Read complete books and articles on: Thucydides

Thucydides - thoosĭdˈĭdēz, c.460–c.400 b.c., Greek historian of Athens, one of the greatest of ancient historians. His family was partly Thracian. As a general in the Peloponnesian War he failed (424 b.c.) to prevent the surrender of the city of Amphipolis to the Spartan commander Brasidas and was exiled until the end of the war. He thus had opportunity to acquaint himself with both the Athenians and the Spartans and to acquire firsthand information for his one work, the incomplete History of the Peloponnesian War. It covered the period from 431 to 411 and was a departure from the histories of the past, both in method and presentation. He wrote a text to be read, not recited, and he was scrupulous in his presentation of facts. Preeminently a military history, chronicling events by the seasons, it completely avoids any reference to social conditions or state policy, unless they have to deal with the progress of the war, and interprets the succession of events in view of the general nature and behavior of man rather than as the result of a fate outside man's influence. The work is enlivened by the well-crafted speeches he puts into the mouths of participants in the events he chronicles, a common technique in his day. The most splendid of these is Pericles' funeral oration. Thucydides' account of the plague, through which he lived, displays his clinical and descriptive attitude and is a standard of its type. He is generally acclaimed as the creator of scholarly history as we know it today. The classic English translation of the History is that of Thomas Hobbes (1629; ed. by David Grene, 1959); modern translations include those by Richard Crawley (1910, repr. 1952), Rex Warner (1954), and R. W. Livingstone (1960).

See studies by J. H. Finley (1942, repr. 1967), G. B. Grundy (2d ed. 1948), H. D. Westlake (1968), and A. G. Woodhead (1970); A. W. Gomme et al., A Historical Commentary on Thucydides (5 vol., 1945–78).

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13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Thucydides

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Thucydides and the History of His Age, Vol. I » Read Now
by G. B. Grundy. 553 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...THUCYDIDES AND THE HISTORY OF HIS AGE THUCYDIDES AND THE HISTORY OF HIS AGE BY G. B. GRUNDY...formed this idea of composing a historical edition of Thucydides, I had no...
2.

Thucydides and the History of His Age, Vol. II » Read Now
by G. B. Grundy. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

Thucydides and the Science of History » Read Now
by Charles Norris Cochrane. 182 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...THUCYDIDES AND THE SCIENCE OF HISTORY THUCYDIDES AND THE SCIENCE OF HISTORY By CHARLES NORRIS COCHRANE...WILLIAM STAFFORD MILNER CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION CRITICS of...
4.

Thucydides on War and National Character » Read Now
by Robert D. Luginbill. 234 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

Thucydides, Vol. I » Read Now
by Benjamin Jowett. 267 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
6.

Thucydides, Vol. II » Read Now
by Benjamin Jowett. 516 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...THUCYDIDES JOWETT -ii- THUCYDIDES TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH TO WHICH IS PREFIXED AN ESSAY ON INSCRIPTIONS AND A NOTE ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF THUCYDIDES BY BENJAMIN JOWETT, M.A...
7.

Thucydides: Narrative and Explanation » Read Now
by Tim Rood. 339 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book analyzes the narrative technique of Thucydides, relating his shifting uses of various techniques to his explanatory aims, and showing how he narrates the progression of one war and at the same time exposes various truths about the human condition.
8.

A Commentary on Thucydides » Read Now
by Simon Hornblower. 548 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This is the first volume of a three-volume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of Thucydides, the great fifth-century BC historian of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Of the three books covered in this volume, Book I presents Thucydides' aims in writing the work and...
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This is the first volume of a three-volume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of Thucydides, the great fifth-century BC historian of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Of the three books covered in this volume, Book I presents Thucydides' aims in writing the work and the historical background to the war. Books II and III describe the main events of the first five years of the war (431-426) and include Pericles' funeral oration, the plague of Athens, the revolt of Mytilene, the destruction of Plataea, and civil war in Corcyra. Thucydides intended his work to be "an everlasting Possession" and the continuing importance of his work is undisputed. Simon Hornblower's commentary, by translating every passage or phrase of Greek commented on, for the first time allows the reader with little or no Greek to appreciate the detail of Thucydides' thought and subject-matter. It is the first complete commentary written by a single author this century and explores both the historical and literary aspects of the work. A full index is provided at the end of the volume.
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9.

The History of the Peloponnesian War » Read Now
by Thucydides. 658 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR by THUCYDIDES TRANSLATED BY RICHARD CRAWLEY...Great Expectations 234A Thucydides-- The History of The Peloponnesian War...The Colonial Press...
10.

The Ancient Greek Historians » Read Now
by J. B. Bury. 300 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...HERODOTUS 36 III. THUCYDIDES 75 1. His Life and...History 102 IV. THUCYDIDES continued 107 1...DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER THUCYDIDES 150 1. The...
11.

Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History ("Thucydides" begins on p. 265) » Read Now
by Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, Sarah B. Pomeroy, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. 514 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The book introduces readers to the history and civilization of ancient Greece in all its complexity and variety, from its first beginnings in the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC) through the Hellenistic Era (c. 150 BC). Employing a truly balanced approach to history -- integrating its political, military...
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The book introduces readers to the history and civilization of ancient Greece in all its complexity and variety, from its first beginnings in the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC) through the Hellenistic Era (c. 150 BC). Employing a truly balanced approach to history -- integrating its political, military, social and cultural aspects -- the authors show how the early Greeks borrowed from their neighbours but eventually developed a distinctive culture all their own marked by astonishing creative, versatility, and resilience. They go on to trace the complex and surprising evolution of Greek civilization to its eventual dissolution as it merged with a variety of other cultures. Using the physical evidence of archaeology, the written testimony of literary texts and inscriptions, and anthropological models based on comparative studies, this book provides an account of the Greek world that is thoughtful and sophisticated while remaining accessible to readers who know little or nothing about Greece. The four renowned authors of this book, whose interests range from the study of women in the ancient world to military and diplomatic history, have produced a lively, up-to-date and balanced account of rich civilization.
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12.

Thucydides and Internal War » Read Now
by Jonathan J. Price. 410 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book explains in detail Thucydides' abstract model of internal war, and then shows how, by the terms of the model itself, Thucydides perceived and narrated the Peloponnesian War not as a conventional war but as an internal conflict. Viewing the great war as a destructive internal conflict had...
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This book explains in detail Thucydides' abstract model of internal war, and then shows how, by the terms of the model itself, Thucydides perceived and narrated the Peloponnesian War not as a conventional war but as an internal conflict. Viewing the great war as a destructive internal conflict had profound consequences for Thucydides' understanding of this particular war and all wars in general, and of Greece as a whole.
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13.

Political Theories of International Relations: From Thucydides to the Present (Chap. 4 "Thucydides' Peloponnesian War") » Read Now
by David Boucher. 443 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Boucher uses ideas of Western philosophy's most significant thinkers to trace the history of political theory in international relations. He ends by showing how theories compare with and extend the themes addressed by their predecessors.