The Devolution Of Human Civility At Corcyra

4 Pages 1092 Words

The Devolution of Human Civility at Corcyra


“In 427, the tension in Corcyra erupted in open civil war between democrats and oligarchs.” (89, Thucydides) Thus begins Thucydides description of the civil war at Corcyra, an island off the coast of western Greece. Thucydides focuses on the different attitudes that were prevalent in Corcya during the course of the war. The civil war at Corcyra caused democrats and oligarchs to change from being relatively civil with each other to become savage, cruel, and anarchistic.
As the Corcyrean oligarchs called upon the Spartans for aid and the democrats called in the Athenians, both sides gained confidence in their respective efforts, the latter gaining more confidence with their stronger ally. The war that ensued was all but chaos. Thucydides’ chapter on Corcyra is littered with phrases like “The Corcyreans went on killing as many of their own people as they took to be their enemies.” (90, Thucydides) New mentalities were adopted that could only be described as savage. People’s perceptions of each other devolved from cultured to almost barbaric. “Ill-considered boldness was counted as loyal manliness; prudent hesitation was held to be cowardice in disguise, and moderation merely the cloak of an unmanly nature.” (90-1, Thucydides) Actions or attitudes that did not display immediate and obvious support for one’s party was ridiculed, while rashness and anger were seen as masculine and admirable. “Sudden fury was accepted as part of manly valor, while plotting for one’s own security was thought a reasonable excuse for delaying action. A man who started a quarrel was always to be trusted, while one who opposed him was under suspicion.” (91, Thucydides) Every refined human emotion seemed to have the opposite effect in Corcyra during the civil war.
Lines were drawn within the groups of oligarchs and democrats. All were expected to work for their alliance thinking in terms o...