Argos. Detailed history

One of the major cities in the Peloponnese was Argos. Located in the Argolid region in the Northeast Peloponnese, the city became famous and powerful for a brief period in preclassical Greece. The Argolid was a triangular extension of the Peloponnese, with mountains on the northeast and southwest and the sea on the north, east, and south. Argos lay on the rich fertile plain near Mycenae and Tiryns. With twin citadels on the hills Larissa and Aspis, the city was located on the southern part of the plain.

As described in the Iliad, Argos was a dependent of Mycenae, and after the end of the Trojan War and the fall of Mycenae, it was ruled by Temenus, a descendent of Heracles reputed to have come from nearby Tiryns. The Dorian invasion destroyed this Bronze Age village, but it was reborn during the Dark Ages, with Larissa being its first citadel.

Argos became Dorian, and the local population was made subservient, not as slaves but as lower-class citizens called perioeci (those who dwelled around), and also gymnesioi (lightly armed troops), probably because later they contributed these types of troops to the army. Argos became renowned for metalworking. Their residents had perfected the use of silver refinery and the working of bronze. Their pieces were often given as gifts to the nearby Argive Heraeum, a sanctuary existing since the Neolithic period and given over to the goddess Hera by at least 750.

Soon after, Temenus became a mere figurehead without much power. This was reversed with the accession of King Pheidon. Although the exact dates are disputed, he probably ruled around 670, and his intervention in the Olympic controversy over which city would control the games, Elis or Pisa (Elis won) probably occurred in 669 instead of 748, as stated by ancient authors. Although a hereditary monarch, Pheidon soon exceeded his position and greedily seized power, becoming in essence a tyrant. With this act, he began the popular trend in the northern Peloponnese of creating tyrants.

The power of Argos reached its pinnacle under Pheidon. He set about unifying the Argolid and took possession of Aegina, the most important trading center at that time. He was also credited with creating the hoplite soldier, known for its large, double-gripped shield called Argive, breastplate, and heavy helmet. With this new heavy infantry, he developed new tactics, and soon Pheidon had a form- able force. He probably began the creation of the new phalanx battle tactics that were more fully developed later.

The rise of hoplites was due mainly to the middle-class soldiers that now filled their ranks. It provided Pheidon with a counterweight to the old aristocrats, as a large military force was now at his disposal. It may have been this change in armor and tactics that helped him to defeat the Spartan army in 669 at Hysiae, allowing him to control the northern part of the Peloponnese. In 668, he intervened in the oversight of the Olympic festivals and games by returning them to Pisa from Elis. It also appears that at this time, Argos colonized Curium in Cyprus.

The rise of Argos was temporary, however, as after Pheidon’s death at about 655, the Argives could not maintain their power. The major threats were Sparta, its traditional enemy, and Corinth to the north, whose own tyrant was inspired by Pheidon. The old aristocratic elements in the city now seized control, and within a short time, the kingship was gone, replaced by an oligarchy. Argos was no longer able to unify the Argolid; it was checked by the tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon (600-570). Argos elevated the local games at Cleonae under Argive control to Panhellenic status, renaming them the Nemean Games, to counter Sicyon’s new prestige. It became the last of the four Panhellenic Games.

Sparta, however, remained Argos’s main threat. In the mid-sixth century, Sparta declared that it would protect the rest of the Peloponnese from the advances of Argos. In 546, it invaded the Argolid to contain the city. The battle took place at Thyrea, where the Argive Heraeum Temple devised a formula for a contest where 300 Argive soldiers fought 300 Spartans in the Battle of the Champions.

In the end, two Argives and one Spartan survived, with neither yielding; this resulted in a full-scale battle, with both sides sending their entire armies, probably with 10,000 men each, which Sparta won after Argos conceded defeat. In 494, after a revival of Argive power over Sparta, the Spartan king Cleomenes I landed near Tiryns, and 6,000 Argive soldiers were killed at Sepeia, thus eliminating a generation of soldiers. Argos was now a second-class power.

During the Persian Wars, Argos remained neutral and isolated, due in part to its crushing defeat at Sepeia. During the period of the Athenian Empire, Argos had a tenuous alliance with Athens as it was fighting Sparta, but it was ineffective. When Sparta and Argos finalized a thirty-year peace treaty in 446, Argos was effectively out of the Peloponnesian War.

