A) Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars 2.8
Zeal is always at its height at the commencement of an undertaking; and on this particular occasion the Peloponnesusand Athens were both full of young men whose inexperience made them eager to take up arms, while the rest of Hellas stood straining with excitement at the conflict of its leading cities. Everywhere predictions were being recited and oracles chanted. (trans. Gamel)

B) Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars 3.82
Family relations became a weaker connection than party membership, since party members were ready to go to the extreme… Revenge was more important than self-preservation… The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition… Neither side had any use for conscientious motives; more interest was shown in those who could produce attractive arguments to justify some disgraceful action. (trans. Gamel)

C) Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars 2.43
For this offering of their lives made in common by them all they each of them individually received that renown which never grows old, and for a sepulchre [sêma], not so much that in which their bones have been deposited, but that noblest of shrines wherein their glory is laid up to be eternally remembered [with eternal mnemê] upon every occasion on which deed or story shall call for its commemoration. For heroes [literally: brilliant men] have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it [displays a sêma], there is enshrined in every breast a memory [mnemê] unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. (trans. Crawley)

D) Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars 2.44
They will be to the state at once a reinforcement and a security; for never can a fair or just policy be expected of the citizen who does not, like his fellows, bring to the decision the interests and apprehensions of a father. (trans. Crawley)

E) Euripides, Iphigeneia at Aulis 16-27
AGAMEMNON I envy you, old man, and I envy every man who leads a life secure, unknown and unrenowned [without kleos]; but little I envy those in office. 

ATTENDANT And yet it is there we place the be-all and end-all of existence.

AGAMEMNON Yes, but that is where the danger comes; and ambition, sweet though it seems, brings sorrow with its near approach. At one time the unsatisfied claims of Heaven upset our life, at another the numerous and implacable opinions of men wear it away.

F) Euripides, Iphigeneia at Aulis 337-369
You remember when you were all eagerness to captain the Danaans against Troy, making a pretence of declining, though eager for it in your heart; how humble you were then, taking each man by the hand and keeping open doors for every fellow townsman who cared to enter, affording each in turn a chance to speak with you, even though some desired it not, seeking by these methods to purchase popularity from all bidders; then when you had secured the command, there came a change over your manners; you were no longer so cordial before to former friends [philos], but hard to reach, seldom to be found at home. But the man of real worth ought not to change his manners in the hour of prosperity, but should then show himself most staunch to friends [philos], when his own good fortune can help them most effectually. This was the first cause I had to reproach you, for it was here I first discovered your villainy; but afterwards, when you came to Aulis with all the gathered hosts of Hellas, you were of no account - no! the want of a favorable breeze filled you with consternation at the chance dealt out by the gods. Soon the Danaans began demanding that you should send the fleet away instead of vainly toiling [ponos] on at Aulis; what dismay and confusion was then depicted in your looks, to think that you, with a thousand ships at your command, had not occupied the plains of Priam with your armies! And you would ask my counsel, "What am I to do? What scheme can I devise?" Where find a way to save yourself from being stripped of your command and losing your fair fame [kleos]? Next when Calchas bade you offer your daughter in sacrifice to Artemis, declaring that the Danaans should then sail, you were overjoyed, and gladly undertook to offer the girl, and of your own accord - never allege compulsion [biâ]! - you are sending word to your wife to despatch your daughter here, on the pretense of wedding Achilles. And after all you turn around and have been caught recasting your letter to this effect, "I will no longer be my daughter's murderer." Exactly so! This is the same air that heard you say it; countless others have gone through the same thing; in public affairs they make an effort [ponos] while in power, and then retire dishonourably [kakos], sometimes owing to the senselessness of the citizens, sometimes deservedly [with dikê], because they are too feeble of themselves to maintain their watch upon the state [polis].

