Deadly Dialogue: Thucydides with Plato

In this paper it will be argued that Thucydides's Melian Dialogue is best illuminated in the context of Socratic dialogue as given by Plato. Thucydides and Plato take directly oppositional positions on dialogue versus debate or philosophy versus rhetoric. REPRESENTATIONS 117. Winter 2012 (C) The Regents of the University of California. ISSN 0734-6018, electronic ISSN 1533-855X, pages 59-85. All rights reserved. Direct requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content to the University of California Press at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/rep.2012.117.1.59.