Friday, October 3, 2014
What Were the Lacedaemonians Real Intentions?
In class we discussed in length about whether or not the Lacedaemonians decision to kill the Plataians was just or not. When discussing this, we brought up the idea of honor, and how that can shape ones idea of what is just and what is not. Personally, I felt as though they gave them a pretty fair chance to stand up for themselves, considering the lengthy speech they made, declaring that they had no other choice but to be fair in order to uphold their honor. Then, the Lacedaemonians proceeded to bring in each Plataian to question them individually. From a casual readers standpoint it seems as though they went about the process honorably and were very just in their decision. However, one also has to bring into account whether or not the decision to kill the Plataians was premeditated or not. While we can never really know for sure, the concept is an intriguing one. Despite knowing beforehand what their intentions were, the Lacedaemonians gave the Plataians fair trial in order to appear as though they were upholding some system of honor, when in fact, they may have known the entire time what they were planning on doing, regardless of what the Plataians said.
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I think to answer you question Christine the real intentions of the Lacedaemonians, when they were holding the trial, was to kill the Plataians. The Thebans were at the time great enemies and the great ally of the Lacedaemonians during the war. They would supply the Lacedaemonians with an extensive amount of horses and different types of infantry. For this reason they decided that they would side with the Thebans and kill every single Plataian that was put on “trial.” The question with the Plataians actions and whether or not if there actions were reasonable or not was never really the case. The whole trial was instinctively set up and thus the only reason they had it, in my opinion, is because they wanted to make it seem more formal and fair. If it were supposable a fair trial then the judges would have never rational decided to kill each and every Plataian involved. They were defending themselves from strong enemies and they had every right to do so. - Wendell Pfeffer
ReplyDeleteI think the Lacedaemonians were foolish to succumb to revenge. Whatever good intention they might have had to be objective and fair was clouded with anger. I think it is more reasonable to use Plataea as a source of revenue and resources.
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