Submit or Perish! Reading Thucydides in Iran by L. Ali Khan
Honorable daughters, peace be upon you. Hope you are enjoying your school.
Come closer because I am an old man, as you can see, and can only speak softly. The girls lean in. I will tell you an ancient Greek story from the time of Darius II, King of Persia. Thucydides, a general in the Athenian army but now known to the world as a historian, wrote this story in 416 BCE, called the Melian Dialogue. Thucydides was a contemporary of Socrates, who also served in the army as a hoplite, a citizen-soldier. Remember Socrates, who questioned everything and drank hemlock instead of fleeing.
Melos was a small island near Athens and Sparta, the two rival powers at the time. Most Greek city-states supported either Athens or Sparta, but the Melians chose to stay neutral, for a peaceful life filled with art, music, and literature. The Athenians disliked their neutrality and sent thirty ships, archers, and 1200 hoplites to demand their submission or destroy them.
The Melian Dialogue is not merely a story from ancient Greece. It describes a permanent problem in human affairs: what should a weaker nation do when confronted by overwhelming power? Submit and survive or resist and risk annihilation. Powerful states demand concessions from weaker ones in the name of security, as if weaker nations need none.
Here is the surprising part of the story. The Athenians and Melians debated whether the Melians should submit or face destruction, a debate that was the focus of the story Thucydides wrote in dialogue form. I will rephrase that dialogue to highlight the arguments they presented for and against submitting to a powerful military force. Alright, here we go.
Melians: You invite us to debate, but your war preparations belie your intentions. We feel you would reason with us as our judges. If we win the argument and refuse to yield, we expect war; and if we are convinced by you, slavery.
Athenians: Let us not talk about what might happen after the debate is over. We need not prove that we have a right to rule because we defeated the Persians. This debate is not about convincing you, but about making you realize what we really think. And don’t even raise the question of justice. Justice exists only between equals in power.
Keep in mind that the powerful exact what they want, and the weak grant what they must.
Melians: You dismiss justice. Then let us talk about expediency. Consider what would happen if your empire fell and the people you oppress rose against you with bitter memories of your cruelty; you would incur the heaviest vengeance and would be the most terrible example to all humanity.
Athenians: Leave this danger to us. We are here in the interest of our empire, and we seek the preservation of your city. We want to make you ours without a fight because it is good for both of us that you are not destroyed.
Melians: It may be your interest to be our masters, but how can it be ours to be your slaves?
Athenians: By submission, you avert the worst, and we shall be richer.
Melians: Why do you see us as enemies and not friends if we are neutral and at peace with you?
Athenians: We see enemies as our power and friends as our weakness.
Melians: Your subjects can see the difference between us, who are neutral, and your colonies, and in some cases, those that revolt against you only to be subdued by you.
Athenians: That is a justice argument. But we do not want to give the impression that we let you stay neutral, perhaps because you can defend yourself, or that we do not attack you because we don’t dare to. Your submission strengthens our empire and enhances our security. We are masters of the sea, and you are insignificant islanders. We cannot allow you to be free from us.
Melians: Fine, if you prefer expediency over justice. Don’t you recognize that if you destroy us, you will make enemies of all neutral states? When they see how you are treating us, they expect you to turn against them someday. Out of fear, these states might bolster their defenses against your power.
Athenians: No, neutrals are our real enemies, for they are under no one’s control and so the most unpredictable and may swing against us, contrary to our expectations.
Melians: We will be base and cowardly if we do nothing and become your slaves.
Athenians: Reflect calmly. How can you resist an overwhelming force? It is not a question of honor but good sense.
Melians: War is tricky and can turn against anyone. If we yield now, it is all over. If we fight, we have a chance to keep our freedom.
Athenians: You are weak. Be realistic. Don’t be deluded. Don’t turn to oracles and prophecies, which ruin people with the hopes they inspire.
Melians: Do not overlook our allies, our kinsmen. They might come to help us against you out of their own honor. Our confidence is not utterly blind as you suppose.
Athenians: We know your allies and your kinsmen. They are the most notorious for identifying what is expedient and what is just. The path of expedience is safe; that of justice and honor is full of danger. They will sabotage your blind hope of deliverance. If you are wise, you will surrender and become part of the empire. Quit thinking about honor, for it brings calamities.
Melians: If power alone decides fate, then every nation will arm itself against you. Your empire will grow in territory but shrink in trust.
The Athenians left the conference to let the Melians decide whether they wanted to fight or surrender. The Melians decided to fight rather than surrender their liberty, trusting in God and their kinsmen.
The Results of the War:
The Melians fought bravely with limited resources. No allies or kinsmen came to help the Melians. There was betrayal among some Melians themselves. As a result, the Melians were persuaded to surrender. The Athenians executed all the men of military age and enslaved women and children. They then colonized the island, sending 500 of their own settlers.
An explosion blew up the school as the old man finished the story.
Honorable daughters, rest in peace.
Comments
Post a Comment