[lit-ideas] Re: Anzio and the meaning of war

  • From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:32:43 -0800

That was one of the many dumb things that happened.  Alcibiades led the
expedition but allowed his troops to do some irreligious things to some of
the statures on Sicily; so the Athenians ordered Alcibiades to come home to
Athens in order to be executed. Not being stupid or suicidal, Alcibiades
sold his services to the Spartans.  He told them how to defeat the
Athenians.  One of the things he told them was to rush off to help Syracuse.
Syracuse was just about to fall when the Spartan aid arrived -- arrived in
the nick of time.  


Lawrence Helm
San Jacinto

-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric Yost
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:15 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Anzio and the meaning of war

LH: Wars often, perhaps usually, decide things.


If they are decisive defeats they provide provisional decisions, which 
is the only type of decision humanity has really known ... unless 
freedom, democracy, and the value of the individual really have staying 
power.

I think you should consider my semi-serious "20 percent hold back the 
other 80 percent" thesis.



LH: Why would the Athenians want to attack the democratic Syracuse it in 
the middle of the Peloponnesian War?


That was Alcibiades, wasn't it? Clearly one of those 20 percent. A 
narcissistic goofball who forgot everything Socrates tried to teach him,


Aspiring to rise above the 20 percent,
Eric
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