1 – Melian Dialogue - Thucydides
The historical background of this portion of the History is the invasion of the island of Melos by Athens in 416 BC during the Peloponnesian War. The Melians had always resisted the influence of the Delian League, and resisted this invasion as well. Thucydides writes that both sides held a meeting where they presented their arguments for and against the invasion. This was held between "the governing body and the few," not before the people, leading the Athenians to imply that the Melian elite was afraid that the people might support the Athenian position. The dialogue as written in the History probably reflects Thucydides' personal view of the invasion of Melos, rather than accurately recording the specific speeches delivered at the meeting.
Thucydides (c. 460 BC – c. 395 BC) (Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídēs) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC.
2. Hesiod, short segment of Works and Days: LINES 170-292 (hand-out)
Hesiod (Greek: Ἡσίοδος Hesiodos) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC.
3. Epictetus – Enchiridion
Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; ca. 55–ca. 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life and died. The name given by his parents, if one was given, is not known—the word epiktetos in Greek simply means "acquired."
4. Epicurus – Letter to Menoeceus
Epicurus (Greek Έπίκουρος) (341 BC, Samos – 270 BC, Athens) was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of Epicureanism, a popular school of thought in Hellenistic Philosophy that spanned about 600 years. Of his over 300 written works only a few fragments and letters survive; much of what we know about Epicureanism comes from later followers or commentators.
