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The Peloponnesian War
- Narrated by: Kenneth W. Harl
- Series: The Great Courses: Ancient History
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Categories: History, Military
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Publisher's Summary
The Peloponnesian War pitted Athens and its allies against a league of city-states headed by Sparta. The ancient Greek historian Thucydides captured this drama with matchless insight in his classic eyewitness account of what was arguably the greatest war in the history of the world up to that time.
These 36 half-hour lectures draw on Thucydides' classic account as well as other ancient sources to give you a full picture of the Greek world in uneasy peace and then all-out war in the late 5th century B.C. Professor Harl plunges you into the thick of politics, military strategy, economics, and technology.
You will feel the ancient Greek world come alive as you explore the war debates at Athens and Sparta, the devastating plagues that swept through Athens, the Revolt of Mytilene, the Battle of Pylos, the disastrous Athenian and Spartan expedition to Sicily against Spartan allies. You'll experience the thick of action and consider lively scholarly debates that continue to this day.
Unlike earlier great wars, the Peloponnesian War was not a conflict between kings, but between citizens from different city-states who shared the same language, gods, and festivals. Citizen assemblies decided questions of war - voting on their own fates, since they were the ones who had to do the fighting.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this era is that culture flourished side-by-side with the politics of war - that, even as Athenian citizens were honoring Aristophanes' mocking antiwar play, The Acharnians, by giving it first prize in a drama competition, they were debating with equal ardor whether to continue the war, and deciding overwhelmingly to do so.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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What listeners say about The Peloponnesian War
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chris Driscoll
- 2018-09-14
A well structured and insightful course.
This course is very well structured. It provides a good mix of: context, narrative of the history of the war and perspective on Thucydides and his book.
It flows very well and the author/speaker keeps you engaged and interested.
In particular, he ties many threads together to make a very complex story that takes place across many decades and locations into a coherent narrative.
Highly recommended. A very enjoyable course. #Audible1
3 people found this helpful
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- The World's Greatest
- 2016-04-26
Enjoyable, not for Greek newbies...
If you already have a grasp of Ancient Greek history, this will be a good listen about the Peloponnesian war. If you know very little or nothing, it will be harder to follow as the Professor throws out names, places, events rather rapidly and assumes you know what he's talking about. Before listening to the Peloponnesian war, I listened to The long Shadow of the Ancient Greek World by Ian Worthington, so I had the necessary background knowledge to follow along. This series of lectures focuses more on the war as the title suggest and I learned a good deal more about the war and its players and events than I had known before. Even so I wish the lectures were longer and even more details could be provided about the many events as I feel some were glossed over too quickly but in the interest of keeping things moving along, I suppose it's better for most listeners.
19 people found this helpful
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- CasperMtn
- 2017-07-13
Timeless, Thought Provoking, and Timely
Thank you Professor Harl. As another reviewer observed this is a "serious" course. The histories explored and questioned, the importance of the prelude to the war, the actions within it, and the repercussions throughout and after lend us insight into the important wars and alliances then, and throughout the intervening 2,400 years even unto our present day. This is a course to be studied with the excellent accompanying course PDF and the best maps that you can find to refer to throughout. I will never see our "modern" world the same. More complex, perhaps. More devastating, definitely. More humane or evolved? These questions remain with me as I view the Athenians, Spartans, and others presaging the EU, US, former USSR and Daesh, while wading through alliances, diplomacy, and war after war. If you think critically, you will be challenged with this course.
4 people found this helpful
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- RayVon
- 2014-09-20
I cannot suggest this lecture series enough!
If you could sum up The Peloponnesian War in three words, what would they be?
Harl is great
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Peloponnesian War?
All of it.
What does Professor Kenneth W. Harl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Harl relays the informative in a comprehendible and digestible manor that makes listening a joy. Nothing kills a lecture like a Prof who is clearly disinterested of bored with the subject but Harl is clearly electrified and excited by the topics at had which in turn only makes the lectures far more engaging.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Knowing little about the greek world, aside from myth and the Iliad, learning about the Greek political climate as well as actual warfare strategies was intensely interesting
Any additional comments?
If you're interested in Greek ancient history then this is a must.
4 people found this helpful
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- Imre Balazs
- 2015-08-06
An excellent choice
Kenneth W. Harl is truly exceptional. Probably the best performance in my experience with the great lectures series, and I own a dozen. Buy it, listen to it, enjoy it, you can't go wrong with this guy.
5 people found this helpful
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- Thomas
- 2015-05-16
A very well delivered, and engaging series.
One of the top five lecture series from TTC I have enjoyed to date. The professor does an excellent job of keeping the story interesting. His delivery of this course is what elevates it from merely good to fantastic.
2 people found this helpful
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- Brian M OKeefe
- 2020-07-21
Kenneth Harl is the best.
Love everything produced by professor Harl at Great Courses. He is so consistently great and entertaining.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2017-07-29
Exhaustive and exciting
Dr. Harl knows how to propel a historical narrative. The treasure that is Thucydides allows him to load these lectures with detail, lending them texture and a sense of immediacy. You're riding along with the Athenians and Spartans on this wild ride. I think Harl's skills as a storyteller shine though better when narrowly focused on the Peloponnesian War, than the broader subjects he also tackles (e.g. Vikings, Steppe Empires, World of Byzantium, etc.). Not to belittle those lectures at all, I enjoyed them thoroughly, just on a different level. Check this out, especially if you enjoyed Harl's take on Alexander the Great.
1 person found this helpful
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- khilsati
- 2018-11-28
Unclear
Though the subject is fascinating, Professor Harl talks about it as he would be adressing colleagues. Explanations are unclear at best, confusing at worst. Most of the time, his sentences list numerous people, place and events, in a way that you need a deep background on the subject to follow him.
As a person who never majored in History and whose knowledge of the Era comes from Great Courses (this one was the 6th), the lesson became unpleasant rather quickly. Not for me for sure.
2 people found this helpful
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- shelby larch
- 2021-02-26
Very good
His perceptions, opinions and command of the subject make this worth the time. Unafraid to offer a variety of points of view and his own opinion.
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- Tanner cole Pendley
- 2021-01-08
Amazing
Kenneth Harl is my favorite narrator on the college course series. reminds me of Dan Carlin.