Since the colonial times, the United States has relied on a number of external sources to create important founding documents, as demonstrated by the Magna Carta and the American Constitution, and the British governmental system and our own bicameral legislature. This use of outside sources does not stop with just the structure and principles of our government, but also includes the structure and ethos of our military. There have been a number of civilizations with military and leaders that inspire humans today, such as Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, but none of this civilizations were as pivotal in American military as the Spartans.

In Spartan society, dedication to service and the mission was the center of each citizens identity and time with boys being pulled from their families for training and females playing a supporting military role from a very young age. This in addition to the commitment demonstrated by relational sacrifices and their commitment to education. This is also seen in today’s officer’s force with the most educated Navy in history with increasing opportunities for masters degrees for enlisted and officer service members alike.

Spartan society was centered around a lifelong dedication to military service, allowing them to dominate their enemies on the battlefield. The culture of the Spartans can be summarized by the statement mothers would say to their sons as they we departing for war “with your shield or on it” (Plutarch). Shields in Spartan society were the key to their success only if every man utilized his shield as it was intended to be used. Without each man using his shield to protect himself and the man next to him in the sarissae, their likelihood of success in battle would plummet. This profound sense of selflessness that is found in the Spartan civilization has a key role in the officer force today. Selflessness is taught in leadership classes at the Academy as not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less and putting the needs of others ahead of your own. Spartan warrior ethos are very applicable to modern officership, as demonstrated by their indoctrination in officer training schools including plebe summer.

By studying the prowess that the Spartans demonstrated on the battlefield and within their own culture by creating warriors, we learn from their triumphs and trials in order to best most successful. The Spartans are the extreme demonstration of the leaders that Academy graduates strive to be, committed to their mission and one another.

-Mack Pearson

Word Count: 412

With the Native American explanation of the power of nature to the polytheist approach taken in Hinduism, humans have always tried to understand the natural world through religion. A common thread that unites the human experience is a need to explain the natural environment in order to develop both a sense of purpose and understanding. There are an endless number of ways to approach understanding the functioning of the the world around us, none of them more right than the other. Even the most well established religions of today once started as mystery cults and spread through various means, this concept of the infectious nature of religion is especially characteristic of Christianity. Starting as a mystery cult, Christianity is now the world’s largest religious group with 31.5% of the world identify as Christian according to a 2015 study done by Pew Research.

For hundreds of years, Roman society was heavily influenced by their polytheistic religion as evidence by the infrastructure of the city’s emphasis on traditional pagan practices. The world’s most widely practiced religion stemmed from a dream of Constantine, a powerful Roman emperor, about the Battle of Milvian Bridge. In the dream, he was instructed to fight under the banner of the Chi Rho, the period’s symbol of Christianity, and his victory would be guaranteed. The dream coming to fruition had two long lasting impacts that shaped the Roman empire and the world forever: Constantine’s victory over Maximinus allowed him to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, additionally it gave Christianity the credibility to develop into a widely accepted religion. Without this decisive victory at a strategically important location, Christianity would have had lacked serious footing to develop into the powerful religion it is today.

Christianity was victorious over traditional pagan religious because of the Edict of Milan, the effective organization and the inclusionary message. Issued by Constantine, the Edict of Milan declared Christianity as a legal religion, effectively halting the persecution of Christians. While Christianity was the religious minority, the organized structure of the church and the use of missionaries made the religion extremely accessible and easy to comprehend for people of all backgrounds. In addition, in contrast to works based religions, Christianity appealed to people of all backgrounds because it an not exclusionary on the basis on education or wealth. Because of the climate in the Roman empire that resulted from the victory of the Battle of Milvian Bridge, the spread of Christianity was inevitable.

-Mack Pearson

Word Count: 411

Sun Tzu’s Art of War captures the culture and ideals of China towards the end of the sixth century BC, yet it remains applicable to the experience and training of midshipmen and the Naval Academy. While little of Sun Tzu is recorded in contemporary records, this text describes the behavior and movement required of military personnel that is centered on his philosophy on five fundamental truths. Through the application of these truths, Sun Tzu demonstrates how to attain victory over enemies while living a principled life.

