Human Nature

Katie Taylor, World History Period 6                                              January 27, 2014
Thoughts and Reflections On: "The Plague" & "The Civil War in Corcyra"
From History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

             When reading these two articles many possibilities presented themselves as to what exactly is the nature of humans, but the things I found most previlaent in both articles was that humans barbaric and selfish. In The Plague people were extreamly selfish. People were dying every where, bodies piled on bodies. People grew selfish they didn't follow laws, they spent loads money, they locked their doors and windows and they selfishly took no pity on the sick for fear for their own lives. 

           

In the Civil War in Coryra "revenge was more important than self restraint". The greeks jumped for the chance to fight even when war was avoidable and they were willing to do anything to win, even burning down their own city. It even appears that the Corcyreans got to a state of serious disorderly confusion among their navy simply because they were to prideful to take simple advice from Athens. This war was a fight for the top and every man seemed to be a little on his own even among his own fellow people and allies. The corcyreans killed whom ever thry thought was their enemy. Father killed son, brother killed brother it even mentions that the women were helping bychucking roof tiles at people, anyone who was against the democracy was killed. Soon anyone who wanted a change in government went to war and the result was pure savagery. People were considered more manly if they had violent revengeful plots and uncourageous if they simply wanted peace and unfortunatly I think that was the main point he was trying to make about human nature in this article. In these articles its very clear that humans are all barbaric and violent and that when the worlds social restraints are loosened by war or pleg the savagry inside of all people expresses it self.