1CC200:ThePericleanAge,480‐430BCEFriday,February13,2009Pleasebringthisfiletoclass.The following pages contain passages from Herodotus’ Histories and Thucydides’ History of thePeloponnesianWaronfivetopics.Asyoureadthesepassages,comparetheapproachofeachhistorian:- Mainthemesoftheirworks- Historicalmethodology- Atheniandemocracy–originsvs.evolution- Atheniandemocracy–twocritiques- ArticulatingavisionforwhatitmeanstobeGreekAfewbiographicaldetails:Herodotus- Bornc.484BCEinHalikarnassosinAsiaMinor,diedc.425inThuriiinS.Italy- SonofLyxos,aCarian(non‐Greek);relativeofthelateepicpoetPanyassis- CityofbirthonthefringeoftheGreekworld,underPersianrulein480s- Departed(fled?)inthe450’stotraveltoandconductresearchinEgypt,BabyloninMesopotamia,ScythianorthoftheBlackSea,andmainlandGreece- Beganhisworkc.450,finishedc.430;readhisworkaloudinAthensinthe440’s- WroteintheIonicdialect,thedialectofIonianGreekcitiesinAsiaMinor,thehome to some ofthemostprominentpre‐SocraticphilosophersThucydides- Bornc.460,diedc.400inAthens- SonoftwoAthenianc itizens,includinghisfatherOlorus(anameofThracianorigin),andfromaverywell‐connectedAthenianfamily- Beginswritingattheoutbreakofthewarin431;sufferedbutrecoveredfromtheplague430‐426- ServedasgeneralinthewarinnorthernGreece(Thrace)in424;subsequentlyexiledfromAthensforfailurefrompreventingtheSpartansfrom seizingthestrategiccityofAmphipolis- Stillworkingonhis(incomplete)historyonhisdeathc.400- WroteintheAthenian(Attic)dialect2Mainthemesoftheirwork:Herodotusvs.ThucydidesIntroduction(Prooimion)toHerodotus’Histories:ʺThis is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that things done by man not beforgotten in time, and that great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by thebarbarians,notlosetheirglory,includingamongotherswhatwasthecauseoftheirwagingwaroneachother.ʺIntroductiontoThucydides’History:1.1:Thucydides,anAthenian,wrotethehistoryofthewarbetweenthePeloponnesiansandtheAthenians,beginningatthemomentthatitbrokeout,andbelievingthatitwouldbeagreatwar,andmoreworthyofrelation than anythathadpreceded it.This belief wasnotwithout its grounds. Thepreparationsofboththecombatantswereineverydepartmentinthelaststateofperfection;andhecouldseetherestofthe Hellenic race taking sides in the quarrel; those who delayed doing so at once having it incontemplation.Indeedthis wasthegreatest movement yetknownin history,not onlyof the Hellenes,but of a large part of the barbarian world‐‐I had almost said of mankind. For though the events ofremoteantiquity,andeventhosethatmoreimmediatelyprecedethewar,couldnotfromlapseoftimebe clearly ascertained,yet the evidenceswhich an inquiry carried asfar back as waspracticable leadsmetotrust,allpointtotheconclusionthattherewasnothingonagreatscale,eitherinwarorinothermatters.HistoricalMethodology:Herodotusvs.ThucydidesHdt.2.29‐30:Iwasunabletolearnanythingfromanyoneelse,butthismuchfurtherIdidlearnbythemostextensiveinvestigationthatIcouldmake,goingasfarasthecityofElephantinetolookmyself,andbeyondthatbyquestionandhearsay.....................Thuc.1.20‐23:1.20[1]Havingnowgiventheresultofmyinquiriesintoearlytimes,Igrantthattherewillbeadifficultyinbelieving every particular detail. The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of theirown country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical testwhatever.1.21[1]Onthewhole,however,theconclusionsIhavedrawnfromtheproofsquotedmay,Ibelieve,safelybe relied on. Assuredly they will not be disturbed either by the lays of a poet displaying theexaggerationofhiscraft,orbythecompositionsofthechroniclersthatareattractiveattruthʹsexpense;the subjects they treat of being outof the reach of evidence, and time having robbed most of them ofhistorical value by enthroning them in the region of legend. Turning from these, we can restsatisfiedwith having proceeded upon the clearest data, and having arrived at conclusions as exact as can beexpected in matters of such antiquity. [2] To come to this war; despite the known disposition of
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