Argos gained some prestige and power during the Corinthian Wars in 395-387, even occupying Corinth for a brief period, but after being repulsed, it returned to its isolationism and minor position. It remained neutral during the wars with Philp II of Macedon, but was eventually reduced to an even lesser power.

Aristotelian Philosophy

Aristotelian philosophy or argument derives from Aristotle and his style of teaching or argumentation. Aristotle wrote on a wide variety of subjects, such as physics, where he argued for five elements corresponding to the modern elements: earth (solids), water (liquid), air (gas), fire (plasma), and Aether, which is the divine substance. He experimented with optics and made observations on astronomy and geology. He conducted research in biology and created the classification of living things.

His work On the Soul can be seen as one of the first psychological works where humans have a rational soul, as opposed to the vegetative soul of plants, which just grows, or the sensitive soul of animals, which can experience sensations and emotions. The rational soul of humans can reason, and therefore grow beyond its instincts. In the area of philosophy, particularly practical philosophy, he examined ethics, politics, economics, and rhetoric.

His view on slavery, counter to modern ideology, held sway for centuries. Aristotle believed that slavery was necessary for the Greek cities to continue to function, and he viewed non- Greeks as the targets for such slavery. He also believed in the concept of a just war, for which he advocated the idea to conscript “natural slaves” (i.e., non- Greeks).

He favored war, as it would increase one’s virtue, and he clearly imbued in Alexander the Great the idea of Greek superiority over the Persians. Aristotle believed that ethics was not a theoretical idea, but rather a practical philosophy aimed at creating a good person who does good to become good.

He used the example that an eye is good only if it can see, since the purpose of an eye is sight. Therefore, humans had to have some function that was specific to them, and it must be pursued according to reason. For Aristotle, the best activity was to pursue a good and virtuous life, which would lead a person to happiness.

Another practical philosophy of Aristotle’s was politics. He believed in the idea of the polis, viewing it as more important to the individual than the family. He stated that “man is by nature a political animal” and attempted to show that a city was like an organism, a living unit, as opposed to a tool or machine.

He famously classified all kinds of government into three classes: government of one, which if good was a king who ruled for the betterment of all, if bad a tyrant who was good for only himself; government of a few, where an aristocracy was good for all but an oligarchy was good only for the rich; and government of the many, where a constitutional government is for the good of all, while a democracy is good for the poor. These ideas often have some portraying Aristotle as opposed to democracy, but that view is too simplistic; he was probably in favor of the democracy of Cleisthenes, but not of Pericles.

Aristotle. Born in 384 at Stagira in the Chalcidian peninsula, Aristotle was taught by Plato, who had established the Lyceum (Academy) and the Peripatetic school of philosophy. This school greatly influenced Aristotle, and he regarded not only Plato, but Socrates, Plato's teacher, as his mentors. He established methods of inquiry and wrote on many subjects, of which only about a third has survived, including physical and natural science, logic, art and aesthetics, literature (including poetry), theater and music, economics, and politics.

Aristotle's father, Nicomachus, died when he was a child, and little is known of Aristotle's early years. At about eighteen, he traveled to Athens, where he joined Plato's Academy. He remained there for nearly twenty years, until Plato's death around 347. Aristotle then left Athens, and at the request of Philip II of Macedon, he became the tutor of Philip's son, Alexander, and his friends beginning in 343. Aristotle was married to Pythias, a daughter of Hermias of Atarneus from Asia Minor, who bore him a daughter.

After teaching in Macedon until 335, he returned to Athens and established his own school. After his wife died, he became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira, who bore him a son, whom he named Nicomachus. During the next twelve years in Athens, he wrote most of his works. After the death of Alexander the Great, the general anti-Macedonian feelings sweeping Greece prompted some Athenians to denounce Plato, and he fled to his mother's estate in Chalcis on Euboea in 322; he died the same year…

One of Aristotle’s most important contributions was in rhetoric and poetics. In his work Rhetoric, he indicated that there were three types of ways to appeal to an audience: ethos, or appealing to the speaker’s character (his general character, which would give the reason why he should be respected); pathos, appealing to the audience’s emotion; and logos, appealing to logical reasoning.

Associated with this was his division of rhetoric into types of speeches: the epideictic or ceremonial speeches, praising or casting blame; the forensic, arguing for guilt or innocence; and the deliberative, urging an audience to decide upon an issue. Often, these speeches required rhetorical proofs: those by syllogism or deductive reasoning, called enthymeme, and those by example, called paradeigma.

