The Donald Trump of Ancient Greece
His name? Alcibiades. Like Trump, this scion of wealth loved to win and manipulate the masses.
Trump as Alcibiades: Lessons in Demagoguery from Greek History
In 2017, America may again need to be mindful of both dangerous potential futures and telling ancient precedent. The surprising election of President Donald Trump brought historical precedent flowing back to the minds of many Americans.
Trump and the ghost of Alcibiades
William J Dominik compares Donald Trump to the Athenian general Alcibiades and shows how both weakened democracy while pursuing power.
Alcibiades’ Trump Card: The Political Masquerades of Masculinity
What Thucydides shows is that when masculinity is in crisis, the speaker who seems most masculine will prevail — even if his ideas are irrational.
Drunk with power, Donald Trump follows the dictates of Athenian commanders, and a certain Jewish philosopher
The strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must.
The Sicilian Expedition and the Dilemma of Interventionism
During the Peloponnesian War, Athenian statesmen were divided over a proposed intervention into Sicily. Alcibiades and his camp were overly confident of Athens's prospects in this military expedition, arguing, "How could anybody ever defeat us? We're Athens!" However, the elder general and statesman Nicias foresaw problems with Athenian intervention. Nicias told Alcibiades that the best way to demonstrate Athenian power to the Sicilians was not to intervene at all. Ultimately, the Sicilian Expedition went forward, and Athenian expeditionary forces were obliterated in battle.
QuoteAthenian expeditionary forces were obliterated in battle.
A fragile democracy gave power to a man who viewed the state as a stage for his own personal psychodrama and was ruined. Rinse and repeat.