G) Euripides, Iphigeneia at Aulis 479-536
I withdraw from my former proposals, ceasing to be a cause of fear to you; and I will even put myself in your present position. I counsel you not to slay your child nor prefer my interests to yours; for it is not just [dikê] that you should lament, while I am glad, or that your children should die, while mine still see the light of day. What is it, after all, I seek? If I am set on marriage, could I not find a bride as choice elsewhere? Were I to lose a brother - the last I should have lost - to win a Helen, getting bad [kakos] for good [agathos]? I was mad, impetuous as a youth, till I perceived, on closer view, what slaying children really meant. Moreover pity has come over me for the hapless maiden, when I reflect that we are kin, she who is doomed to bleed that I may wed. What has your daughter to do with Helen? Let the army be disbanded and leave Aulis; dry those streaming eyes, brother, and provoke me not to tears. Whatever concern you have in oracles that affect your child, let it be none of mine; into your hands I resign my share. A sudden change, you will say, from my terrible proposals! A natural course for me; affection for my brother caused the change. These are the ways of a man not void of virtue, to pursue on each occasion what is best.

CHORUS A generous speech, worthy of Tantalus, the son of Zeus! You do not shame your ancestry.

AGAMEMNON I thank you, Menelaus, for this unexpected suggestion; it is an honorable proposal, worthy of you. Sometimes love, sometimes the selfishness of their families causes a quarrel between brothers; I loathe a relationship of this kind which is bitterness to both. But it is useless, for circumstances compel me to carry out the murderous sacrifice of my daughter.

MENELAUS How so? Who will compel you to slay your own child?

AGAMEMNON The whole Achaean army here assembled.

MENELAUS Not if you send her back to Argos.

AGAMEMNON I might do that unnoticed, but there will be another thing I cannot.

MENELAUS What is that? You must not fear the mob too much.

AGAMEMNON Calchas will tell the Argive host his oracles.

MENELAUS Not if he gets killed before that - an easy matter.

AGAMEMNON The whole tribe of seers [mantis] is a curse with its ambition.

MENELAUS Yes, and good for nothing and useless, when among us.

AGAMEMNON Do you not fear the thought, which is rising in my mind?

MENELAUS How can I understand your meaning, unless you declare it?

AGAMEMNON The offspring of Sisyphus knows all.

MENELAUS Odysseus cannot possibly hurt us.

AGAMEMNON He was ever shifty by nature, siding with the mob.

MENELAUS True, he is enslaved by the love of popularity, a fearful evil.

AGAMEMNON Then do you not think that will he rise among the Argives and tell them the oracles that Calchas delivered, saying of me that I undertook to offer Artemis a victim, and after all am proving false? Then, when he has carried the army away with him, will he not bid the Argives slay us and sacrifice the maiden? And if I escape to Argos, they will come and destroy the place, razing it to the ground, Cyclopean walls and all. That is my trouble. Woe is me!

H) Euripides, Iphigeneia at Aulis 1255-1275
AGAMEMNON I understand what should move my pity and what should not, although I love [philos] my own children; I would be a madman otherwise. It is terrible for me to bring myself to this, woman, nor less terrible is it to refuse; for I must fare the same. You see the vastness of the naval host, and the numbers of bronze clad warriors from Hellas, who can neither make their voyage [nostos] to Ilium's towers, nor raze the far-famed citadel of Troy, unless I sacrifice you according to the word of Calchas the seer [mantis]. Some mad Aphrodite possesses the host of Hellas to sail forthwith to the land of the barbarians, and put a stop to the seizing of wives from Hellas, and they will slay my daughters in Argos as well as you and me, if I disregard the goddess's behests. It is not Menelaus who has enslaved me to him, child, nor have I followed any wish of his. No, it is Hellas, for whom I must sacrifice you whether I wish to or not; to this necessity I bow my head; for her freedom must be preserved, as far as any help of yours, daughter, or mine can go; nor must they, who are the sons of Hellas, be stripped of their wives by barbarian robbery [biâ].

