Some say Themistocles was the most successful general in ancient and some say he was just another one of those successful public figures. All in all he had many, many successful events in his life. Now you might be wondering who this Themistocles really is? Well let’s start with his background.
Themistocles was a man like any other man in ancient Greece, power hungry, strong, and a lover of life. Themistocles was a powerful general and politician who fought in the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. Themistocles showed true leadership during his lifetime. He was from Ancient Athens, Greece, and lived from “524 BC to 459 BC” . He was born in Athens, Greece and finally ended up dying in Persia, the country that he defeated years earlier. Interestingly enough he only ended up in Persia because he was ostracized by his own people. But before I give too much away, let’s start at the very beginning.
Once there was a man named Themistocles. “Over the years he became very popular in the political field. He was one of the first to be in the new Athenian Democracy founded by Clisthenes”. “He was mostly influenced to politics by his father, Neocles, and in 493 Themistocles was elected Archon in Athens.” “Themistocles came from a rich family but even though they were rich, he didn’t really have mother, Neocles married a concubine that supposedly wasn’t even from Athens. Her name was Abrotonon. ” But later he became a general in the Athenian army. Themistocles was most popular for his strategy, and ability to form a good plan when needed. The first battle that Themistocles fought in was the battle of Marathon one of the three battle of the Persian wars. In that war there was a man by the name of Pheidippides who...
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.... Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. .
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"The Internet Classics Archive | Themistocles by Plutarch." The Internet Classics Archive | Themistocles by Plutarch. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
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Themistocles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themistocles
All information from Dr. Heckel unless indicated
Heckel, Dr.. "Notes on Themistocles." Humanities Class. N/A. Heritage Classical Christian Academy, St. Louis. 13 Nov. 2011. Class lecture.
Theseus, The Great Athenian hero, was the son of Dianae and King Aegeus. Theseus had something that not many children at his age didn’t have, “he grew up strong far beyond others” (210). When he was young his father, King Aegeus, set a hollow sword and a pair of shoes and placed a great
The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.
Greeks are known for many things. We know them for their poetry, for their philosophy, their politics--and also we have come to know them for their childish, petty, lustful, little gods. These gods, vengeful in the extreme, have been a source of much literature. However, not all the gods have the same publicity agent, and have suffered in obscurity for much too long. One of these gods, one of the Twelve Olympians, has been obscure in the least. He is different in most ways from the other gods, and I am here to illuminate him further to you. His name? Hephaistos.
"Could I forget that kingly man, Odysseus? There is no mortal half so wise; no mortal gave so much to the lords of the open sky." proclaims Zeus, the king of all gods in Homer's The Odyssey. He, among countless others, harbors high regards for Odysseus, the mastermind of the Trojan War turned lost sailor. However, the epic poem is sprinkled with the actions of gods and goddesses pushing Odysseus towards his path home to Ithaka, giving the mortal war hero little exposure to the limelight. So when does all the high and mighty talk of Odysseus' power prove true? Only in the absence of godly intervention can the title character live up to his name. In Homer's The Odyssey, excessive reliance on the gods' assistance weakens the overall effect of Odysseus as the hero; while, as a break from the norm, Odysseus' single-handed defeat of the Kyklops Polyphêmos adds true suspense to the story as well as merit to Odysseus' character.
Plutarch presented history through biographical stories of the people that were important and influential during the time period he wished to address. However, after having read some of his work, one realizes that Plutarch inserts his own personal opinion and views of the people at hand into the factual documentation of their lives. For example, in The Life of Crassus, Plutarch expresses a general dislike and negative view of the man, but in The Life of Caesar he portrays the life through a lens of praise. It also seems that he uses his opinions of the people that he writes about to subtly extend moral lessons to the reader. What follows is a further isolation of Plutarch's opinions and lessons from within The Lives of Crassus and Caesar.
