Book II
First and second years of the war, the plague at Athens, Pericles' Funeral Oration, and the siege of Potidaea.
6 argumentative units
- 01The war opens: Plataea attacked, Athens prepares
The Peloponnesian War officially begins. Thebes makes a surprise attack on Plataea at night; the Plataeans trap and kill the attackers. Both sides mobilize their forces and conclude alliances.
- 02First year: Archidamus invades Attica; Pericles' naval strategy
Archidamus leads the Peloponnesian army into Attica while Pericles refuses battle and sends Athenian fleets to raid the Peloponnesian coast. Pericles explains his war strategy to a frustrated citizenry: avoid land battle, use naval superiority, outlast the enemy.
- 03Athens evacuates the countryside; the war's first year actions
The Athenians move families from the countryside into the city, crowding it dangerously. Naval raids on the Peloponnesian coast begin. Potidaea falls after a long siege. The first year ends with both sides committed to a long war.
- 04Pericles' Funeral Oration: praise of Athens and its democratic way of life
At the public funeral for Athens' first war dead, Pericles delivers his famous eulogy — praising Athenian democracy, culture, and the willingness to die for a free city rather than for mere survival.
- 05Conclusion of Pericles' Oration: consolation and exhortation
Pericles concludes by consoling the bereaved and calling on survivors to match the dead in courage. He speaks directly to widows, parents, and brothers, urging them to find meaning in the city's greatness.
- 06The Plague of Athens: symptoms, social collapse, and moral breakdown
A devastating plague strikes Athens during the Peloponnesian invasion. Thucydides describes its symptoms in clinical detail, records its origin in Ethiopia, and chronicles the social breakdown — lawlessness, despair, and the abandonment of religious observance — that followed.