Nemesis

Igor Mitoraj’s sculpture of fallen Icarus, beaten by the sun amidst the Greek ruins of Agrigento, work well as an allegory for the history of ancient Athens’ failed bid for universal empire. Like the flight of Icarus, Athens’ audacious but ultimately disastrous attempt to conquer Sicily constitutes a tragic tale that stands the test of time. My dissertation explores the concept of ‘tragedy’ in international relations theory, particularly as it is relevant for understanding the ancient historian Thucydides and twentieth-century realist theorist Hans Morgenthau. Both men, I argue, understood the tragedy of Athens to be rooted in human eroticism: that is, behaviour motivated by desire sexual in intensity and transgressive in nature. The role of love in forging - and destroying - communities, links between power and masculinity, and related issues thereby emerge as important but hitherto unexamined concerns of these two influential thinkers.