Page 49 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1826 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Selection from Thucydides’s

The History of the Peleponnesian War

In the extract below, Thucydides recounts a portion bar, but a man may benefit his country whatever be
of Pericles’s famous funeral oration memorializing the obscurity of his condition. There is no exclusive-
the Athenian soldiers who died in battle during the ness in our public life, and in our private intercourse
first year of the civil war between Athens and Sparta we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with
(431 BCE). our neighbour if he does what he likes; we do not put
on sour looks at him which, though harmless, are not
Our form of government does not enter into rivalry
pleasant.While we are thus unconstrained in our pri-
with the institutions of others. We do not copy our
vate intercourse, a spirit of reverence pervades our
neighbours, but are an example to them. It is true that
public acts; we are prevented from doing wrong by
we are called a democracy, for the administration is in
respect for the authorities and for the laws, having an
the hands of the many and not of the few. But while
especial regard to those which are ordained for the
the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private
protection of the injured as well as to those unwritten
disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized;
laws which bring upon the transgressor of them the
and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is
reprobation of the general sentiment.
preferred to the public service, not as a matter of priv-
Source: Thucydides. (1900). The history of the Peleponnesian War (B. Jowett,Trans.; Book
ilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty a 2, p. 127ff). London: Oxford University Press.

Thucydides wrote his narrative prose in a clear, austere Thucydides focused his history on war and politics—
style. His historical methodology was innovative, and he establishing these as first and foremost the subject for his-
drew a distinction between his research methods and tory. However, in describing the suffering caused by war
those of his predecessors, criticizing Hellanicus by name, and the way in which war destroyed the morals of a soci-
and by implication, Herodotus too. He tells us that he ety,Thucydides moved from narrative of the particular to
took great care to ascertain the truth about events by find- a general exploration of human nature that makes his his-
ing reliable witnesses, did not even rely on his own tory an invaluable possession for all time.
observations, and took into account just how unreliable
Ian Plant
or partisan his witnesses may have been. He also declares
that he has designed his history for posterity, not just for See also Greece, Ancient; Writing World History
the pleasure of the listener (in his day histories were read
aloud to an audience) or to win a particular competition.
Thucydides is famous for the set speeches that he
Further Reading
included in his history.These are highly rhetorical, mak-
Blanco,W., & Roberts, J.T. (Eds.). (1998). Thucydides:The Peloponnesian
ing use of complex abstract expressions and antitheses War. New York: Norton.
that often obscure their meaning. Here we see the results Cartwright, D., & Warner, R. (1997). A historical commentary on Thucy-
dides: A companion to Rex Warner’s Penguin translation. Ann Arbor:
of his training under Antiphon, with the rhetoric also University of Michigan Press.
owing a great deal to the influence of the sophist Gor- Cawkwell, G. (1997). Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War. London:
Routledge.
gias. It has been argued that these speeches are Thucy-
Connor, W. R. (1984). Thucydides. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
dides’ own free compositions, based upon what he Press.
deemed appropriate for the speakers to say in the cir- Crane, G. (1996). The blinded eye. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers.
cumstances. Thucydides himself claims that they were Crane, G. (1998). Thucydides and the ancient simplicity: The limits of
based on what had actually been said, while paradoxi- political realism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Finley, J. (1942). Thucydides. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
cally admitting that he made each speaker say what he
Gomme, A. W., Andrewes, A., & Dover, K. J. (1945–1981). An histori-
himself thought that speaker ought to have said. cal commentary on Thucydides. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.