3/12/13

Today in class we watched the video once again which today, centered mainly on the fall of Pericles and how he was hubris. This is a Greek term meaning that someone is so powerful that they become arrogant and think they can get away with anything. We learned about his stupid decision to invade Sparta because one day they could become a threat. The idea was to blockade them from importing and exporting goods resulting in their starvation. they thought it would take about 2 years but they held out for a very long time because they are Spartans. This didn't work out because the people of Athens had to live in a confined space because of the walls they built up. This resulting in disease when tainted grain came over on a boat. The disease spread rapidly because of the living conditions and 1 in 3 people died!  Even Pericles dies but he lasted for 6 months with the plague somehow. This was mainly because the water they were drinking became tainted by dead bodies washing into the supply. Yum.