Historiae, Vol. I

Αρχαία Ελληνική Γραμματεία: Οι Έλληνες

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

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: History, Classics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 401

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

[Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unequalled for insight, wisdom and prose style.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only ancient Greek history of the Peloponnesian war that I know of yet. Athens and Sparta had each developed a sphere of influence - officially an alliance, but in practice more like an empire - until they had practically divided all Greece between them. So when they fought, all Greece fought, and all Greece was devastated. Though Thucydides was Athenian, the history is a little more sympathetic to the Spartans, who claimed to be liberating Greece from Athenian tyranny. But usually it exposes both sides' idealistic proclamations and calls for justice as covers for calculating, self-interested imperialism. The cynicism is more fatalistic than judgmental. The syntax is convoluted and a lot of the vocabulary is unfamiliar to me, so I didn't understand it that well. Since I was reading in Greek, and there are a lot of other things I want to read in Greek soon, I only finished books 1-4 out of nine.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

it is very difficult to follow what is going on

[Elizabeth Kosmetatou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Standard Oxford edition of Thucydides. Obviously, we all start from there. This is not a translation but the original text of Thucydides.