A Conflict With Athens Poem by Paul Hartal

This happened many years ago.
The Greek historian Thucydides
had recorded it for posterity in his
'History of the Peloponnesian War'.

One of the great tragedies
of that war occurred in Melos,
a small volcanic island
in the Aegean Sea, between
Crete and mainland Greece.

In the summer of 416 BCE
an Athenian army o 3,000 soldiers
landed on the Island of Melos, led by
the generals Cleomedes and Tisias.

They demanded surrender
and the payment of tribute.
They said they would spare the Melians
if they joined the Delian League,
the Athens-led military alliance
of some 150 Greek city-states.

The Melians rejected the ultimatum.
Then the Athenian army laid siege
to the fortified city of Melos.

For several month the defenders
withstood the attacks and the siege.
However, in the winter of 416
the Athenian army conquerred the city.

The soldiers from the mainland
searched every nook and cranny
on the island looking for survivors.
They killed all the adult males in Melos.
And then they sold the women
and children into slavery.