The Human Impulse for Tyranny

“Reading Pericles’ Funeral Oration as a standalone speech—independent of the whole work to which it belongs—makes us prone to falling for the seduction of tyranny which Thucydides so subtly investigates and rebukes in his work.”

The Funeral Oration of Pericles makes for the most famous speech in Thucydides’ War of the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, and, arguably, one of the most famous speeches in Western history. It is easy to be seduced by the eloquence of the speech. First and foremost, it hits all modern liberal sensibilities with its distinction between the private and public, promotion of tolerance, and seeming political and societal transparency. But reading Pericles’ Funeral Oration as a standalone speech—independent of the whole work to which it belongs—makes us prone to falling for the seduction of tyranny which Thucydides so subtly investigates and rebukes in his work.

Thucydides’ book is meant to be a “possession for all time.” While it has become commonplace to interpret Thucydides as the first objective historian, such dry readings of Thucydides miss his larger, deeper, purpose in writing his work. While Plato is the most famous of the Greek philosophers, Thucydides should be regarded as a philosopher (and a political philosopher), alongside the likes of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The War of the Peloponnesians and the Athenians covers at least three major identifiable themes. First is Thucydides’ investigation into the “law of nature” (which I have treated in greater detail in this article) from which all else flows. Second is the investigation into the greatness, fall, and tyranny of Athens. Third is justice and how justice becomes a victim of nature and stands apart from nature.

The investigation into the law of nature (and human nature most especially) reveals to us that Thucydides’ work is not scientific history but an investigation into the innermost sanctuary of the human soul. It is true that Thucydides appears modern insofar that he does not appeal to gods or omens to explain the events he covers, but that doesn’t make him a dry scientific events-based historian. Rather, it shows the extent and depth of Thucydides as a thinker of the human condition. He doesn’t maneuver to the supernatural but digs deeper into human nature and psychology to seek his answers.