In Poetics, he argued that epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, sculpture, music, dance, and painting were imitations of some aspect or medium, object or manner, which he called mimesis. He probably wrote two books—one on tragedy, which survives, and one on comedy, which is unfortunately missing.

His ideas produced the concept of the Aristotelian argument, now known as the classical argument. In this style, Aristotle believed that the goal was to convince his audience about some issue, either through speech or writing. By using a series of strategies, whether via reason or examples, the author could persuade the audience to accept a premise.

The Aristotelian argument uses ethos, pathos, and logos in the best possible way. For the author, ethos is creating credibility through the use of sources or authority. This can be done by the author building his own credibility or using another source that has been established as credible. For Aristotle, this was the most important and powerful mode of persuasion.

Pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience; although it can be powerful since people can be moved by their own emotions, it is not necessarily based in fact and therefore is less credible. On the opposite side of the emotions of the audience is the logical side, or logos. What is it that makes sense to the audience as the author builds the argument? It is a logical and clear argument that wins the case, so data, facts, and statistics are often presented. It is crucial for the author to avoid faulty logic, such as a blanket statement or assuming that an event caused another.

The hallmark of the Aristotelian argument is that the author or speaker introduces an issue. Here, he presents the argument thesis and gives the necessary facts and sources to convince the reader of its validity. The author explains the issue, and more important, why his position needed to be heeded. Aristotle made clear that it was important to refute the opposition, and it must be done in a logical fashion, point by point.

In many ways, this is crucial to supporting one’s own argument, as it leaves the opposition without any proof to stand on. The author then presents his own proof as to why he is right, which plants the idea in the mind of the reader or listener of why the speaker is right, and then provides conclusions that touch on the main points and urge the reader or listener to follow them.

Aristotle classified the rhetorical arguments of previous centuries into a coherent system, which can be classified as the Aristotelian argument. This argument can be seen in the Athenian attempt to conquer Melos and the supposed speeches given by both sides, producing an argument for Thucydides. It really composes two Aristotelian arguments—one by Thucydides about the dangers of war and the impact on future generations, and the Athenian view of the situation then and now.

The Athenians stated that the island of Melos needed to join the Athenian Empire or be destroyed—this was the thesis of Thucydides’s argument. He then put into the mouths of the Athenian envoys the history of the situation, clearly outlining why this is an important event or action.

As the argument went, Melos has received the benefits of the empire without paying, and that is not fair to the rest of the Athenian Empire; the city cannot remain neutral, as both sides are closing in, so better join the Athenians. Athens cannot let Melos be separate and independent; if it were, it may turn against Athens, so either Melos must join Athens or Athens must destroy it.

Thucydides then put into the speech the various opposing views given by the Melians, where the Melians attempt to refute them, and then Athenians present a reason why their argument is wrong. The Melians begin by stating that they have right on their side since they did not provoke the war, while the Athenians reply that might makes right; the Melians then say that the law of nations allows them to remain neutral, and no nation has the right to attack with provocation and that they would receive help.

Since they had been free for nearly seven hundred years, they desire to remain free. The Athenians counter that they have their laws and the right to have an empire since they had defeated the Persians, and the Melians could avoid this trouble if they just submitted. Finally, the Melians appeal to the laws of the gods who would save them; the Athenians reply that their gods had given them their blessing.

Here, the Athenians counter each of the Melian points, showing how their view is just as correct. The Melians attempt to use ethos to explain their position of being free for centuries, while the Athenians reply using ethos, stating that the Melians had gained the advantages of the empire. Both sides try to use credibility or sources to promote their idea.

The Melians then attempt to use logos or a logical argument by saying that the Spartans would come and help; the Athenians likewise use a logical argument by stating that the Spartans had never come to aid anyone. Finally, the Melians use pathos or emotion by invoking the gods, which the Athenians counter by invoking their own pathos.

The Athenians present their views that it only makes sense for the Melians to join since up to that time, all of the islands were subject to Athens. The Athenians then give their conclusion with an emotional warning—if the Melians do not yield, it will only bring destruction. In the end, according to Thucydides, the Melians were defeated and enslaved and the island occupied by the Athenians. Thucydides was attempting to show how the naked aggression of the Athenians existed and how in the future it might be used against them.

The Aristotelian school provided an important development in rhetoric and philosophy that continues to this day. It is used in all aspects of political life and shows how crucial Aristotle was to the development of logic, ethics, and inquiry. He completed the century of philosophical development of Socrates and Plato, and these three philosophers form the most important triad of ancient thought.