. He made collections, interviewed individuals and carried out enough research on the events of the war.

The Peloponnesian war was occasioned by the occurrence of a deadly plague. This plague had devastating effects:-It significantly reduced the numbers of Athenian population including the doctors who tried to find a cure but died because they were in contact with the affected. Patients were isolated, other people burying the dead far for fear of contraction. The plague undermined the Athenian civil and political structure. This was characterized by destruction of the legal system, lawlessness, corruption, extravagance and ultimately the falling of Athens.

 

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The plague considerably weakened the Athenians with subsequent diverse symptoms ranging from fevers, headaches, inflamed eyes, burning body feelings, mouth ulcers and bad breaths as the initial signs of infection. This worsened with time to complex stages characterized by ulceration and diarrhea and ultimately death.

The plague also had other social effects; people lost their culture of lamenting for the dead as most of them were overwhelmed by the massive number of deaths. Men became indifferent to every rule of law and religion. The poor took over wealth from the rich as they died and spent it extravagantly. People lost their sanity as beliefs and purposes in life were edged out. Athenians saw it as a heavy sentence passed on them with reference to an ancient community, the Dorians, at war with the Dorians.

During the plague period, speeches were made by people, particularly by Pericles the Athenian general. He emphasized the qualities of the Athenians as democratic, free political well beings, law abiding statesmen who nurtured their natural courage rather than state courage. Pericles goes ahead to describe Athenians as careful decision makers and people who bought friendship via their virtuous deeds.