Historiae, Vol. 2

by Thucydides, H.W. Jones (Editor), Enoch Powell (Editor)

If ever a tragedy of Olympian proportions could be ascribed to an historic event, it would surely be appropriate to use that term in relation to the great city state of Athens. John Ruskin referred to the Peloponnesian War as "the suicide of Greece". It is an apt phrase. For never in history has a community reached such sublime heights of civilized life only to plummet to ignominious defeat within a single lifetime. In one of the great coincidences of history, Thucydides was enabled to observe this event, and commit to paper the most accurate, dramatic, and beautifully expressive history that has yet been written...of his era, or any other.Volume 2 opens with the Spartans and Athenians pursuing their grim struggle. As the war continues to drain both sides materially and emotionally, a truce is finally arranged after the deaths of thousands, including the great Brasidas and Pericles. But the Athenians are persuaded by a young Alcibiades to launch an expedition against Syracuse in Sicily. In what has been hailed as the finest description of an historical event ever recorded, Thucydides provides posterity with a lucid and horrifying chronicle of the incredible folly and incompetence of the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition. When the magnificent Spartan general, Gylippus, slips into the besieged city of Syracuse, his mere presence tips the scales. Listen as the tragedy unfolds and Athens, reeling from the catastrophe, valiantly rebuilds her forces and continues the relentless struggle. In the face of odds that appear increasingly hopeless, Athens somehow finds the resolve to maintain the conflict.This audiobook uses Benjamin Jowett's translation.

336 pages, Hardcover

Published December 31, 1942

About the author

Thucydides (c. 460 B.C. – c. 400 B.C.) (Greek Θουκυδίδης ) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.
He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal text of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles' Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics.
More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plagues, massacres, and wars.

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

La dissennata e disastrosa spedizione ateniese in Sicilia è un po’ il cuore di "questo" secondo volume. Voluta e decisa con troppa sicurezza, l'impresa fu portata avanti con iniziale fortuna; ben presto divenne una tragedia cupissima e disperata. Gli assedianti assediati, gli orgogliosi umiliati, i potenti ridotti in vincoli, una flotta superba e un esercito agguerrito schiacciati e fatti a pezzi; migliaia e migliaia di soldati ateniesi e alleati, massacrati, imprigionati, lasciati morire di fame e di sete, preda delle malattie nella calda estate siracusana (il paragone va a Stalingrado, ma non tanto a ben pensarci).
Sono “disceso” nelle Latomie (non come furono fatti “discendere” gli Atenesi, però) nel maggio di qualche anno fa, con una certa apprensione, ricordando i fatti tragici di quel 413 a.C. Un grandissimo agrumeto inselvatichito copre la voragine e i canaloni sono percorsi da frotte di turisti vocianti. L’Orecchio di Dionisio rimbomba di richiami e di allegre strilla. Un ambiente naturale bellissimo, affascinante che ti conquista e ti fa sognare. Non ci sono più i cadaveri putrefatti di opliti e peltasti ateniesi, né i moribondi; l’inferno siracusano in cui furono condannati gli Ateniesi allo sterminio è ora un’oasi naturale, un piccolo eden…
Importantissima, ma quasi eclissata dal racconto della spedizione, l’introduzione storica della Sicilia fatta da Tucidide: dai primi abitanti, ai Sicani, agli Elimi e ai Siculi; infine ai colonizzatori greci. La datazione tucididea della fondazione delle colonie greche è talmente rigorosa e tratta da informazioni sicure, che le scoperte archeologiche la confermano come altamente attendile. Perbacco, proprio forte 'sta datazione di Siracusa, Megara Iblea, Gela etc.
La narrazione tucididea composta durante le svolgersi della guerra e che nel progetto iniziale doveva concludersi col tracollo ateniese e la pace del 404 a.C., si arresta invece all’anno 411 e alla vittoria navale ateniese a Cinossema.
C’è chi dice di sì e c’è chi dice di no. Tucidide non poté terminare la sua opera perché assassinato dai radicali democratici ateniesi dopo il suo rientro ad Atene? Il primo e secondo libro delle Ellenche di Senofonte in realtà sarebbero l’ultima parte della Guerra de Peloponneso di Tucidide? Tucidide nel 411 non era più in esilio? Mannaggia a me che mi sono invischiato in queste diatribe, e mo’, pe’ pote’ dormì la notte, me tocca a legge tutta la bibliografia de Canfora…

[Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s when Thucydides abandons you at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus and hands you over to Xenophon that you realise how much insight, wisdom and prose style you’ll have to miss.