Historical Lessons in the Melian Episode

Thucydides calls attention to the Melian episode (5.84-116) by its unique form: it presents the only dialogue in the History. In addition, we find a rhetorical dispute in which the goal of each side is to convince not a third party but the other speakers.¹ This paper will argue that in addition to these unusual features, a third aspect—both unusual and insufficiently noted—is that both sides' arguments offer the type of instruction that is parallel to that offered by Thucydides to his reader. By considering the experience the reader has gained from the earlier books of the History, we are able to uncover and appreciate the lessons of history relevant to this confrontation. The Athenians attempt to teach the Melians what the reader has already learned in the History: that, in spite of the usual appeals found in diplomatic discourse, cities base their decisions on expediency. For their part, in seeking to persuade Athens to allow them to remain neutral, the Melians must be able to refer to both past action and future possibility. Although the Athenians say such discussion is out of bounds, here, too, the reader appreciates the importance of what the Melians try to do, for a second lesson of the History is that statesmen must consider the past and speculate about the future. By setting what the Athenians and the Melians say and do in the broader context of Thucydides' History and applying the lessons of the first five books, the reader is in a position adequately to evaluate argument and action.² Thucydides' employment of a novel format helps to drive home the lessons that the reader is expected to have learned from considering the History as a whole. In essence, the Athenian-Melian exchange has become a kind of test case for the reader, asking how much the reader has learned by the end of five books.

Much of scholarly opinion concerning this conflict suggests that the reader must make a choice. The Melians may be seen as victims, as de Romilly argues:

The choice is obvious, as far as sympathy is concerned. The Melians are presented as having a very vivid sense of their independence (100); they act justly (104) and courageously (113): all these features are compliments for Thucydides when he can apply them to Athens. Similarly, he takes care to secure the reader's sympathy for the Melians by frequently recalling the cruel situation in which they are placed, and the fact that they have right on their side.³

Alternatively, the Athenians, if amoral, may still be thought of as merciful in their search to avoid bloodshed. Bosworth goes so far as to label this approach of the Athenians "humanitarian." Rather than simply overpowering the small city, he contends, Athens gives the Melians the opportunity to save themselves:

Harsh as [the Athenians'] language undoubtedly is...it has a humanitarian end, to convince the Melian oligarchs of the need to capitulate and save themselves and the commons the horrors of a siege. If they acted sensibly, there would be no bloodshed, or even damage to property.⁴

This problem of interpretation arises from the authorial reticence of Thucydides, who withholds judgment and commentary. Thucydides omits any explicit judgment about the prudence or morality of Melos or Athens. Never in his own voice does Thucydides call the Athenians evil or clever, nor does he ever label the Melians foolish or brave.⁵ This reticence, of course, is almost universal throughout the History: as Westlake notes, Thucydides seldom renders an explicit judgment of individuals or their decisions.⁶ In the end, each side fails to persuade the other; neither Athens nor Melos wins the argument. One effect of the dialogue form and the lack of rhetorical resolution is that a balance is created between the Melians and the Athenians. I endorse Wasserman's assessment from fifty years ago:

Thucydides uses the form of the dialogue to make his readers listen to the arguments from both sides. Both his Athenians and his Melians so convincingly advance their points that either side has been taken...