The_Devolution_Of_Human_Civility_At_Corcyra

The Devolution Of Human Civility At Corcyra The Devolution of Human Civility at Corcyra “In 427, the tension in Corcyra erupted in open civil war between democrats and oligarchs.” (89, Thucydides) Thus begins Thucydides description of the civil war at Corcyra, an island off the coast of western Greece. Thucydides focuses on the different attitudes that were prevalent in Corcya during the course of the war. The civil war at Corcyra caused democrats and oligarchs to change from being relatively civil with each other to become savage, cruel, and anarchistic. As the Corcyrean oligarchs called upon the Spartans for aid and the democrats called in the Athenians, both sides gained confidence in their respective efforts, the latter gaining more confidence with their stronger ally. The war that ensued was all but chaos. Thucydides’ chapter on Corcyra is littered with phrases like “The Corcyreans went on killing as many of their own people as they took to be their enemies.” (90, Thucydides) New mentalities were adopted that could only be described as savage. People’s perceptions of each other devolved from cultured to almost barbaric. “Ill-considered boldness was counted as loyal manliness; prudent hesitation was held to be cowardice in disguise, and moderation merely the cloak of an unmanly nature.” (90-1, thucydides, war, corcyra, civil, oligarchs, democrats, one, while, parties, called, 91, within, under, took, side, savage, own, need, laws, law, human, during, both, attitudes, anyone, 92, thought, seemed, political, people, party, might, man, good, evil, even