The only advantage which rusten does not provide is a vocabulary list. The eight books of thucydidess account of the clash between great powers, athens and sparta, are contained in rex warners acclaimed modern translation. Ernst badian, for example has argued that thucydides has a strong proathenian bias. The first unabridged translation into american english, and the first to take into account the wealth of thucydidean scholarship of the last half of the twentieth century, steven lattimores translation sets a new standard for accuracy and reliability. The history of the peloponnesian war has been divided into the following sections.
The history of the peloponnesian war by thucydides. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, volume i. The history of the peloponnesian war translated by richard crawley. The peloponnesian war was really three conflicts 431421, 4154, and 4404 bce that thucydides was still unifying into one account when he died some time before 396 bce. History of the peloponnesian warbook 5 wikisource, the. What is the best translation of the peloponnesian war by. Chapter i the state of greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the peloponnesian war.
The peloponnesian war pitted athens and its allies against a league of citystates headed by sparta. The rise of the athenian empire from thucydides book i. 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. With diligence and reflection, readers can discern relevant lessons and wisdom from thucydidess the history of the peloponnesian war. The history of the peloponnesian war, by thucydides 431 bc. Thucydides books list of books by author thucydides. Moving beyond other studies by its focus on the readers role in giving meaning to the text, it reveals thucydides use of objectivity not so much as a standard for the proper presentation of his. Jun 10, 2019 history of the peloponnesian warbook 5. The history of the peloponnesian war translated by. The history of the peloponnesian war, revised edition. Apr 16, 2012 history of the peloponnesian warbook 4. Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, book 5, chapter 84. Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the melian dialogue.
Thucydides classic work, history of the peloponnesian war, provides us with the historical framework for 5th century greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and. Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, book 1, chapter 1. Hobbes wording gave me trouble in a few places and it was nice to have the richard crawley translation in the landmark edition handy. My book club decided to read the peloponnesian war for its january 2016. The lacedaemonians and their allies shall give back amphipolis to the athenians. Accordingly, professors of antiquity, international relations, military history, and political philosophy continue to list it on their syllabi. I think it is best to start with your book, in which you introduce the work and translate the important speechesrather than immediately committing to a long book. The reader is aided by frequent crossreferences and succinct comments on thucydides choices regarding selection and placement of material. Id read so many pages in one translation and switch to another.
The new translation is particularly sensitive to the risks of anachronism, and the. The first book 245k the second book 190k the third book 187k the fourth book 220k the fifth book 169k the sixth book 187k the seventh book 164k. Better in terms of 1 ease of reading and 2 accuracy to original texts ideas. Selections from the history of the peloponnesian war, and more on. It is heavily based on crawleys which is somewhat ponderously written and it doesnt do a great job of getting at the nuances which is impossible, i know. Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the melian dialogue book. History of the peloponnesian war by thucydides, translated by richard. Moving beyond other studies by its focus on the readers role in giving meaning to the text, it reveals thucydides use of objectivity not so much as a standard for the proper presentation of his subject matter as a method for communicating with his readers and involving them in the complexity and suffering of the peloponnesian war. The war of the peloponnesians and the athenians cambridge texts in the. The history of the peloponnesian war, by thucydides, tells the story of the war of that name that took place in ancient greece.
Which is the better translation of thucydides history of. The merit of hobbes translation of thucydides lies principally in the simplicity and force of the language. Fortunately ive already posted a little bit on some of the reasons i think are important to read thucydides. Better in terms of 1 ease of reading and 2 accuracy to original. Thucydides cambridge texts in the history of political t. The peloponnesian war was something i have wanted to read for a long time and i am extremely glad i finally did. Its an amazing work, a literary work every bit as much as a history. Authors like thucydides require careful reading and musing to get to the core of their arguments. The history of the peloponnesian war by thucydides, part of the internet classics archive. Thucydidess most popular book is history of the peloponnesian war. In keeping with this sort of doubt, other scholars claim that thucydides had.
In the list of books youve recommended, you havent included a full translation of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war. Thucydides history of the peloponnesian war book 5. Professor rusten nearly equals clyde pharr in his presentation of book ii. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of scientific history due to his strict standards of evidence. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book iv, chapter 40. Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the melian dialogue book 5, chapter 17 translated by richard crawley. Hey policy wonks, this is how you should read thucydides the diplomat all sections search. Commonly acknowledged as one of the earliest firsthand written accounts of history, this classic work chronicles the war between athens and sparta during the fifth century b. This useful companion, keyed by bold lemmata to the penguin translation, identifies the basic issues and raises key questions. The history of the peloponnesian war by thucydides written 431 b. Thucydides classic work, history of the peloponnesian war, provides us with the historical framework for 5th century greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. I did a interesting experiment by reading several translations of thucydides at the same time i have a history degree so theres that. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of scientific history by those who accept his claims to. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book v.
