Instead, he offered a deep analysis of human factors and motivations. To this end, he largely left out the gods and religious explanations more generally-although there is still more religion in Thucydides than one may think. Thucydides focused on offering a strong and authoritative account of the war, its causes, and behind the scenes negotiations. It also involved events that occurred within the author’s lifetime, which introduced a contemporary dimension to the genre. In contrast to the wars of Homer and Herodotus, the armed conflict that concerned Thucydides was fought primarily among Greeks. With Thucydides, the writing of war took a new direction. He was followed 300 years later by Herodotus who gave an account of the Persian Wars, similarly rich in iconic battles and larger-than-life personalities on both sides of the conflict. In his epic poem Iliad, Homer related the story of the Trojan War as an epic battle involving gods and humans alike. When Thucydides set out to compose his work, the writing of warfare was already a notable tradition launched with a bang by the legendary Homer about three centuries earlier. More than 2500 years later, Thucydides’ History still stands among the foundational texts in the classical canon due to its enduring analytical sharpness and the acuteness of his observations. Nonetheless, his programmatic prediction proved right.
It is a possession for all time (“ktema eis aei”), not a competition piece to be heard for the moment, that has been composed.
It fulfills its author’s own-somewhat preposterous-proclamation about the nature of his work: His sharp analysis of the kind of forces that stir popular sentiments and drive collective decision making still resonates in the modern world. His analysis of the immediate and underlying causes of the war and his insight into the considerations and motivations of those fighting it remain one of the most brilliant pieces of political history to date. Yet if they are judged useful by any who wish to look at the plain truth about both past events and those that at some future time, in accordance to human nature, will recur in similar or comparable ways, that will suffice.Īs a high-ranking Athenian military commander (or “strategos”), Thucydides brought to the project firsthand experience of the war, as well as an acute understanding of the complex power politics behind events on the battlefield. He set the bar and set it high:Īnd the results, by avoiding patriotic storytelling, will perhaps seem the less enjoyable for listening. Needless to say, Thucydides was convinced that he himself offered a far superior product.
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