In The Art of War Sun Tzu states that there are five fundamentals on which everything else is based: the Way, heaven, earth, command, and discipline. While not necessarily in the traditional sense, all of these elements are present in the training midshipmen receive at the Naval Academy. “The Way” causes men follow their leaders into battle. Similarly, midshipmen have their own motivations for following orders, while it may not necessary be this illusive unconscious trust of their leader. The way at the Naval Academy is manifested in students want to avoid conduct action by all means necessary. The fundamental of heaven is viewed in the traditional sense as the cycle of seasons, but also applicable in unconventional ways such as the intensity and lull of academic testing in the six week cycle. While there is not a direct representation of the fundamental of earth at the Academy, the fundamentals of command and discipline are large principles that are taught at the here.

The principles of command and discipline are emphasized heavily, especially in learning environments such as plebe summer and even plebe year. Importance is placed on these principles in particular because they have the farthest reaching repercussions for our future development as upper class midshipmen, and eventually officers. The text describes these fundamentals as “courage” and “chain of command” which are key to the daily workings of this institution. The presence of the chain of command streamlines the tasks that must be accomplished, while also dividing responsibility and increasing the success rate of accomplishing tasks correctly.

Additionally, Sun Tzu introduces the importance of strategizing and planning for success on the battlefield. By stating that battle must be “pondered carefully,” Sun Tzu creates an interesting juxtaposition between the violence that is associated with battle and meticulous planning. This principle is applied everyday to midshipmen life as we have to strategize our individual plan of the day to navigate the overwhelming amount of work we are assigned.

In accordance to Sun Tzu, the relationship between these five fundamentals is paramount in the art of making war. While there have been modifications to Sun Tzu’s initial principles, they are still integrated in the tradition and teachings of the Naval Academy.

Most history professors would argue that it is important to study the past so we can learn from our mistakes and avoid them in the future. The application of this unifying concept can be seen currently unfolding through the issue of immigration in American government thousands of years later. In ancient Athens, the main issue debated in the assembly was granting citizenship to metics and slaves, with both sides arguing primarily to benefit their political agenda and not became of their devotion to the cause. Metics were individuals who either immigrated to Athens or were born in Athens to non-Athenian parents. Both metics and slaves were characterized by their service in the Athenian military and/or their contributed to Athenian society in a notable manner. Similarly today, dreamers, a term that has been assigned to the young immigrants that were brought America illegal as children as their parents pursued the American dream, have made a large contribution to American society in academia and in the economy.

Created as an executive order by President Obama in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has given nearly 800,000 unauthorized immigrants protection from deportation for a span of two years, which is eligible for reapplication. Early in his presidency, President Trump announced that he plans to phase out the program by not accepting new applications from dreamers, while granting those still in America temporary amnesty. This is projected to have a large negative impact on the American economy. Over the past decade the Joint Economic Committee estimates that dreamers have added $460.3 billion to the American economy, and that DACA deportations could cost the American economy billions as 91% of DACA recipients are employed. Similar to Athenian metics, dreamers are under the critical view of politically and socially esteemed members of their respective society, with the pressure to fulfill additional requirements socially and economically in order to be viewed as equal. A prime example of this is the tax metics had to pay despite possessing just as much Athenian blood as their peers in the Athenian assembly.

These two instances have eerily similar parallels, despite having a drastically different executions. Athens never opened citizenship to metics or slaves, despite a compelling argument for the incorporation of these groups. Despite metics and slaves being awarded the freedom of speech, they were never allowed to cast votes in assembly. This is somewhat similar to the current American immigration situation, as dreamers are allowed temporary residence in the United States while not being afforded all American privileges.

With these vast differences between American democracy and Athenian democracy, the two perspectives are united in the idea that we the people, or the “demos’, are the presider’s over the senate or assembly. As the United States continues to refine policy and develop and better understanding of the long term effects of immigration policy, the example of the repercussions for Athenians refusing metics citizenships will continue to be a historical place of reflection and introspection.

There are numerous fundamental differences between the American representative democracy and the Athenian democracy which it was based off of. The founders were heavily inspired by the Greek system, but they make the executive decision to make American democracy representative instead of direct. Because of the volatile nature of democracy, this decision was the result of the conflicting nature of efficiency and representation, with representative democracy being perceived to be the more effective of the two. The primary differences between the Athenian direct democracy and America’s representative democracy are diversity of the electorate and the mitigation of the role of factions.

