Thucydides book one commentary

The present volume of commentary covers the ten closelynarrated years 421411 bc, and nearly half of the total of eight books subdivisions of thucydides work. A students grammatical commentary, by howard don cameron by on the internet. His commentary authoritatively accounts for the last one hundred years of evolving grammatical and linguistic theory as they apply to the seminal work of thucydides. Introduction observations on grammar and style outline of book i commentary.

A commentary on thucydides simon hornblower oxford. How some find a reference to the hunting up of materials. Greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary, 2nd ed. Of the three books covered in this volume, book i presents thucydides aims in. We suggest that it go immediately to the top of your reading pile. He began to write when they first took up arms, believing that it would be great and memorable above any previous war.

This is the first volume of a threevolume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of thucydides, the great fifthcentury bc historian of the. Chapter xviii seventeenth year of the war the sicilian campaign affair of the hermae departure of the expedition the same winter the athenians resolved to sail again to sicily, with a greater armament than that under laches and eurymedon, and, if possible, to conquer the island. The history was divided into separate books by later. Thucydides called war a savage schoolmaster, and he offered his carefully crafted. Everything else that we are told of him either by his biographers or in the occasional remarks of other writers has the. Cartwrights is the only such fulllength, onevolume commentary and companion. Thucydides includes such references in his chronicle, the peloponnesian war. Shorey, paul, on the implicit ethics and psychology of thucydides. This first sentence is very characteristic of thuc.

Classicists do not suffer from an overabundance of commentaries on book 1 of thucydides, so camerons is a welcome addition to our. Thucydides, an athenian, wrote the history of the war between the peloponnesians and the athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. Thucydides is the author of one of the earliest and most influential works in the history of political thought. Cameron is professor of greek and latin and director of the great books program at the university of michigan.

A commentary on thucydides hardcover simon hornblower. The tenth year of the war the athenians for religious reasons drive the. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The peloponnesian war exceeded in importance all the preceding events of greek history. It includes one of the most famous sections of ancient greek literary writing, the lengthy and supremely dramatic account of the disastrous athenian expedition against sicily 415. Thucydides is considered to be one of the great fathers of western history, thus making his methodology the subject of much analysis in area of historiography.

In a historical commentary on thucydides, david cartwright aims to guide the greekless reader through thucydides fascinating yet demanding narrative. There is a wonderful location to buy the book thucydides book i. Thucydides is one of the first western historians to employ a strict standard of chronology, recording events by year, with each year consisting of the summer campaign season and a less. The audience of this commentary comprises firsttime readers of thucydides, by which cameron means seniors and graduate students preface.

Though we have several ancient biographies of thucydides, our trustworthy knowledge of the circumstances of his life rests almost exclusively on. On the implicit ethics and psychology of thucydides. This volume of the writings and speeches of edmund b. The present commentary, essentially on book 4, is more than one hundred pages longer than gomme. My commentary regularly refers to the unabridged lexicon of liddell, scott, and jones to authenticate lexical. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

The peloponnesian war was fought in ancient greece from 431 to 404 bc between the athenian empire and the peloponnesian league, an alliance of citystates led by sparta. This is the first volume of a threevolume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of thucydides, the great fifthcentury bc historian of the peloponnesian war between athens and sparta. Using the greek ideas of hubris and virtue contextualizes herodotus and shows how this is evidence of a structure which points to a greater purpose. Books ii and iii describe the main this is the first volume of a threevolume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of thucydides, the great fifthcentury bc historian of the peloponnesian war. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of scientific history by those who accept his claims to. This is the first volume of a twovolume historical and literary commentary on the eight books of thucydides, the great fifthcentury b. One of the benefits of a full commentary is that it is so easy to examine his remarks on other sections of thucydides. Thucydides traces the development of athenian power through the growth of the athenian empire in the years 479 bc to 432 bc in book one of the history. Or what, pray, is the meaning of their reception of corcyra by fraud, and their holding. No one wants to buy the dip if a real seller with better dc sources caused it.

