This stimulating new study provides a narrative of the monumental conflict of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, and examines the realities of the war and its effects on the average Athenian.: A penetrating new study of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta by an established scholar; Offers an original interpretation of how and why the war began; Weaves in the contemporary evidence of Aristophanes in order to give readers a new sense of how the war affected the individual; Discusses the practicalities and realities of the war; Examines the blossoming of culture and inte.