In this lecture, Professor Kagan focuses on the causes of the Peloponnesian War and the possible motivations for Thucydides' book, The History of the Peloponnesian War. Concerning the first point, Professor Kagan parts ways with Thucydides and argues that the war was not inevitable and that the Athenians under Pericles followed a policy of deterrence, which was aimed at peace. Similarly, he points out that there were a number of Spartans who did not want war as well. Therefore, according to this line of reasoning, war broke out due to a number of factors that were avoidable. Concerning the second point, Professor Kagan argues that Thucydides was a revisionist historian. In other words, Thucydides was writing not as a disinterested historian, but as a historian with a point to make, namely, that the war was inevitable and that Athens was only a democracy in name under Pericles. Finally, Professor Kagan acknowledges that his two points are debatable.

1. Introduction
2. The Dark Ages
3. The Dark Ages (cont.)
4. The Rise of the Polis
5. The Rise of the Polis (cont.)
6. The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny
7. The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny (cont.)
8. Sparta
9. Sparta (cont.)
10. The Rise of Athens
11. The Rise of Athens (cont.)
12. The Persian Wars
13. The Athenian Empire
14. The Athenian Empire (cont.)
15. Athenian Democracy
16. Athenian Democracy (cont.)
17. The Peloponnesian War, Part I
18. The Peloponnesian War, Part I (cont.)
19. The Peloponnesian War, Part II
20. The Peloponnesian War, Part II (cont.)
21. The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece
22. The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece (cont.)
23. Twilight of the Polis
24. Twilight of the Polis (cont.) and Conclusion

This is an introductory course in Greek history tracing the development of Greek civilization as manifested in political, intellectual, and creative achievements from the Bronze Age to the end of the classical period. Students read original sources in translation as well as the works of modern scholars.