SKIDMORE CC 200 - The Periclean Age

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1CC200:ThePericleanAge,480‐430BCEFriday,February13,2009Pleasebringthisfiletoclass.The following pages contain passages from Herodotus’ Histories and Thucydides’ History of thePeloponnesianWaronfivetopics.Asyoureadthesepassages,comparetheapproachofeachhistorian:- Mainthemesoftheirworks- Historicalmethodology- Atheniandemocracy–originsvs.evolution- Atheniandemocracy–twocritiques- ArticulatingavisionforwhatitmeanstobeGreekAfewbiographicaldetails:Herodotus- Bornc.484BCEinHalikarnassosinAsiaMinor,diedc.425inThuriiinS.Italy- SonofLyxos,aCarian(non‐Greek);relativeofthelateepicpoetPanyassis- CityofbirthonthefringeoftheGreekworld,underPersianrulein480s- Departed(fled?)inthe450’stotraveltoandconductresearchinEgypt,BabyloninMesopotamia,ScythianorthoftheBlackSea,andmainlandGreece- Beganhisworkc.450,finishedc.430;readhisworkaloudinAthensinthe440’s- WroteintheIonicdialect,thedialectofIonianGreekcitiesinAsiaMinor,thehome to some ofthemostprominentpre‐SocraticphilosophersThucydides- Bornc.460,diedc.400inAthens- SonoftwoAthenianc itizens,includinghisfatherOlorus(anameofThracianorigin),andfromaverywell‐connectedAthenianfamily- Beginswritingattheoutbreakofthewarin431;sufferedbutrecoveredfromtheplague430‐426- ServedasgeneralinthewarinnorthernGreece(Thrace)in424;subsequentlyexiledfromAthensforfailurefrompreventingtheSpartansfrom seizingthestrategiccityofAmphipolis- Stillworkingonhis(incomplete)historyonhisdeathc.400- WroteintheAthenian(Attic)dialect2Mainthemesoftheirwork:Herodotusvs.ThucydidesIntroduction(Prooimion)toHerodotus’Histories:ʺThis is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that things done by man not beforgotten in time, and that great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by thebarbarians,notlosetheirglory,includingamongotherswhatwasthecauseoftheirwagingwaroneachother.ʺIntroductiontoThucydides’History:1.1: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.This belief wasnotwithout its grounds. Thepreparationsofboththecombatantswereineverydepartmentinthelaststateofperfection;andhecouldseetherestofthe Hellenic race taking sides in the quarrel; those who delayed doing so at once having it incontemplation.Indeedthis wasthegreatest movement yetknownin history,not onlyof the Hellenes,but of a large part of the barbarian world‐‐I had almost said of mankind. For though the events ofremoteantiquity,andeventhosethatmoreimmediatelyprecedethewar,couldnotfromlapseoftimebe clearly ascertained,yet the evidenceswhich an inquiry carried asfar back as waspracticable leadsmetotrust,allpointtotheconclusionthattherewasnothingonagreatscale,eitherinwarorinothermatters.HistoricalMethodology:Herodotusvs.ThucydidesHdt.2.29‐30:Iwasunabletolearnanythingfromanyoneelse,butthismuchfurtherIdidlearnbythemostextensiveinvestigationthatIcouldmake,goingasfarasthecityofElephantinetolookmyself,andbeyondthatbyquestionandhearsay.....................Thuc.1.20‐23:1.20[1]Havingnowgiventheresultofmyinquiriesintoearlytimes,Igrantthattherewillbeadifficultyinbelieving every particular detail. The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of theirown country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical testwhatever.1.21[1]Onthewhole,however,theconclusionsIhavedrawnfromtheproofsquotedmay,Ibelieve,safelybe relied on. Assuredly they will not be disturbed either by the lays of a poet displaying theexaggerationofhiscraft,orbythecompositionsofthechroniclersthatareattractiveattruthʹsexpense;the subjects they treat of being outof the reach of evidence, and time having robbed most of them ofhistorical value by enthroning them in the region of legend. Turning from these, we can restsatisfiedwith having proceeded upon the clearest data, and having arrived at conclusions as exact as can beexpected in matters of such antiquity. [2] To come to this war; despite the known disposition of


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SKIDMORE CC 200 - The Periclean Age

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