Wikipedia Assignment - Ancient History

Summary of Article:
The Peloponnesian War was actually a series of three smaller wars or phases that plagued Ancient Greece. The opposing forces were Athens and its entire empire and the Peloponnesian League that included Sparta. The first battle is known as the Archidamian War in which the Peace of Nicias signified the conclusion in 421 BC. Although the treaty was signed, it was only 6 short years before the fighting began again. This second phase represents a huge failure on behalf of Athens when they posed an attack on Syracuse and lost their entire army. In the third and final part of the war, the Decelean or Ionian war, the Persian supported Spartans were in support of the States of Athens in their rebellion which ultimately destroyed the naval strength of their mother State. Athens surrendered shortly after this defeat.

1. The article is 361 words long.
2. I searched through google with 'Peloponnesian War' as the search keywords. The article is titled Peloponnesian War.
3. There is no disambiguation link on the site I used.
4. On the discussion page of the site it looks like anyone can post a question and it gets answered by another reader that is educated in the subject. The person answering also gives links to where they get their information from. It seems kind of like the blog we do for class. It looks like there are all different kinds of comments on this page.
5. There have been well over 500 changes, the most recent being minutes before I logged onto the page and the earliest listed was July 23, 2003.
6. There are three external links listed.
7. & 8. On the site I found, the references are listed with Further Reading. There are fourteen references listed under modern authors, and five under classical authors.

I would personally recommend this article to others interested in the Peloponnesian War because the article was just the right length and all the key points were reached quickly and clearly. I have a general overview of the war now and it didn't take too long to read it and the subject matter wasn't so dense that I was falling asleep. There is also a summary that gives a generalized overview of the effects of this war on Greece and the surrounding area in the time to come and how devistating it was to a large area and a lot of people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War

Diminishing Influence of the Gods

Whenever I think of the Greek people and history, the first thing that comes to mind are the Greek Gods and all the legends surrounding them. I never really thought that there would be a point when the people of the Greek nations would start looking for more realixtic answers to why things happen and how they happen. The 5th century is when all the folklore began to unravel. The people had seen years and years of brutal and savage warfare which lead to the diminishing influence of the Gods on the Greek people. As the people started looking for answers from the natural world and science rather than the Gods, many well known philosophers began to make names for themselves through their radical ideas. Philosophy was the answer to the disappointment and dissatisfaction the people were experiencing with the mystical world of the Gods and all of their myths. Answers with concrete evidence such as things existing from water or material substances without incorporating the work of the Gods was something new yet the people embraced it. It's almost sad for me reading about how the Greeks slowly stopped believing in the Gods and stopped considering them in their every day life. The Gods, their powers and purposes and all the myths that went along with them were the coolest thing about Greece and ancient history to me, it will be even more interesting to see where they went to next with their ideas and philosophy.