The Melian Dialogue

“The Melian Dialogue” is a relatively short passage found in the middle of the larger History of the Peloponnesian War, and yet it has had an outsized influence in the development of the theory of Political Realism. Thucydides stages the dialogue as a dramatic debate between viewpoints, and its position in the middle of History serves to highlight its importance from the author’s viewpoint. The dramatic imagining of the episode on Melos stands out from the larger work and serves as a vehicle for a contest between political principles.

The History of the Peloponnesian War concerns the moral, political, and economic ramifications of Imperialism and Hegemony, as the growing Athenian empire struggles to hold itself together and engages in a protracted contest for supremacy with the equally powerful Spartans. At the outset of "The Melian Dialogue,” the Athenian delegation frames its demands within the context of the recent past, alluding to their role in the Greco-Persian Wars as giving them a “right” to rule the Greek world. By building their hubristic aspirations on a foundation of past glory, the Athenians unwittingly follow a model established in another Greek art form: the