Thucydides 1.1–1.23: Introduction to a genius

This is the first of some articles that will be about the most important historian of the antiquity, Thucydides. I will not make an extensive introduction about Thucydides, because it may be boring for some people, so I will give more details about him and his books later in the articles.
Thucydides is famous for his masterpiece about the history of the Peloponnesian War (the War between the Peloponnesian League led by the oligarch Sparta and the Delian League led by the democratic Athens). Although the Peloponnesian War took place in the years 431–404BC, Thucydides’ History ends in 411BC. It was probably his death that did not let him finish his History.
His book was divided later in 8 books and the first book is about the origins of the Peloponnesian War. In this article, we will focus on the first paragraphs of his first book to examine his methods.
In the start of his History (1.1), Thucydides says that he started writing about the War between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians since the beginning of the war, because he regarded that it would be the biggest war that had taken place by that time in that region and one of the biggest wars generally. It wasn’t just because Athens and Sparta were very powerful when they entered the War, but also because the other Greek cities soon or later allied with one of the two rivals, while non-Greek powers also got involved in the War (meaning the Persians).
Thucydides explains that it was very difficult for him to gather information about what really happened, because most people just accept the myths and the folk stories without really caring for the truth (1.20). Apart from that, trying to find the truth was also difficult, because people remembered different things regarding to which people they liked or not (1.22). This is something classical and eternal that any historian who tries to write contemporary history will have to find a way to deal with. When I made my research about Margaret Thatcher, 90% of the books were either very hostile or very supportive of her politics. The same happens with the people that would speak about her Era. As a result, a historian has to be able to “filter” the information and keep the truth.
Thucydides declares that he does not want to write history that also includes mythical elements, tempting to any kind of audience, but not always reflecting the truth (like Herodotus for example). His book will be useful to those that either want to know what happened specifically in the Peloponnesian War or for those who want to see what may happen in the future when the circumstances are similar. Thucydides is clear in that: he has written this History so that it will be a possession for all time, not just to win the applause of the moment. (1.22)

In the end of his introduction he discloses the deepest and most important reason for the Peloponnesian War. In the rest of his first book, he analyses the grounds that led to this huge war, according to the Athenians and Peloponnesians. However, before he informs the readers about those grounds, he wants to present the formally most out of sight reason: it was the rapid growth of power of Athens that scared Lacedeamon (Sparta) and led to the war. (1.23)
If we compare it to the example of the WWII, it’s the same. Who believes that the reason of the War was either Hitler’s desire to take the Danzig Corridor or the allies’ wish to protect Poland? The real reason was that Hitler was expanding rapidly and the allies were scared that his imperialism would also affect them later. As long as they hoped that he would stop, they even betrayed their allies (Czechoslovakia during the Munich Agreement) to avoid this war.
If you found this article interesting, you can read online a few of the first paragraphs of Thucydides’ history, either just 1.1 and 1.20–1.23 or the whole 1.1–1.23 (that also includes his so-called “Archaeology”) and then come back here and add, correct, ask more things about Thucydides’ introduction.
I will come back soon with the next part.
P.S. I want to congratulate the other writer of our Political Arenas and great friend Bastien G. on his new adventure in Sidney! We all hope that it will be a good chance for him to enlighten us about Australian Politics.
John H. Finley, Thukydides, Papadima
N.M. Skouteropoulos, Thukydides’ History, Polis
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