Compared to Homer, Thucydides' Athenians find themselves lying to themselves about their true intentions. Before the glory of Athens “piracy became a common profession both among the Hellenes and among the barbarians who dwelt on the coast and in the islands” (HPW 1.5). This barbarism is what Athens rejected by adopting “Athenian audacity” in which “they take risks against their better judgment, and yet, in the midst of danger they remain confident” and believe “that the farther they go, the more they will achieve” (HPW 1.70). This faith in the raw polis is why the Athenians fall. The Athenians believed that their values ​​were worth fighting for, but in reality it was all a fiction. They saw their great city as one that no one could measure against and under Pericles, this may have been the case, but we see that the people as a whole were under an illusion of virtue. They fought to keep the illusion alive. This is why Cleon proved to be “the greatest influence on the people” by arguing that “a city is better off with bad laws, as long as they remain fixed, than with good laws which are constantly being changed” (HPW 3.36-37). Knowledge is delicate and easy to seduce. Even the worst of morals can be perceived as prosperous by the Athenians due to the fog in which they have immersed themselves. Ignorance in recognizing their blind faith in a leader led to the fall of the polis. That's why the “sudden