While representative democracy is generally a more effective form of government, it is not always perfect. Because of faithless electors, members of the Electoral College who do not vote for the presidential candidate that they pledge to vote for, four different presidents have been elected despite not winning the popular vote. This happened most recently in the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, where Clinton lost to her opponent despite winning the popular vote by nearly one million popular ballots. Because Athenian democracy was direct and they did not vote through someone like we do now, this issue was avoided in its entirety.

Contrastingly, representative democracy is superior because it allows for more perspectives to be heard, safeguarding the electorate from factions. Despite the disconnect between the Electoral College and its constituents, the American people are gaining more representation through the increased representation of minority groups on Congress. The 116th Congress is the most diverse representation the United States has had in it history, with record numbers of religious diversity and LGBTQ representation. A diverse electorate results in an increased likelihood for the passage of legislation that would empower historically disenfranchised groups.

When building the American system of government with the frame of Athenian democracy, the issue of factions surfaced and ultimately served as one of the many factors that sparks the federalist movement. In Federalist Paper 10, James Madison spoke of the dire effects of factions and the necessity for a strong federal government to mitigate their power. Ultimately, a representative democracy was the selected choice of government to limit the ‘mob rule’ that the Athens witnessed in their assembly.

The American concept of representation contrasts starkly with their Greek influence. In ancient Greek assemblies, women, slaves, and metics were band from voting. This elist perception against a majority of the Greek populous was the result of their culture values and socialization to discriminate against these groups of people. Because of the disenfranchisement of over half of the Greek population, democracy was only representative of those who had the means to qualify for a position in the electorate. The effects of barring these groups from voting is highly based on speculation, but it is implied that

Representative democracy, as the modern day translation of direct democracy, serves it purpose, despite having a variety of shortcoming. With increased diversity in the legislature and measures to limit the power of factions, representative government is the best use of governmental power granted by the people for the people.

-Mack Pearson

Word Count: 518

Released in the United States in 2017, Wonder Woman is a captivating film that tells the story of Diana, Princess of the Amazons, coming to mankind’s rescue to save their world in an epic tale of self empowerment and teamwork. The plot of the film is centered around the conflict of World War I, which was introduced to Wonder Woman by chance after an American pilot lands near her island, Themyscira, the home island of the Amazons.  

The Greek influences in the film extend beyond the protagonist’s homeland. The film relies heavily on Greek mythology and tangible culture to develop Diana as a character. The comic on which the movie was based was created in 1941 by William Moulton, a self proclaimed feminist, collaterally as a result of the early twentieth century American fascination with matriarchal societies. This emphasis on matriarchs is seen as with Diana growing up in the fierce warrior culture of the Amazons and Hippolyta as her mother. Despite Hippolyta actually being the queen of the amazons, according to Greek mythology, she never had any children and was the son of Ares, indicative of the film’s many inaccuracies. While Wonder Woman herself is obviously a fictional character, she is rooted in and created from Greek mythology, which is evident to the audience and visible throughout the duration of the film.

While the film heavily simplifies the complexities of Greek mythology, its heavy influence is indicative of the role ancient culture still plays in modern media. Aries, the antagonist of the movie, is portrayed by a normal, unassuming man, which is in stark contrast to how to god of war is usually portrayed. Additionally, in mythology, Ares is the father of Hippolyta, making him the grandfather of Diana, which is completely ignored in the film. Diana also highlighted how not all of the issues of mankind can be put on one person in particular, making the Ares character less omnipotent than he appears in Greek mythology. With these stark differences from recorded Greek culture, the film skillfully uses parts of mythology that thicken the plot and add interest to the characters.

Differences between historically accurate Greek mythology and its use in Wonder Woman, was intentional to make it more comprehensible for the audience and to allow the writers and directors a degree creative liberty. The select choices made to deviate from the traditional Greek tales ultimately did not drastically impact any of the culture’s use in the film, especially because the differences are not well known amongst the target audience.

Ultimately, while Wonder Woman’s character, and the plot and costumes of the movie, are heavily influenced by Greek culture, Diana herself is not based on a goddess. The writers incorporation of Greek mythology tactfully reintroduced Greek culture, despite their occasional creative deviation.

–Mack Pearson

Word Count: 464