Thucidydes biography

Dromo's Den

Thucydides Biography

THUCYDIDES ( ?-c.399 B.C.). A famous Greek historian, son of Olorus and Hegesipyle, born in the Attic deme Halimus. The date of his birth is unknown, but was certainly not earlier than 470 B.C. nor later than 454. Conservative opinion now favors a date near the latter year. By descent he belonged to an ancient aristocratic family on one side, and on the other was connected with a line of Thracian princes. From this Thracian side of his family he possessed gold mines in Thrace (q.v.) opposite the island of Thasos (q.v.). He was well educated; tradition says that he was the pupil of Antiphon and Anaxagoras. In politics he favored the aristocratic party, but his views are all marked by moderation and fairness. When the Peloponnesian War broke out, Thucydides was of an age to enable him to discern the importance of the contest and to form plans for recording its course and result. In 424 he was appointed to command a portion of the fleet off the Thracian coast, and in the same year he failed to arrive in time to relieve Amphipolis (q.v.), which was besieged by Brasidas (q.v.). For this failure he was condemned to death for treason, but left Athens and lived the next 20 years in exile. This period he spent partly on his estates in Thrace and partly without doubt in examination of the scenes of the war in Italy and Sicily. He also resided for a time at the court of King Archelaus (q.v.) in Macedonia. After the restoration of the democracy at Athens in 403, Thucydides was recalled from exile. His history, which covers 21 years of the Peloponnesian War, breaks off in the middle of the year 411. The last book did not receive its final form, but there is no reason to doubt that it comes from his hand. The present division into eight books was made by later grammarians.

Thucydides is now regarded by all as the first critical historian and the greatest historian of antiquity. He brought to his undertaking a practical acquaintance with politics and military science, his natural endowments fitted him to pass impartial judgment on the events that he narrates, and he emphasizes more than once the care with which he endeavored to find out the truth. His materials were obtained in the main by personal observation or by questioning those who had been upon the ground; but for the earlier period he depended upon his predecessors. His purpose being to narrate the war, he clung closely to his subject and made few digressions, so that we have to regret that he has nothing to say of literature, art, or the conditions of the people. But the military movements of the time are portrayed with a vividness which has never been equaled. In form, his history is strictly annalistic, the account being given by summers and by winters, so that his work suffers from his failure to group events effectively. His style is the older Attic. His periods are not polished or rounded out, and his effort after brevity often makes his meaning obscure and hard to reach. Yet his style was greatly admired in antiquity, and became the model of many historians in the following centuries (e.g., among the Romans, Sallust and Tacitus). In his characterization of the leaders in the struggle between Athens and Sparta he was most successful, and frequently employs with great skill speeches which he puts into their mouths.Bibliography. Of critical editions the most important are by Bekker (3 vols., Berlin, 1821); Haase (Paris, 1846); Hude (2 vols., Leipzig, 1898-1901). There are annotated editions by Thomas Arnold (3d ed., 3 vols., Oxford, 1847-54) ; Bloomfield (2 vols., London, 1842-43) Krüger (3d ed., 2 vols., Berlin, 1861); and, most useful of all, Classen (8 vols., Berlin, 1862--78; frequently reedited). Editions of single books are very numerous. Consult also the Lexicon Thucydideum by Bétant (Geneva, 1543); Index Thneydideus by Von Essen (Berlin, 18S7). The best English translations of the history are by Bloomfield (3 vols., London, 1529); H. Dale, in the Bohn Classical Library; and Benjamin Jowett, with introduction and historical notes (2 vols., London, 1881; Boston, 1883). On the speeches see Wilkins's translation (3d ed.. London, 1881) and Jebb's essay in Abbott's Hellenica (ib., 1880). Consult also, besides the standard histories of Greece, Christ-Schmid, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur, vol. i (6th ed., Munich, 1908) ; A. and M. Croiset, An Abridged History of Greek Literature (Eng. trans. by G. F. Heffelbower, New York, 1904); W. C. Wright, A Short History of Greek Literature (ib., I907); F. M. Cornford, Thucydides Mythohistoricus (ib., 1907); J. B. Bury, The Ancient Greek Historians (ib., 1909); G. B. Grundy, Thucydides and the History of his Age (London, 1911); and the article "Thukydides," in Friedrich Lübker, Reallexikon des klassischen Altertums (8th ed., Leipzig, 1914).

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 246-247.