This chapter argues that the genre of the athenian epitaphios logos was crucial to the formation of thucydides historical writing, since it first developed key. They were conventionally occasions for celebrating athens glorious past, and for praising the selfsacrifice of citizensoldiers who had died in battle. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. The greatest of all greek historians was the athenian general thucydides 455400 b. The written text of pericles speech, if it ever existed, has not survived. Used books may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlightingnotes, may not include cdrom or access codes. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Flashar cannot quite bring himself to break the link with the historical pericles. Its structure acquires particular relief when projected against the conventions of the genre, attested in a few other extant examples. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book iv. Hyperides epitaphios logos was likely delivered in the spring of 322 bc after. Harold north fowler, commentary on thucydides book 5, character and duration of the time of peace between the first and second war. Perikleous logos epitaphios hypo thoukydidou xyngrapheis. In his view, thucydides book leads us inexorably to the conclusion that pericles had been completely right and vindicated by events 21.
The word epitaphios is an adjective meaning funerary, happening on a grave. Within a liturgical context, this is also the name of an icon, usually made of cloth and richly embroidered, depicting the body of christ being laid in the grave, often by the virgin mary and some disciples. Selections from the history of the peloponnesian war, and more on. Every element of the fifthcentury memory landscape herodotus, oral history, local historians, historical poetry, epitaphios logos plays a precise role in forging thucydides view and practice of history, and forces him to find his place and take a stand against other genres. Although thucydides records the speech in the first person as if it were a word for word record of what pericles said, there can be little doubt that he edited the speech at the very least. The funeral oration was recorded by thucydides in book two of his famous history of the peloponnesian war. The historical context of thucydides funeral oration. But the peloponnesian war was a protracted struggle, and attended by calamities such as hellas had never known within a like period of time. His subject was the conflict we now call the peloponnesian war, the great war between athens and sparta and their respective allies, which lasted from 431 to 404 bc with a break in the middle and ended with the defeat of athens and the dissolution of the athenian empire. And so he did in the epitaphios logos of 431 bce, the speech at the grave to honor the past years war dead.
The question of how far thucydides rendering of pericles speech in 431 is an. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Thucydides classic work, history of the peloponnesian war, provides us with the historical framework for 5th century greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. The historical context of thucydides funeral oration the journal. Context and meaning department of classics and ancient. The tradition of the epitaphios procession the beauty of. History of the peloponnesian warbook 4 wikisource, the.
Chapter xviii seventeenth year of the war the sicilian campaign affair of the hermae departure of the expedition the same winter the athenians resolved to sail again to sicily, with a greater armament than that under laches and eurymedon, and, if possible, to conquer the island. Brunt, studies in greek history and thought oxford 1993 15980, has argud that the pattern of thought in the epitaphios is too redolent of thucydides own ideas and fits too neatly into the economy of his history to be a largely authentic report 160. The historical context of thucydides funeral oration volume 120 a. Funerary customs comprise the practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. Thus the winter ended, and with it ended the seventh year of this war of which thucydides is the historian.
As soon as athens became a democracy at the end of the sixth century bc, the lyric lament threnos as a praxis was rejected and reformed into the epitaphios logos. Thucydides predecessors and contemporaries in historical. History of the peloponnesian warbook 3 wikisource, the. The histories open with a prologue in which the author announces that he will describe the conflict between the greek and the nongreek peoples persians and will explain how they came into conflict. Perikleous epitaphios thoukydidou historion greek edition greek unknown binding 1998. The history of the peloponnesian war by thucydides free. This practice, said to have been unique to athens and perhaps introduced 464 bc, was continued into roman times, and. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of scientific history due to his strict standards of evidence. The makers of encyclopaedia britannica bring you one of the great books of the western world. In order to utilize all of the features of this web site, javascript must be enabled in your browser. But this single common point is too small to justify a real influence of the funeral oration on the development of great historiography.
History of the peloponnesian war by thucydides, loeb. In books of quotations, the funeral oration always provides most of the entries for thucydides. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. Pericles begins his funeral speech in thucydides book 2 by dissenting from the view that the. This practice, said to have been unique to athens and perhaps introduced 464 bc, was continued into roman times, and the occasion was. None of the above unravels the most important insights of lorauxs brilliant book. Robert luginbills main thesis is that thucydides history was conceived and executed with the aim of exculpating the athenian general pericles of any blame for athens defeat in the peloponnesian war. The incomplete text recounts the history of the peloponnesian war and famously ends midsentence several years prior to the conclusion of the war. In his view, thucydides book leads us inexorably to the conclusion that pericles. Thus the winter ended, and with it ended the fifth year of this war, of which thucydides was the historian. In her ingenious treatment of pericless epitaphios logos in thucydides pp. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. See all books authored by thucydides, including history of the peloponnesian war, and on justice, power and human nature.
Thucydides predecessors and contemporaries in historical poetry. The funeral oration of pericles, translated out of thucydides. An epitaphios logos was the oration spoken by a leading athenian citizen in connection with the public funeral given for the war dead of that particular year see p. According to porciani, the logos epitaphios and history namely thucydides history have a common factor in events both past and present. The greatest achievement of former times was the persian war. Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book i. History of the peloponnesian war books vii and viii loeb classical library 169 by thucydides. Questions are listed below read what the great leader of athens, pericles, has to say about athenian democracy. Thucydides 223 we now direct our attention to the text of thucydides funeral oration. The reinvention of history, donald kagan, penguin, 2010 2009, 257pp this book by the current eminent historian of the peloponnesian war is about the first great study of that war, written by the preeminent historian of the subject, thucydides. Get all the lyrics to songs by thucydides and join the genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
This text captures major ideas, stories, and discoveries that helped shape western culture. These logoi have the deeper purpose of supporting the logos that pericles. Thucydides is the author of one of the earliest and most influential works in the history of political thought. This book brings together leading scholars from a range of disciplines to explore the different facets of thucydides modern reception and influence, from the birth of political theory in renaissance europe to the rise of scientific history in nineteenthcentury germany and the triumph of realism in twentiethcentury international relations.
Thucydides describes in detail the funeral rituals and points out that the dead are laid in the public sepulchre in the most beautiful suburb of the city, in which. Thucydides books list of books by author thucydides. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and. Thucydides s most popular book is history of the peloponnesian war. Buy the paperback book logos epitaphios by hyperides at indigo. Thucydides has 384 books on goodreads with 73927 ratings. The man who was responsible for this, was, according to herodotus, king croesus of lydia, a country in the west of. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.
Perikleous epitaphios thoukydidou historion greek edition. Pericles himself, in the speech thucydides assigns him near the end of book one of the history. The dead of the first year from the peloponnesian war. History of the peloponnesian war book by thucydides. The state of greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the peloponnesian war.