Thucydides draws sharp distinction between his work and that of his predecessors.
He describes the care, which he took in ascertaining the truth about the events he writes of. He claims to have sought out the best possible source, not relying simply on the first informant or his own limited perspective. It is clear that this would have required a great deal of effort considering different people produced contradictory reconstructions of the same events. Another large part of Thucydides work is based on the many reconstructions of speeches from various orators. He highly regards his own work in this area and claims to have made the best possible reconstructions in his speeches.
Thucydides work is perhaps still of great interest today based on the fact that his writing delved largely into human nature itself. He sees and writes on how impressive human nature and life can be at their best, but also how rapidly both can degenerate under stress. Thucydides explains the principles upon which he evaluates evidence; his basic perspective is that human nature is the basic cause of historical events. In this way Thucydides attributes no historical events to either the gods or fate. Thucydides strongly believed that when faced with a similar problem, all men react in a similar fashion.
Perhaps the greatest reason for the importance of Thucydides work however was his unique style. His writing described as straightforward, although compact, rapid and succinct. In the speeches he writes of, Thucydides is said to “strain the language” crowding the maximum of thought in the minimum of words. Ancient critics mention his neglect for elegance, which further supports his emphasis on a level of accuracy rather than telling a story. Thucydides was also said to be strongly interested and influenced in drama, probably resulting in his tragic style. Thucydides believed in history as a lesson, constructing his book in preconceived patterns aimed to apply lessons in morality as well as in history. He believed his accounts of the war could reveal the circumstances in which the war eventuated, in the hope that it would be read and understood by future generations effectively preventing future conflict.
Thucydides did not simply produce an excellent history of a particular war. He transformed the conception of what history was and could be as thoroughly as anyone who ever attempted to analyse human events. His methods of gathering information and levels of accuracy have earnt him the respectable label of the first “scientific historian” and his unique style have driven him away from the historian norm.
Thucydides history is acclaimed more important than all other sources combined in his time. It is these factors in Thucydides work that have held both interest and importance still 2500 years later in the modern world.
4.1 Thucydides : Research Assignment
Ryan Evans
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thucydides : Essay 1
Thucydides, son of Olorus an Athenian aristocrat and general was regarded as one of the standout historians in Greek history. As a writer Thucydides focuses on the accuracy of the events he describes, his main interest on the grim present rather than the uncertainty of the past his dates ranging from around c. 440 to 411.) Thucydides unique style described as straightforward and compact, rapid and succinct largely focuses on that of the Peleponesian War alongside the “Pentekontatiea”. In 424 Thucydides was elected general and shortly after assigned to protect Amphipolis, a colony which Thucydides himself emphasises as strategically significant. Thucydides aims were to protect Amphipolis and Eion from the Spartan Brasidas. Thucydides had good knowledge of the area as he had excellent contacts amongst the citizens through a mining colony, which he controlled. At the time of his campaign assignment Thucydides tells us that he was in command of a small force at Thasos. He immediately sailed to Amphipolis with a small fleet of seven ships but was unable to prevent the capture of Amphipolis. Thucydides did however, successfully defend Eion from Brasidas. For his failure in the capture of Amphipolis Thucydides was exiled for 20 years spending the rest of the war gathering accounts from both the Peleponesians and the Athenians. It was perhaps his failure and exile, which allowed him to construct such a broad account of the war.
It was not until Oinobios pushed a decree through the Athenian courts that Thucydides was allowed to return after the war. After his return he goes on to mention the difficulties the Peleponesians faced in the war…although his account is left unfinished. There is much speculation over Thucydides death, Pausanius claiming he was murdered before his return to Athens, a more likely and believable outcome though is that he was eventually overcome by “the
plague”.
Thucydides : Essay 2
To answer the TEE questions solely based on Thucydides, knowledge of his account on the Peleponesian war and the brief account on himself would be desirable. The questions are largely based on Thucydides style of writing and his reconstruction the various speeches in his work. Detailed study of these speeches be them accurate or not would definitely be required to produce a good response to many of the questions.
A detailed account of Thucydides life apart from his work as a Historian would also be necessary. Study relating to his election as a general and failure to successfully defend Amphipolis would also be necessary. His exile and return to Athens is also important as this allowed him time to investigate matters “at his leisure” from both Peleponesian and Athenian fronts.
The Factors that have allowed Thucydides work to still be of interest today are vital and this would require knowledge of his style of writing, his aims as a historian and the scale of which he wrote on, as well as his attitudes to human nature. Information based on Thucydides attitudes to Cleon and Brasidas would also be of significance however not as important as his speeches. Thucydides methods of obtaining information for his accounts and the justification of his work would also need to be studied.
