How to Pronounce Peloponnesian War

Meaning and Context

The Peloponnesian War, spanning from 431 to 404 BC, was the defining and cataclysmic struggle of the classical Greek world, pitting the naval empire of Athens and its Delian League allies against the formidable land power of Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. This protracted conflict, meticulously chronicled by the historian Thucydides, was more than a simple military contest; it was a clash of ideologies between Athenian democracy and Spartan oligarchy, a brutal test of strategy between Pericles' defensive walls and the relentless Spartan hoplite invasions. The war's major phases include the Archidamian War, the brief Peace of Nicias, and the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, a turning point that crippled Athenian resources. Ultimately, the conflict concluded in 404 BC with the surrender of Athens, the dismantling of its Long Walls, and the end of its golden age of cultural and political ascendancy, establishing a short-lived Spartan hegemony that left the entire Greek world destabilized and vulnerable to future conquest.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The term "Peloponnesian War" has a standardized spelling in English, derived directly from the Latin Peloponnesiacus and the Greek Peloponnēsos, meaning "Island of Pelops." The most common error involves misspelling the root "Peloponnesian," often with a single 'n' or incorrect vowel placement. Frequent typos include "Peloponesian," "Peloponnesean," and "Peloponnesain." Another category of error involves confusion with the geographical region itself, leading to mistaken terms like "Peloponnese War" or "Peloponnisian War." It is also sometimes incorrectly conflated with or preceded by the earlier Greco-Persian Wars. Ensuring the correct spelling is crucial for academic searches and accurate historical referencing, as the term is a proper noun defining a specific historical event.

Example Sentences

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War provides a penetrating analysis of human nature and realpolitik, drawn from the historian's own experiences during the conflict.

The disastrous Sicilian Expedition, launched by Athens in 415 BC, marked a catastrophic turning point in the Peloponnesian War, depleting the city-state's fleet and manpower.

Scholars often cite the economic strain of the war and the devastating plague that struck Athens as interconnected factors that eroded Athenian civic strength.

While Sparta emerged victorious from the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, its triumph was pyrrhic, as the protracted struggle weakened the entire Greek state system.

The complex origins of the war are frequently traced to the rising power of Athens and the fear this instilled in Sparta, a dynamic Thucydides identified as a fundamental cause.

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