Throughout history, many great figures possessing extraordinary qualities have reshaped the past and have manipulated historical events. Such an example is Themistocles. Themistocles, thriving from 524-459 BCE, was an Athenian politician who was renowned by many as a great leader who obtained intellect, courage and integrity. Also known as being the saviour of Greece, the profound individual believed that the entirety of the human political experience could be reduced to symmetry and order. In order to unleash his true potential, though, he was forced to relocate from the remoteness of eastern Africa into the city, marrying the daughter of Lysander of Alopeke. Thus, it can be stated that Themistocles was a profound politician who possessed
Themistocles had an insight into the world that was hard to duplicate. He managed to precisely the right thing at precisely the right time, and by doing this, he assured the security of Greece. His cunning and charisma were
of Thebes. He was greatly respected by his people because he had ruled well during his reign as
History today recalls the Greek traditions starting from the second millennium B.C to date and not just during the Archaic and the Classical periods. The primary aim of history is to provide us with a broad comprehension of the principles that governed the Greek societies (Carey, 2017). Hegemony together with Greek historians provides a comprehensible examination of the fundamental cultural and political elements which pervades Xenophon, Thucydides, Ephorus, and Herodotus. Hegemony mainly explains the master plan.
No one would deny that Pericles was the most prominent Greek statesman and spokesperson during the Golden Age. His contribution was largely felt during the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars having obtained power from his family link to the Alcmaeonid family. He commanded a lot of respect to from the Athenian citizens with Thucydides describing him as "the first citizen of Athens” . He was born at around 495 BC north of Athens in the ...
In Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles commends the ergon of Athenian heroes, which has placed them in the realm of logos, while directing the Athenians to follow these ideals of logos. The maintenance and continued success of Athens' political establishment relies on the prevalence of polis, rationality and discourse over family, emotion and reckless action. However, the indiscriminate turns of fate and fortune, often place logos in opposition with the base, primal nature of ergon. Both Thucydides and Sophocles recognize that when logos conflicts with the unexpected ergon, the preservation of rationality and unanimity among the citizens of the polis depend on the leadership of a single honest leader. In the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides presents Pericles as a man of logos, whom Athens needs to achieve its full potential as an empire and later to rescue her from disaster. Likewise, Sophocles presents Theseus, in Oedipus Colonus, as the perfect successor of Pericles, who returns Athens to its former glory before the end of the war. In these two examples, we see that the dominance of logos over ergon within a polis lies in the ability and logos of the city’s current leader.
The prominent theme of Anabasis is about the journey of the Greek mercenaries confronting the “barbarian” world. Xenophon documented the leadership and military tactics among the Greeks mercenaries during their retreat to their homeland. According to Xenophon, leadership was the important element of success and unification in ancient Greek culture. Xenophon admires Cyrus’s bravery and his leadership to the Greek mercenaries, “most of the troops has set sail and undertaken this mercenary service not because they were hard up, but because they had heard of Cyrus’ magnanimity” (Xenophon 144). Not only did Xenophon think Cyrus is a good leader, but also the Greeks. Xenophon defined Cyrus, a great leader, as being respectful, obedient to the elders, skilled at handling horse and proficient in the military skills of archery and javelin, trustworthy and ...
Themistocles significant role within the Persian War was a key factor to the Greeks success. The Greeks were outnumbered in naval and land forces, but Themistocles’s prevailing intelligence, strategies and leadership ensured Greeks success against Persia. Themistocles’s intelligence lead actions that greatly affected the outcome of the war. His intelligences to propose investment in Athens for future naval resources proved paramount for Greece retaliation. His critical analysis was crucial, and was responsible for Athens’s action to resist invasion. Themistocles strategic prowess often contrasting against other Greek leaders weakened Persian forces. Themistocles’s
Demosthenes and Isocrates came to prominence in fourth century B.C.E. Athens as public speakers and as politicians. Isocrates was a teacher of rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, while Demosthenes was a professional litigator, writing speeches for clients arguing in the courts of law, and occasionally presenting arguments himself. Both men were highly respected citizens and opinion makers throughout the sphere of influence maintained by Athens, though they held opposing views regarding the proper course for Athenian government, warfare between the Greek city-states, and the prospect of invasion from the Persian Empire to the east. While the Greek city-states engaged in fratricidal warfare, Philip of Macedon began consolidation of his political power by essentially offering up his highly trained professional Macedonian army as mercenary soldiers to the various city-states requesting assistance or protection and demanding control as hegemon or monarch of the city-state in return for military aid. Following a declaration of truce, Philip would impose his rule upon the vanquished as well.
What is leadership, and how do we attain the best and most effective leaders? These are questions that are as old as civilization itself. Bass (1974) wrote that, “from its infancy, the study of history has been the study of leaders” (as cited in Wren, 1995, p. 50). Since the study of history in the West is commonly held to begin with Herodotus of ancient Athens, it is not surprising that we should examine the historical views of leadership through the eyes of two titans of Greek thought: Plato and Aristotle.