Reading Thucydides

by James V. Morrison

"Reading" Thucydides in antiquity may have differed significantly from our own modern experience. Although it is natural for us to speak of "readers," this book demonstrates that Thucydides is a transitional figure between the predominantly oral culture of fifth-century BCE Athens and the more literate culture that followed. Thucydides describes his work as "a possession forever," yet he acknowledges that those listening may find it "less than delightful." Is he writing, therefore, for readers or listeners? In Reading Thucydides, James V. Morrison proposes a "hybrid" reception model, arguing that Thucydides' History may be regarded as a pivotal work that seeks to recreate the earlier world of spoken argument, yet it does so as a text that may be read and reread--and heard and heard again. Thucydides challenges his readers in many ways. Morrison finds the reader's experience to be the result of deliberate strategies on Thucydides' part. Indeed, the History is an interactive work that engages readers by encouraging them to adopt the position of figures within the work, to project themselves into the past, and to view what is past as part of an indeterminate future. The "participatory" nature of Thucydides' narrative, like Plato's dialogues a generation later, reflects the transition from orality to the rise of public and private reading. Reading Thucydides brings clarity to the historian's working methods in a highly readable, accessible style. Thus it will appeal not only to scholars but to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in history and classics. .

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Alex Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're thinking about reading Thucydides, there's two problems that you immediately face: (1) which translation to use? (2) How do I actually read this thing (because it's not like a usual book of history that could be read cover-to-cover)?

Morrison tackles the latter question quite well in the first two chapters of this book, and discusses in the rest of the book the techniques Thucydides employs.

The author argues "Thucydides encourages his reader’s engagement in extrapolation and conjecture (eikazein) with respect to both past and future: readers must project themselves into the past and view what is past to them as part of an indeterminate future." I've never considered this approach before, hence it is a technique worth considering.

Really the broader thesis forwarded is that Thucydides attempted to "preserve" (in some sense) the culture of "oral tradition" in text, in a manner that could be analogous to a recorded lecture provocative enough for the listener to pause and mull over the topic.

If you are not a scholar or expert in Thucydidean studies, do not buy this book. It suffices to read the first two chapters: the rest will be difficult reading for laypeople, as they are detailed arguments about particular aspects and problems related to the general technique outlined in chapter 2...which only academics would be interested in...