History of the Peloponnesian War

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider what you know about the ancient Greeks. Why were the ancient Greek city-states constantly fighting against each other?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question relates to the theme of History as a Repeating Cycle. The basic building block of the ancient Greek world was the city-state, or polis. There were hundreds of small Greek city-states that constantly vied with one another for territory, cultural prestige, and political supremacy. Understanding this historical and cultural context can help students access and think about the text on a deeper level. The Khan Academy link below contains a detailed map that may help students visualize the city-states and territories of ancient Greece.

• This article from Khan Academy provides a basic introduction to the development and functioning of the Greek polis.
• This documentary from Timeline explores life in the ancient Greek polis of Sparta.

2. Thucydides wrote his History of the Peloponnesian War in the late fifth century BCE, during the Classical Period of ancient Greek history (479-323 BCE).