3. Who or what was it created for? We cannot know whom it was created for. It was made to be a cup but more likely as a decoration than for practical uses. 4. For what aspect of ancient Greek history does it provide useful evidence? It indicates that Spartans honoured their men who died in battle by carrying their bodies from the battleýeld. 5. Is the evidence it provides accurate and reliable and how can we tell this? Without other evidence, we cannot tell whether this source is accurate and reliable. However, several ancient Greek sources support this view of the Spartans. 6. What conclusions can we draw from the source about ancient Greek society? The Spartans regarded ýghting bravely and dying in battle as great virtues. SOURCE2 Written by the Athenian general and historian, Thucydides (c. 460–403), in his book, History of the Peloponnesian War , this extract describes the surrender of a force of 120 Spartans in the seventh year of this war between Athens and Sparta was . . . made, to know if they [the Spartans] would surrender themselves and their arms to the Athenians . . . [Hearing] this offer, most of them lowered their shields and waved their hands to show that they accepted it. Hostilities now ceased . . . after consulting together they surrendered themselves and their arms . . . Nothing that happened in the war surprised the Hellenes [Greeks] so much as this. It was the opinion that no force or famine could make [Spartans] give up their arms, but that they would ýght on . . . and die with them in their hands: indeed, people could scarcely believe that those who had surrendered were of the same stuff as the fallen. 1. What is it? It is an account of the surrender of a force of Spartans during the Peloponnesian War. 2. Who created it and when was it created? It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian general and historian, in the ýfth century BCE, soon after the events it describes. 3. Who or what was it created for? Thucydides wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War, a conþict that divided the Greeks for many years. The extract was part of that history. Its original readers would most likely have been other Athenians. 4. For what aspect of ancient Greek history does it provide useful evidence? It tells of an occasion when a Spartan army surrendered to Athenians rather than ýghting to the death. 5. Is the evidence it provides accurate and reliable and how can we tell this? In judging its accuracy and reliability, we should take into account that the writer was an Athenian general and, therefore, someone who had fought against the Spartans. Without other evidence, we cannot tell whether this source is accurate and reliable. However, as many other Greeks would have witnessed this event it is unlikely that Thucydides would have distorted the facts. 6. What conclusions can we draw from the source about ancient Greek society? We can conclude that, although the Spartans regarded ýghting bravely and dying in battle as great virtues, they did not always carry out this ideal. If the source is reliable, we might conclude that Spartans were not always as heroic as many liked to think they were. 1.5.3 Letmedo it Complete the following activities to practise this skill.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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