The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides

by Ryan Balot (Editor), Sarah Forsdyke (Editor), Edith Foster (Editor)

Overview

The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides contains newly commissioned essays on Thucydides as an historian, thinker, and writer. It also features chapters on Thucydides' intellectual context and ancient reception. The creative juxtaposition of historical, literary, philosophical, and reception studies allows for a better grasp of Thucydides' complex project and its intellectual context, while at the same time providing a comprehensive introduction to the author's ideas. The volume is organized into four sections of papers: History, Historiography, Political Theory, and Context and Reception. It therefore bridges traditionally divided disciplines. The authors engaged to write the forty chapters for this volume include both well-known scholars and less well-known innovators, who bring fresh ideas and new points of view. Articles avoid technical jargon and long footnotes, and are written in an accessible style. Finally, the volume includes a thorough introduction prefacing each paper, as well as several maps and an up-to-date bibliography that will enable further study. The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides offers a comprehensive introduction to a thinker and writer whose simultaneous depth and innovativeness have been the focus of intense literary and philosophical study since ancient times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190647742
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/10/2017
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Sara Forsdyke is Professor of Classical Studies and History, University of Michigan. Edith Foster is Senior Research Associate, Case Western University and Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Strasbourg. Ryan Balot is Professor of Political Science and Classics, University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 00 Introduction Section I: Thucydides as Historian 01 Thucydides' Historical Method Sara Forsdyke 02 Thucydides on Early Greek History Hans van Wees 03 The Pentecontaetia Lisa Kallet 04 Military Malaise and a Hobbled Hegemony: Sparta and the Crisis of the Peloponnesian League in Thucydides' History Ellen Millender 05 Thucydides on the Athenian Empire and Interstate Relations Polly Low 06 Thucydides on the Causes and Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War Eric Robinson 07 Thucydides on the First Ten Years of War (Archidamian War) Peter Hunt 08 Mantinea, Decelea and the Interwar Years (421-413 BCE) Cinzia Bearzot 09 Thucydides on the Sicilian Expedition Emily Greenwood 10 Thucydides on the Four Hundred and the Fall of Athens Andrew Wolpert Section II: Thucydidean Historiography 11. Writing History Implicitly through Refined Structuring Hunter Rawlings 12. Scale Matters: Compression, Expansion, and Vividness in Thucydides W. R. Connor 13. The Tree, the Funnel, and the Diptych: Some Patterns in Thucydides' Longest Sentences Jeffrey Rusten 14. Authorial Comments in Thucydides Matthieu de Bakker 15. Thucydides and Myth: A Complex Relation to Past and Present Rosaria Munson 16. Speeches Antonis Tsakmakis 17. Characterization of Individuals in Thucydides' History Philip Stadter 18. Campaign and Battle Narratives in Thucydides Edith Foster Section III: Thucydides and Political Theory 19. Was Thucydides a Political Philosopher? Ryan Balot 20. Kinêsis, Navies and the Power Trap in Thucydides Arlene Saxonhouse 21. Thucydides on Nature and Human Conduct Clifford Orwin 22. Thucydides and the Politics of Necessity Kinch Hoekstra and Mark Fisher 23. The Regime (Politeia) in Thucydides Seth Jaffe 24. STASIS in the War Narrative Michael Palmer 25. Religion, Politics, and Piety Paul Rahe 26. Thucydides on the Political Passions Victoria Wohl 27. Leaders and Leadership in Thucydides' History Mary P. Nichols 28. Thucydides and Crowds John Zumbrunnen 29. Thucydides, International Law, and International Anarchy Arthur Eckstein 30. Xenophon as a Socratic Reader of Thucydides Paul Ludwig 31. Political Philosophy in an Unstable World: Comparing Thucydides and Plato on the Possibilities of Politics Gerald Mara Section IV: Contexts and Ancient Reception of Thucydidean Historiography 32. Thucydides' Predecessors and Contemporaries in Historical Poetry and Prose Leone Porciani 33. Thucydides and His Intellectual Milieu Rosalind Thomas 34. Thucydides, Epic, and Tragedy Tobias Joho 35. Thucydides and Attic Comedy Jeffrey Henderson 36. Thucydides and his Continuators Vivienne Gray 37. History, Rhetoric, and Truth: Dionysius of Halicarnassus on Thucydides Casper de Jonge 38. Polybius and Sallust Nicolas Wiater 39. Writing with Posterity in Mind: Thucydides and Tacitus on Secession Cynthia Damon 40. Thucydides, Procopius, and the Historians of the Later Roman Empire Conor Whately

Editorial Reviews

"Overall, the volume is a useful survey of contemporary Thucydidean scholarship ... For libraries of universities offering courses in classics and ancient history. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." —S. M. Burstein, CHOICE

"superb array of different approaches to a multi-layered work of history" — Sean Sheehan, Dublin Review of Books

"...an invaluable resource that is sure to be a cornerstone of many academic treatments concerning Thucydides' historical, philosophical, political and literary contexts in the decades to come."—Jan Haywood, sehepunkte.

"There is much to admire about this volume. First of all, it includes the different (although sometimes overlapping) disciplines of ancient history, classics, and political theory, all of which have significantly different approaches to the same material ... the chapters do a thorough job of synthesizing decades of research into bite-size accessible units that both present the fundamental arguments for a beginner and offer new perspectives for the scholar ... It is an extremely impressive volume with a great deal to offer for both the undergraduate and the scholar alike." — Elizabeth Sawyer, Polis

From the Publisher