Ιστορία : Βιβλίον Γ-Δ

by Thucydides, Θουκυδίδης, Έλλη Λαμπρίδη (Translator)

Thucydides of Athens, one of the greatest of historians, was born about 471 BCE. He saw the rise of Athens to greatness under the inspired leadership of Pericles. In 430, the second year of the Peloponnesian War, he caught and survived the horrible plague which he described so graphically. Later, as general in 423 he failed to save Amphipolis from the enemy and was disgraced. He tells about this, not in volumes of self-justification, but in one sentence of his history of the war—that it befell him to be an exile for twenty years. He then lived probably on his property in Thrace, but was able to observe both sides in certain campaigns of the war, and returned to Athens after her defeat in 404. He had been composing his famous history, with its hopes and horrors, triumphs and disasters, in full detail from first-hand knowledge of his own and others.

The war was really three conflicts with one uncertain peace after the first; and Thucydides had not unified them into one account when death came sometime before 396. His history of the first conflict, 431-421, was nearly complete; Thucydides was still at work on this when the war spread to Sicily and into a conflict (415-413) likewise complete in his awful and brilliant record, though not fitted into the whole. His story of the final conflict of 413-404 breaks off (in the middle of a sentence) when dealing with the year 411. So his work was left unfinished and as a whole unrevised. Yet in brilliance of description and depth of insight this history has no superior.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Thucydides is in four volumes.

Genres: History, Classics, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

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

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, Lesbos and Mitylene revolt against Athens while Corcyra revolts against the Peloponnesians. Then Petaea gets questioned by Athens about their alliance with Lacedaemon and blames Thebes (in Boeotia?), to which Thebes is like I don’t what you’re talking about; you’re on your own here. Athens then debates on invading Sicily because they knew that was where the Peloponnesians got their corn. Then Athens invades Aetolia. Then the Delian games. Then four or so places with A names sign a treaty that says that Athens has to leave them alone but they let Corinth build a base anyway and then Mt Etna erupts. Then Athens starves the Lacedaemonians into negotiations, but then negotiations are broken off by parties not in the loop. Corcyra revolts again (or maybe the revolt dies down?). Boeotia is invaded because it turns on Athens (as far as I understand the issue) plus it was the wood supplier of Athens. Ampipholis falls and Brasidas wins some major battles. The plot really picks up by this point; before this, it was just a lot of speeches and crap.