The Melian Dialogue

“Since we are not to address the people at large, presumably so that we do not have the chance to bamboozle the masses with a single uninterrupted presentation of seductive and unchallenged arguments… [w]e suggest that neither of us make set speeches, but we invite you at any point to criticize and answer any proposition with which you are not happy.”

The Athenian representative begins by suggesting that a direct address to the “masses” would be a foregone victory. Thucydides uses the Athenians’ opening remarks to set the stage for the dramatized dialogue that follows, placing it apart from the larger work from which the excerpt is taken. The ground rules are proposed, and assertion and concession will follow, in a back-and-forth test of logic.

“We have no objection to the reasonable principle of a calm exchange of views, but your military presence… seems at odds with it. In our view you have come to your own preconceived judgement of this discussion. The result is likely to be that if we win the moral argument and so do not submit, we face war; and if we grant your argument, we face servitude.”

In their response, the Melians let the uninvited guests know that they are not fooled—whatever the course of the discussion, the Athenians will choose what is most expedient for themselves. The military presence, by its very nature, undermines the premise of a reasoned debate.

“You know as well as we do that when we are talking on the human plane questions of justice only arise when there is equal power to compel: in terms of practicality the dominant exact what they can and the weak concede what they must.”

This statement underpins the basic premise of the Political Realism expressed in the dialogue: might makes right. Just prior, the Athenians allude to their defeat of the Persians, or to some slight they might avenge, which would give some credence to the justice of their request. However, they claim that none of these justifications is needed. They are simply acting in their own self-interest.