Ms. Mitchell
World History per.6
02/07/14
The Dark Side
Thucydides
says that " ...Human nature is what it is, though there may be different
degrees of savagery, and as different circumstances arise, the general rules will
admit of some variety."(Thucydides, 242, section 82, lines 13-15)
Thucydides is somewhat saying that human nature is human nature, and there is
nothing alike it. Human nature can come out at many different times, and depending
on when it comes out changes the type of savagery that happens in those times.
With the savagery many circumstances arise, and rules are broken, and pretty
much every thing is changed and destroyed. Thucydides is saying that in his
opinion, in times that are bad, humans seam to deteriorate, and become bad. We
know this, because in the quote above, he says things about human nature like,
human nature comes with savagery, and that when this happens, more bad things
happen, such as rules being broken. All of this happens because we don't fix
the problems, we leave it and make it even, more worse than when it started.
Thucydides also says that in times that are bad, that human nature is full with
things like, " ...Thoughtless acts of aggression...”(Thucydides, 242, section 82, line 28) and " ... Methods
of seizing power and by unheard-of atrocities in revenge."(Thucydides,
242, section 82 lines 25-26) Thucydides thought that human nature in times that
were bad, was when humans were at their worst. But when does this dark human
nature come out in us?
The dark
side of human nature comes out in us in times of fear, and in times of
suffering. For Athens, this time of fear and suffering was during the plague,
and for Corcyra, their time of fear and suffering was during the Civil War.
Even though the dark side of human nature was being revealed in both "The
Plague", and "The Civil War at Corcyra", there were two
different types of human nature that were happening. During the Plague that was
going on in Athens, there were a lot of things that were going on. Thucydides
said that during the plague, "...The catastrophe was so overwhelming that
men, not knowing what would happen next to them, became indifferent to every
rule of religion or of law." (Thucydides, 155, section 52, line 10-14)
Thucydides was saying that the people no longer followed traditions, and there
was also a lot of lawlessness that was going on. For the "Civil War at
Corcyra" Thucydides said "Love of power, operating through greed and
through personal ambition was the cause of these evils." (Thucydides, 243,
section 82, line 66-67) What he is saying here is that during this time, people
went crazy with power and they wanted revenge on people who had killed their
family or friends during the war. The Civil War of Corcyra was filled with
atrocities, greed, and self-indulgence. So who are we really, are we good, are
we bad, or are half and half?
According to
Thucydides, Human nature is our true selves; it is who we really are. This dark
side of human personalities is kept secret, its not unleashed until a fearful
moment or catastrophe takes place. Once this happens, what is normal behavior
ceases to exist. Instead humans begin to
react and behave in a totally unnaturally human way Thucydides stated that the
plague was such an event and “…That it was the beginnings of a state
of unprecedented lawlessness.”(Thucydides, 155, section 53, lines 1
and 2) “People now began openly to venture on acts of
self-indulgence, which before then they used to keep in the dark.”(Thucydides, 155, section 53, lines 5-6) Thucydides is saying
that our normal human restraints were failing to keep society operating within
its usual boundaries. “No fear of god or law of man had a restraining influence.“ (Thucydides, 155, section 53, line 15) Although darkness can
appear unannounced in many of us, some humans are capable of suppressing this
evil behavior and continue to act selflessly in times of desperation. In the
case of the plague it was those doctors and nurses and family and friends who
helped the sick and put themselves in the direct path of the raging plague.
Thucydides states that " …Such people felt ashamed to think of
their own safety and went into their friends houses at times when even the
members of the household were so overwhelmed by the weight of their calamities
that they had actually given up the usual practice of making laments for the
dead.”(Thucydides, 154, section 51, lines 24-30)
Although
Athens experienced a tremendous Golden Age, that all changed in times of
struggle and fear, as proven in Thucydides texts "The Plague", and
"The Civil War at Corcyra", and the dark side of human nature was
revealed. In summary, whether the ways in which humans act and behave is
something that we are all individually born with or whether we learn it from
our peers, family, friends and people we admire, human nature is our true self.
Human nature is our characteristics, its how we behave and it’s how we live together. However humans have a dark side to
our natural nature, a side of our true self that normally remains under lock
and key until pandemonium occurs. When that happens, the rules, norms and ways
that humans interact cohesively together ends, instead ugly behavior evolves,
rules are broken, chaos irrupts and humans spiral in to deviant behavior. We have been discussing human nature in Greek
times, specifically around the fall of Athens, such as during the plague, and
also the Civil War at Corcyra. However this ugly dark side of our human nature
is not alone in ancient times. Today in
our advanced society they are many examples of where human interactions break
down as a result of catastrophic event, whether it’s a natural disaster, war, or religion based. A few years a go in London, England a similar
showing of our dark characteristics occurred in the form of the London
Riots. What started as a police shooting
of a African American youth by a white police man, developed in to major
rioting by the African American population in London, cars were burned, houses set
on fire and people were shot and injured. However as this chaos was developing,
people who had nothing to do with the initial incident got caught up in the
action, and they’re dark sides were unleashed. For no reason other than being caught in the
moment, mothers, businessmen, children and students started looting the burned
shops, stealing, pilfering, and involving themselves in the action. So many of these people were normal
upstanding citizens with no criminal records and had no reason to fall into
this lawlessness state.
As humans we really do not know when our dark side
will appear. I guess we are all just existing with our dark side human time
bomb ticking inside us.
Work Cited Page.
Thucydides, History of The Peloponnesian War, Rex Warner-Translator, Penguin Books, 1972, New York.
Ala Falco: Thucydides 460 BC-c.395 BC. N.d. Photograph. Ala Falco: Thucydides 460 BC-c.395 BC. Ala Falco. Web.
The Athenian Plague. N.d. Photograph. Threshold of Time. Web.
A Lesson at The Governmental Gardening. N.d. Photograph. Project Equator. Web.
N.d. Photograph. Archives Christma Ministries. Web.
Thucydides, History of The Peloponnesian War, Rex Warner-Translator, Penguin Books, 1972, New York.
Ala Falco: Thucydides 460 BC-c.395 BC. N.d. Photograph. Ala Falco: Thucydides 460 BC-c.395 BC. Ala Falco. Web.
The Athenian Plague. N.d. Photograph. Threshold of Time. Web.
A Lesson at The Governmental Gardening. N.d. Photograph. Project Equator. Web.
N.d. Photograph. Archives Christma Ministries. Web.
Fresh Video of London Riots: Crowd Street Rampage. August 8, 2011. Video.
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