Although the Melian Dialogue is not much of a dialogue, it is anointed as the foundation of political realism. The paper argues that realism is delusional and defeating. The more inclusive dialogue in Euripides’ The Trojan Women juxtaposes the language of power, war and empire with loss, hopelessness and what Saïd called “the crippling sorrow of estrangement.”
Peter Euben is an Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science and Classical Studies, and a Kenan Distinguished Faculty Fellow Emeritus at Duke University.