Abstract

In his famous chapter (3.82) on the revolutions engendered by the Peloponnesian War Thucydides notes that the effects of "stasis" ("faction" and "factional strife") reached even to the words people used. His overview should be translated ""Men changed the customary valuation [or" estimation"] of words in respect to deeds in judging what right was." Thucydides bases his understanding of distortions of language and understanding in revolutions on an implied idea that we need to use measures and standards in evaluating the moral qualities of action. His ideas concerning revolutions and factions during the Peloponnesian War can and should be compared with Plato's, notably in "Republic" Books 1 and 8.