Style And Necessity In Thucydides

Ancient literary critics were struck by what they described as Thucydides' "nominal style," a term that refers to Thucydides' fondness for abstract nominal phrases. As this book shows, Thucydides frequently uses these phrases instead of approximately synonymous verbal and personalconstructions. These stylistic choices tend to deemphasize human agency: people find themselves in a passive role, exposed to incidents happening to them rather than being actively in charge of events. Thus, the analysis of the abstract style raises the question of necessity in Thucydides.On numerous occasions, Thucydides and his speakers use impersonal and passive language to stress the subjection of human beings to transpersonal forces that manifest themselves in collective passions and an inherent dynamic of events. These factors are constitutive of the human condition and becomea substitute for the notion of divine fatalism prevalent in earlier Greek thought. Yet Thucydidean necessity is not absolute. It stands in the tradition of a type of fatalism that one finds in Homer and Herodotus. In these authors, the gods or fate tend to settle the outcome of the most significantevents, but they leave leeway for the specific way in which these pivotal events come to pass. Thus, the Greeks endorsed a malleable variant of necessity, so that considerable scope for human choice persists within the framework fixed by necessity. Pericles turns out to be Thucydides' prime exampleof an individual who uses the leeway left by necessity for prudent interventions into the course of events.

Ancient literary critics were struck by what they described as Thucydides' "nominal style," a term that refers to Thucydides' fondness for abstract nominal phrases. As this book shows, Thucydides frequently uses these phrases instead of approximately synonymous verbal and personal constructions. These stylistic choices tend to deemphasize human agency: people find themselves in a passive role, exposed to incidents happening to them rather than being actively in charge of events. Thus, the analysis of the abstract style raises the question of necessity in Thucydides. On numerous occasions, Thucydides and his speakers use impersonal and passive language to stress the subjection of human beings to transpersonal forces that manifest themselves in collective passions and an inherent dynamic of events. These factors are constitutive of the human condition and become a substitute for the notion of divine fatalism prevalent in earlier Greek thought. Yet Thucydidean necessity is not absolute. It stands in the tradition of a type of fatalism that one finds in Homer and Herodotus. In these authors, the gods or fate tend to settle the outcome of the most significant events, but they leave leeway for the specific way in which these pivotal events come to pass. Thus, the Greeks endorsed a malleable variant of necessity, so that considerable scope for human choice persists within the framework fixed by necessity. Pericles turns out to be Thucydides' prime example of an individual who uses the leeway left by necessity for prudent interventions into the course of events.

The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides contains newly commissioned essays on Thucydides as an historian, thinker, and writer. It also features chapters on Thucydides' intellectual context and ancient reception. The creative juxtaposition of historical, literary, philosophical, and reception studies allows for a better grasp of Thucydides' complex project and its intellectual context, while at the same time providing a comprehensive introduction to the author's ideas. The volume is organized into four sections of papers: History, Historiography, Political Theory, and Context and Reception. It therefore bridges traditionally divided disciplines. The authors engaged to write the forty chapters for this volume include both well-known scholars and less well-known innovators, who bring fresh ideas and new points of view. Articles avoid technical jargon and long footnotes, and are written in an accessible style. Finally, the volume includes a thorough introduction prefacing each paper, as well as several maps and an up-to-date bibliography that will enable further study. The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides offers a comprehensive introduction to a thinker and writer whose simultaneous depth and innovativeness have been the focus of intense literary and philosophical study since ancient times.

The second book of Thucydides' history is of particular literary interest, containing as it does such important sections as the funeral oration, the account of the plague at Athens and the obituary of Pericles. Professor Rusten's commentary aims to assist the students to learn to read Thucydides. It scrutinises not only the standard historical context but also the literary and philosophical one, and devotes special attention to the exceptionally complex structures and techniques of language which make Thucydides the most difficult as well as most profound of ancient historians. The introduction surveys biographical interpretations of the text, suggests a new approach to fictive elements in the speeches, and sketches the chief features of Thucydidean style. This edition is intended primarily as a textbook for undergraduates and students in the upper forms of schools (both introduction and commentary are meant to be accessible even to less advanced students of Greek), but any Greek scholar will find it rewarding.

'The greatest historian that ever lived' Such was Macaulay's verdict on Thucydides (c. 460-400 BC) and his history of the Peloponnesian War, the momentous struggle between Athens and Sparta as rival powers and political systems that lasted for twenty-seven years from 431 to 404 BC, involved virtually the whole of the Greek world, and ended in the fall of Athens. Thucydides himself was a participant in the war; to his history he brings an awesome intellect, brilliant narrative, and penetrating analysis of the nature of power, as it affects both states and individuals. Of his own work Thucydides wrote: 'I shall be content if [my history] is judged useful by those who will want to have a clear understanding of what happened - and, such is the human condition, will happen again ... It was composed as a permanent legacy, not a showpiece for a single hearing.' So it has proved. Of the prose writers of Greece and Rome Thucydides has had more lasting influence on western thought than all but Plato and Aristotle. This new edition combines a masterly translation with comprehensive supporting material. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Thucydides was the first ancient Greek historian to double as a social scientist. He set out to understand human events entirely in human terms, without recourse to myth. He sought to know why people go to war and how they are affected by its violence. He studied the civil war in Corcyra, which began when radicals burst into the council house and killed leaders who favored democracy. The strengths and weaknesses of democracy are a major theme of his History. Its larger story shows how the Athenians tried to expand their empire too far and came to a crushing defeat. Here are vivid stories of land and sea battles, interspersed with fascinating and disturbing debates about war and policy. All of Thucydides's History is here, either in summary or translation, in a volume short enough for a wide readership. This Second Edition is expanded to include all the important debates and battle scenes, and the entire translation has been revised in accord with the latest scholarship. The Essential Thucydides (Hackett, fall 2021) is the second edition of Paul Woodruff's On Justice, Power, and Human Nature: Selections from The History of the Peloponnesian War (first published by Hackett Publishing Company in 1993, paperback ISBN 978-0-87220-168-2, cloth ISBN 978-0-87220-169-9).

A new translation of Thucydides, a foundational text in the history of Western political thought, with extensive student reference material.