I) Euripides, Hecuba 108-140
It is said that the Achaeans in full assembly have determined to offer your daughter in sacrifice to Achilles; for you know how one day he appeared standing on his tomb in golden armor, and stayed the sea-borne ships, though they had their sails already hoisted, with this pealing cry, "Where, Danaans, do you sail so fast, leaving my tomb without its prize?" Thereon arose a violent dispute with stormy altercation, and opinion was divided in the warrior host of Hellas, some being in favour of offering the sacrifice at the tomb, others dissenting. There was Agamemnon, all eagerness in your interest, because of his love for the frenzied prophetess; but the two sons of Theseus, scions of Athens, though supporting different proposals, yet agreed on the same decision, which was to crown Achilles' tomb with fresh-spilt blood; for they said they never would set Cassandra's love before Achilles' valour. Now the zeal of the rival disputants was almost equal, until that shifty, smooth-mouthed slicer of words, the son of Laertes, whose tongue is ever at the service of the mob, persuaded the army not to put aside the best of all the Danai for want of a slave-woman's sacrifice, nor have it said by any of the dead who stand beside Persephone that without one thought of gratitude the Danaans have left the plains of Troy and deserted their brethren who died for Hellas.

J) Euripides, Hecuba 254-266
A thankless [without kharis] race! all you who covet honour [timê] from the mob for your oratory. Would that you were unknown to me, you who harm your friends and think no more of it, if you can but say a word to win the mob. But tell me, what kind of cleverness did they think it, when against this child they passed their murderous vote? Was it duty led them to slay a human victim at the tomb, where sacrifice of oxen more befits? Or does Achilles, claiming the lives of those who slew him as his recompense, show his justice [dikê] by marking her out for death? No! she at least never committed any injury against him. He should have demanded Helen as a victim at his tomb, for she it was that proved his ruin, bringing him to Troy.

K) Euripides, Hecuba 309-320
Now Achilles, lady, deserves honour [timê] at our hands, since for Hellas he died as beautifully as a mortal can. Is not this a foul reproach to treat a man as a friend [philos] in life, but, when he is gone from us, to treat him so no more? Well? what will they say, if once more there comes a gathering of the army and a contest [agôn] with the foe? "Shall we fight or be lovers our lives seeing the dead have no honours [timê]?" For myself, indeed, even if in life my daily store were scant, yet it would be all-sufficient, but as touching a tomb I should wish mine to be an object of respect, for this gratitude [kharis] endures.

L) Euripides, Hecuba 528-542
Then did Achilles' son take in his hands a brimming cup of gold and poured an offering to his dead sire, making a sign to me to proclaim silence throughout the Achaean host. So I stood at his side and in their midst proclaimed, "Silence, Achaeans! All people be hushed! Peace! Be still!" Therewith I calmed the host. Then he spoke, "Son of Peleus, my father, accept the offering I pour you to appease your spirit, strong to raise the dead; and come to drink the black blood of a virgin pure, which I and the host are offering you; oh! be propitious to us; grant that we may loose our prows and the cables of our ships, and, meeting with prosperous voyage from Ilium, all come to our country and achieve a homecoming [nostos]." So he spoke; and all the army echoed his prayer.

M) Euripides, Hecuba 1287-92
Go you, unhappy Hecuba, and bury your two corpses; and you, Trojan women, go to your masters' tents, for I perceive a breeze just rising to waft us home. God grant we reach our country and find all well at home, released from troubles here!

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An electronic text of Thucydides' The Peloponnesian Wars is available from the Perseus Project. Also available, Thomas Martin's Overview of Classical Greek History from Homer to Alexander.

For more on reading Greek tragedy from a historical perspective you might consult the following:

Cartledge, P.: "'Deep Plays': Theatre as Process in Greek Civic Life." in P. E. Easterling, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Goff, B., ed. History, Tragedy, Theory: Dialogues on Athenian Drama. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

Pelling, C., ed. Greek Tragedy and the Historian. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.