Thucydides' Historical Technique
Thucydides has often been described as one of the fathers of history,
and possibly the first historian that can be used with any real
historical accuracy. His objectivity and lack of digressive
storytelling mark him out from previous historians such as Herodotus,
and Thucydides began a new era of historical writing. Although named
the father of history, Herodotus wrote in a literary style, rather
than the accurate telling of the facts and objective analysis that
Thucydides offers us in his History of the Peloponnesian War.
Herodotus tended to digress with irrelevant storytelling, whereas
Thucydides abandoned this technique, and adopted a method that greatly
improved the accuracy of his historical chronicling. Therefore natural
questions that arise are: How did Thucydides break new grounds in
terms of historical writing? What strengths and indeed weaknesses does
Thucydides' writings have? Are they of sufficient accuracy to be
useful to modern historians? I will be looking principally at the
first two books, although I will make references that will encompass
the other 6 books that comprise The History of the Peloponnesian War.
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First I shall discuss briefly Thucydides' past, as this bears some
significant relevance to the way Thucydides was about to write his
history, and the expertise he was able to employ. He was born an
Athenian citizen, but had some foreign links and a home in Thrace[1]
where he probably spend his exile from Athens[2]. His family
connections brought him wealth, and this meant that, although he was
no longer a part of the Athenian force after his exile after his...
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Sicily.'
"…few out of many returned home," is a quote that could have been
directly plucked from one of Odysseus' stories to the Phaeacians.
Also, the words that Thucydides uses, links his works to the nostos
genre of epic.
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[1] Thucydides is reputed to have owned gold mines here, and would
have helped him to fund his evidence collecting missions. "Ancient
Thrace was largely uncultivated and covered with dense forest; mineral
deposits, particularly of gold, made the region a coveted
possession."- Encarta 2002
[2] Explained later: Pg2 Line 11.
[3] (I 32) The debate between Corcyra and Corinth, which started over
ownership of the colony Epidamnus, and took place in Athens.
[4] Such as (i. 67-117)
[5] Such as (ii. 87-9)
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