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The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides

The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides

The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides

Polly Low, University of Durham
March 2023
Paperback
9781107514607

    Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is one of the earliest and most influential works in the western historiographical tradition. It provides an unfinished account of the war between Athens and her allies and Sparta and her allies which lasted from 431 to 404 BC, and is a masterpiece of narrative art and of political analysis. The twenty chapters in this Companion offer a wide range of perspectives on different aspects of the text, its interpretation and its significance. The nature of the text is explored in detail, and problems of Thucydides' historical and literary methodology are examined. Other chapters analyse the ways in which Thucydides' work illuminates, or complicates, our understanding of key historical questions for this period, above all those relating to the nature and conduct of war, politics, and empire. Finally, the book also explores the continuing legacy of Thucydides, from antiquity to the present day.

    • Wide-ranging introduction to Thucydides and his work, covering historical and historiographical themes, as well as the later reception of the text
    • Chapters address key problems in Thucydidean interpretation, but also introduce new approaches and methods
    • All Greek is translated and guidance on further reading provided

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… assembles engaging and valuable essays from an impressive list of contributors in the fields of classics, ancient history, and political theory … this volume is an excellent, accessible place to start in understanding the richness of Thucydides's work … Recommended.' J. D. Lyons, Choice

    'The chapters of the Companion are informative, concise (about fifteen pages), well written, and accessible to non-specialists. In addition to the lengthy general bibliography, each essay includes a discursive Further Reading section. The volume also includes an index locorum and a subject index. All of these features make The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides a desirable addition to libraries, including (given its reasonable price) private libraries.' Paula Debnar, Histos: The Online Journal of Ancient Historiography

    See more reviews

    Product details

    March 2023
    Paperback
    9781107514607
    400 pages
    227 × 151 × 23 mm
    0.6kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Introduction Polly Low
    • Part I. Context and Methods:
    • 2. Establishing a new genre: Thucydides and non-historiographic memory Jonas Grethlein
    • 3. Thucydidean self-presentation Thomas Beasley
    • 4. Thucydides' use of evidence and sources P. J. Rhodes
    • 5. Rhetorical history: speeches in Thucydides Emily Greenwood
    • 6. Prolegomena to the Peloponnesian War: Thucydides Book 1 Jeffrey Rusten
    • 7. Time and foresight in Thucydides Rosaria Vignolo Munson
    • 8. Labouring for truth in Thucydides Elizabeth Irwin
    • Part II. Themes and Content:
    • 9. Thucydides and war Jason Crowley
    • 10. Thucydides on empire and imperialism Polly Low
    • 11. Ethnicity in Thucydides Maria Fragoulaki
    • 12. Thucydides and leadership Sarah Brown Ferrario
    • 13. Thucydides on democracy and the others Ryan Balot
    • 14. Justice and morality in Thucydides Paul Woodruff
    • Part III. After Thucydides:
    • 15. Thucydides in Greek and Roman historiography Luke Pitcher
    • 16. Thucydides in Byzantium Scott Kennedy and Anthony Kaldellis
    • 17. Thucydides in the Renaissance and Reformation Kinch Hoekstra
    • 18. Narrative of Thucydides and the nineteenth-century discipline of ancient history Alexandra Lianeri
    • 19. 'What really happened': varieties of realism in Thucydides' History Joel Alden Schloesser
    • 20. Translating Thucydides Jeremy Mynott.
      Contributors
    • Polly Low, Jonas Grethlein, Thomas Beasley, P. J. Rhodes, Emily Greenwood, Jeffrey Rusten, Rosaria Vignolo Munson, Elizabeth Irwin, Jason Crowley, Maria Fragoulaki, Sarah Brown Ferrario, Ryan Balot, Paul Woodruff, Luke Pitcher, Scott Kennedy, Anthony Kaldellis, Kinch Hoekstra, Alexandra Lianeri, Joel Alden Schloesser, Jeremy Mynott

    • Editor
    • Polly Low , University of Durham

      Polly Low is a Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. Her publications include Interstate Relations in Classical Greece (Cambridge, 2007) and (as editor) The Athenian Empire (2008).