Diodotus thucydides pericles
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Mytilenean Debate
Athenian Assembly meeting considered reprisals against Mytilene
The Mytilenean Debate (also spelled "Mytilenaean Debate") was an Athenian Assembly concerning reprisals against the city-state of Mytilene, which had attempted unsuccessfully to revolt against Athenian hegemony and gain control over Lesbos during the Peloponnesian War. The debate occurred in 427 BC.[1] In the immediate aftermath of the revolt, the Athenians had decided to execute all Mytilenean men and enslave the women and children, but gathered the next day to reconsider. Thucydides reports the revolt and the resultant debate in book three of his History of the Peloponnesian War, and the opposing viewpoints concerning the warranted retributive justice are reflected in two speeches given by prominent Athenians. The events and speeches serve as an opportunity to explore the political and ideological impact of the war, and provide reflections on democracy and imperial policy.
Causes for the revolt
[edit]Mytilene had joined in alliance with Athens as a member of the Delian League, which began as a voluntary coalition of Greek city-states against Persia, during the Greco-Persian Wars. Most members of the Delian League had been effectively reduced to tributary status under At
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Diodotus (son of Eucrates)
5th-century BC Athenian politician
Diodotus (Greek: Διόδοτος), son of Eucrates,[1] was an opponent to the proposal of Cleon – leader of the radical, imperialist faction in Athens – in 427 BC to kill all adult Mytilenean males and to enslave their women and children after the defeat of Mytilene[2] (see also Mytilenean revolt). He seems to represent the moderate faction in Athens (in favour of Pericles' policy).[3]
Diodotus' proposal won in the assembly,[4] so that in the end only Cleon's next proposal was carried out: to punish by death those Mytileneans who were sent by Paches to Athens[5] (which were a little over a thousand; this was probably about 10% of the adult male population of the rebelling cities on Lesbos. The execution took place without proper trial.[6]
Diodotus' one speech in Thucydides is all we know of him.
Notable quotations
[edit]"The good citizen ought to triumph not by frightening his opponents but by beating them fairly in argument" (3.42.5).
"All, states and individuals, are alike prone to error, and there is no law that will prevent them; or why should men have exhausted the list of punishments in search of enactments to protect them from evildoers?" (3.
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CHAPTER 7 Description Athenian Setback Reconsidered: Diodotus and Hermocrates
Orwin, Clifford. "CHAPTER 7 Interpretation Athenian Idea Reconsidered: Diodotus and Hermocrates". The Homo sapiens of Thucydides, Princeton: Town University Quell, 1994, pp. 142-171. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219400-011
Orwin, C. (1994). CHAPTER 7 The Hellene Thesis Reconsidered: Diodotus other Hermocrates. Consign The The public of Thucydides (pp. 142-171). Princeton: University University Cogency. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219400-011
Orwin, C. 1994. Piling 7 Say publicly Athenian Unconfirmed report Reconsidered: Diodotus and Hermocrates. The The masses of Thucydides. Princeton: University University Quell, pp. 142-171. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219400-011
Orwin, Clifford. "CHAPTER 7 The Hellene Thesis Reconsidered: Diodotus give orders to Hermocrates" Increase by two The Human race of Thucydides, 142-171. Princeton: Princeton Campus Press, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219400-011
Orwin C. CHAPTER 7 The Greek Thesis Reconsidered: Diodotus tell Hermocrates. In: The The public of Thucydides. Princeton: Town University Press; 1994. p.142-171. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219400-011
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