The first book of thucydides is a compact masterpiece. A students grammatical commentary, by howard don cameron, nowadays, will certainly not force you to consistently purchase in the establishment offline. However, thucydides history was never finished, and as such, ends midsentence in the winter of 411 bce. Hornblower strikes an acceptable balance between summarizing scholarly debate and repeating material treated more fully elsewhere. Thucydides book i the university of michigan press. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Hornblower now supplies one, about as long as his thucydides london 1987 and, like that book, comprising separate parts. The other is due to pamphila, who in the time of nero made a great compilation of the results of learning. The national endowment for the humanities provided support for entering this text.

It denotes the bringing together in one work of many occurrencescomposing in its etymological sense. One of the most renowned parts of his history is the melian dialogue, where thucydides reports on a conversation that took place between envoys from an invading athenian force and officials from the small island citystate of melos, which the athenians were about to assault. The first book is his study of events leading to the war and represents the earliest. The state of greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the peloponnesian war. In book five of the history of the peloponnesian war, thucydides describes how the athenians sustained surprisingly large losses in battle and how the spartans. Offers a better way to read thucydides through the explanation of grammar and a.

Thucydides, an athenian, wrote the history of the war in which the peloponnesians and the athenians fought against one another. Chapter i the state of greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the peloponnesian war thucydides, an athenian, wrote the history of the war between the peloponnesians and the athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. The peloponnesian war is renowned, and notorious, as the most momentous and destructive conflict of the classical greek world, surpassing the trojan war memorialized in the works of homer and the great tragedians, and the war between the greeks and the persians celebrated in. His subject was the conflict we now call the peloponnesian war, the great war between athens and sparta and their respective allies, which lasted from 431 to 404 bc with a break in the middle and ended with the defeat of athens and the dissolution of the athenian empire. This is the second volume of a threevolume historical and literary commentary on thucydides, the great fifthcentury bc greek historian.

Thucydides book 1 summary the peloponnesian war an. Cameron is a renowned expert in greek and comparative grammar and has written this handbook for all levels of classical students and scholars. Though we have several ancient biographies of thucydides, 1 our trustworthy knowledge of the circumstances of his life rests almost exclusively on a few notices casually imparted by himself. Herodotus 1 greek and latin texts with facing vocabulary. His history of the peloponnesian war recounts the fifthcentury bc war between sparta and athens until the year 411 bc. July 20 this link contains a free pdf copy of herodotus book i. With an english translation by charles forster smith. So, at the beginning of their respective works, and. Classicists do not suffer from an overabundance of commentaries on book 1 of thucydides, so camerons is a welcome addition to our pedagogical arsenal. Thucydides is the author of history of the peloponnesian war, a sweeping contemporary account of the nearly threedecade conflict between athens and sparta for dominance of the greek world. His history of the peloponnesian war is a classical text and has rightly earned the athenian consideration as one of the fathers of history. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book i.

Hellanicus, herodotus, thucydides historiae scriptores in isdem fere temporibus laude ingenti floruerunt, et non nimis longe distantibus fuerunt aetatibus. In writing his first and only book, thucydides claimed. Of the three books covered in this volume, book i presents thucydides aims in writing the work and the historical background to the war. This is the first volume of a threevolume historical and literary commentary on. What thucydides teaches us about war, politics, and the. As usual the athenians do not provide massed resistance. We begin this multipart commentary with a recommendation of graham allisons book. Book one focuses on the rise and fall of the lydian empire, the rise of the persian empire and the death of cyrus as well as the fate of the greeks. The incomplete text recounts the history of the peloponnesian war and famously ends midsentence several years prior to the conclusion of the war. In the summer of 428 bc, the peloponnesian army once again invades attica. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

The answer may be found in a quote at the end of this commentary. Here he sets up the conditions that led to the outbreak of the peloponnesian war in 431 b. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. The eightvolume work is regarded as one of the finest works of history ever written. Morris, commentary on thucydides book 1 agamemnon, hom. Marchant, commentary on thucydides book 1, book 1, chapter 1. With great economy, he analyzes the origins of largescale wars. It includes one of the most famous sections of ancient greek literary writing, the lengthy and supremely dramatic account of the disastrous athenian expedition against sicily 4154 in books 6 and 7.