Since thomas hobbess exquisite 1629 translation, there have been 11 translations published of the entirety of thucydidess history, not counting numerous revisions of translations and innumerable translations of such sections as the funeral oration or the melian dialogue. Tenth year of the war death of cleon and brasidas peace of nicias. Commentary is helpful, if in the form of end notes, and fairly thorough. The first book 245k the second book 190k the third book 187k. I didnt find out about the landmark thucydides until after i read lateimere. There are big implications here for our modern admiration of thucydides as a historian. The history of the peloponnesian war is an account of the peloponnesian war in ancient greece, fought between the peloponnesian league led by sparta and the delian league led by athens in. History of the peloponnesian war, by thucydides book vi during the same winter the athenians conceived a desire of sending another expedition to sicily, larger than those commanded by laches and eurymedon. The reinvention of history, donald kagan is kinder, but even he concedes that his style is often very compressed and difficult to understand, so that any translation is necessarily an interpretation. This fullscale sequential reading of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war will be invaluable to the specialist and also to those in search of an introduction and companion to the histories. Book vi greek texts greek and english edition 9781853995873. A quick word on my experiment with reading the thomas hobbes translation while also looking at the landmark thucydidesit went smoother than i thought it would. The history of the peloponnesian war the internet classics. Hey policy wonks, this is how you should read thucydides.
The rise of the athenian empire, from thucydides, book i. Extract of sample thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the melian dialogue book 5, chapter 17 essay, political science 8 october thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the melian dialogue this paper discusses a dialoguethat happened between two parties, the athenians and melians. Although unfinished and as a whole unrevised, in brilliance of description and depth of insight this history has no superior. Thucydides peloponnesian war, steven lattimore translation. Accordingly, professors of antiquity, international relations, military history. Blancos translation or the landmark thucydides by strassler and crowley. History of the peloponnesian war, volume iii thucydides. With an english translation by charles forster smith see other formats. English translation of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war book 5, by r. He presents a useful text for students of attic greek and to instructors of thucydides. Thus the winter ended, and with it ended the seventh year of this war of which thucydides is the historian. The greatest of all greek historians was the athenian general thucydides 455400 b. The history of the peloponnesian war, revised edition 9780140440393 by thucydides.
Thucydides recounts his history of the war in eight books the book begins with sparta deciding that peace has been broken and that they need to go to war. The ancient greek historian thucydides captured this drama with matchless insight in his classic eyewitness account of what was arguably the greatest war in the history of the world up to that time. The state of greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the peloponnesian war. In history of the peloponnesian war book 5, chapters 84116, the contemporary athenian historian thucydides included a dramatization of the negotiations between the athenian emissaries and the rulers of melos. The history of the peloponnesian war by thucydides the internet.
Which is the better translation of thucydides history of the. History of the peloponnesian warbook 5 wikisource, the free. I read ther lateimere translation of thucydides and liked it. The history of the peloponnesian war translated by richard crawley thucydides, crawley, richard on. The history of the peloponnesian war translated by richard. History of the peloponnesian war book by thucydides. His history of the first conflict, 431421, was nearly complete. Which is the better translation of thucydides history of the peloponnesian war. Thucydides was still at work on this when the war spread to sicily and into a conflict 4154 likewise. Thucydides did not witness the negotiations and in fact had been in exile at the time, so this dialogue. The war was really three conflicts with one uncertain peace after the first. Thucydides has 383 books on goodreads with 72901 ratings. 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.
Notes provide information necessary for a fuller understanding of problematic passages, explore their implications as well as the problems they. Viewed merely as a translation, it will be found to contain, owing partly to the corrupt state of the greek text of his day, partly to his habitual disregard of minute details so. The best books on thucydides five books expert recommendations. The history of the peloponnesian war is an account of the peloponnesian war in ancient greece, fought between the peloponnesian league led by sparta and the delian league led by athens in the 5th century bc. The peloponnesian war thucydides, steven lattimore. History of the peloponnesian warbook 4 wikisource, the. Best translation of the history of the peloponnesian war. See all books authored by thucydides, including history of the peloponnesian war, and on justice, power and human nature. His sardonic sense of humor is evident throughout, as when, during his description of the athenian plague, he remarks that old athenians seemed to remember a rhyme which said that with the dorian war would come a great death. Inferences about thucydides character can only be drawn with due caution from his book. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book iv. Electronic text from the internet classics archive at mit. Im approaching book 5, its overdue at my library, i cant renew it, and im just gonna take the overdue fines. Thucydides history of the peloponnesian war translated by richard crawley the first book chapter i.
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