Potidaea, Battle of (432 BCE)
Reviewed questions grounded in the Encyclopedia entry on Potidaea, Battle of (432 BCE).
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Questions for discussion
The City and the War4 questions+
How did Potidaea’s ties to Corinth and obligations to Athens make its position unstable?→ How did Athenian demands, Macedonian interests, and Spartan promises combine to produce the revolt?→ Why did the siege become a grievance between states even though Corinth’s first reinforcements were volunteers?→ What do the costs, plague, and terms of surrender reveal about the limits of Athenian power?→
Socrates in Battle4 questions+
What can we establish about Socrates’ military service, and where does the evidence remain uncertain?→ How does Plato’s description of Socrates standing in thought differ from later accounts of ecstasy or withdrawal from the body?→ What is at stake in Socrates saving both Alcibiades and his armour, then letting him have the prize?→ How does the image of holding a military post become a model for Socrates’ philosophical life?→
Love and Remembrance4 questions+
How does the rescue fulfil and transform the lover’s duty described by Phaedrus?→ Does risking one’s life for Alcibiades support or challenge the claim that Platonic love overlooks particular people?→ Why does the entry distinguish later providential readings of the rescue from direct ancient commentary on the battle?→ What can the Potidaea epitaph tell us about beliefs concerning the soul, and how does its damaged text limit the conclusion?→